Hello, my friend! šThanks for reading Bear Academy Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This weekend was the Taiwan Festival in Auckland. Our whole family went out, eating and playing. Standing in line for oyster pancakes at the food street, a Taiwanese girl behind me said this place serves the most authentic ones because, just like the Shilin Night Market in Taiwan, they top theirs with cabbage, which others donāt do. It made me think, authenticity really boils down to how closely a replica mirrors its original. The more āauthenticā something is, the more it resembles its initial form, unchanged. Yet, culture spreads through these replicas, inevitably leading to variations. Chinese Sichuan cuisine made by local chefs in Arab countries might not be as spicy. This thought first came to me 20 years ago while playing Hideo Kojimaās āMetal Gear Solid 2,ā which had long segments about memes, nudging me into the complex relationship between culture and memes. Turns out, that playing video games can indeed help you learn and understand the world.
40 / From Oyster Pancakes to Cultural Memes
40 / From Oyster Pancakes to Cultural Memes
40 / From Oyster Pancakes to Cultural Memes
Hello, my friend! šThanks for reading Bear Academy Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This weekend was the Taiwan Festival in Auckland. Our whole family went out, eating and playing. Standing in line for oyster pancakes at the food street, a Taiwanese girl behind me said this place serves the most authentic ones because, just like the Shilin Night Market in Taiwan, they top theirs with cabbage, which others donāt do. It made me think, authenticity really boils down to how closely a replica mirrors its original. The more āauthenticā something is, the more it resembles its initial form, unchanged. Yet, culture spreads through these replicas, inevitably leading to variations. Chinese Sichuan cuisine made by local chefs in Arab countries might not be as spicy. This thought first came to me 20 years ago while playing Hideo Kojimaās āMetal Gear Solid 2,ā which had long segments about memes, nudging me into the complex relationship between culture and memes. Turns out, that playing video games can indeed help you learn and understand the world.