On rules and memes and other things ...

When I got tagged for a meme I did it. And enjoyed it. Up to the part where you have to tag other people.

• Do I have to do this?
  
• What if they don't want to do it?
  
• Will they feel obliged to do something they don't want to do just because I tagged them?
  
• Will they still speak to me after I tag them for a meme?

These among other questions filled my mind. But being a compliant person I obeyed the rules and 'tagged' seven others. Some responded with enthusiasm. Some stated they 'don't do memes' but did this one anyway. And maybe enjoyed it. Others maybe haven't got the tag yet (maybe I forgot to tell them). And several taught me that you can 'cheat' in memes and just say you're tagging anyone who reads your blog and not actually directly tag anyone at all.

Then I thought "What is a meme anyway?". According to Wikipedia it is the cultural equivalent of DNA - a cultural unit that spreads and throughout a culture like a virus "So with memes, some ideas will propagate less successfully and become extinct, while others will survive, spread, and, for better or for worse, mutate." I'm not at all sure how this relates to the phenomenon in the blogosphere but clearly change is inherent and allowable.

But all this got me thinking about my own compliance. I am certainly one of those people for whom discerning questions are a skill to be cultivated. My tendency is to accept and to follow directions. I like to think I would stop short of lethally harming someone in those famous Milgram experiments - but I just don't know. In my favour is my active participation in the class of 1978 - the medical students who refused to carry out gynae exams on women without informed consent. With a colleague we presented our case to the Professor - were threatened with failing the year - but stood firm and in the end had our ethical stance supported by the University. It is a shock to realise that the same issue continues to resurface around the world 30 years later.

In a job interview this week I was asked how I would keep to the time assigned to the position. I was candid enough to say I tend to say 'yes' too easily, and insightful enough to say that I seek the discernment to work out whether new tasks will contribute to achieving the goals of my position and if so, how I will negotiate additional hours or reprioritising of existing work to include them.

One year I gave up saying 'yes' for Lent (not at work, but at home and in voluntary activities). It was freeing. "MJD will you undertake ... ?" "Get back to me after Easter and I'll consider it." It's a discipline I keep there and bring out - often after I need to but at least before it is really too late.

So with memes. How do you know who 'does them' and who 'doesn't'? Do you have to do them when you're tagged? Do you have to tag?

You can't tell by just looking at a blog. Guessing isn't always accurate. No and no. But it can be fun if you do.