Meme
From SkepticWiki
Contents |
[edit] Definition
A meme is a cultural element or belief, whose replication and persistance in human culture can be studied in an analogous way to the replication and persistence of genes in a population's gene pool.
A meme-complex is a group of related memes which reinforce each other and cooperate for their common survival. “The existence of Hell” is a meme, but “Christianity” is a meme-complex.
[edit] Evolution
It is interesting that the necessary elements for biological evolution all have analogues in "memetic" evolution. These include:
- Reproductive fidelity
- Random mutation
- Natural selection
In the case of memes, natural selection is imposed by the limited resources of the "ideosphere", i.e.: the limited number of beliefs that can be adopted by human culture.
Unlike biological genes, memes usually replicate through non-genetic and non-Darwinian means such as imitation. This makes the evolution of memes more similar to the Lamarckian model, discredited in biology. Some view memes as corresponding to the biological genotype while the "sociotype" is the behavioral expression of those memes, corresponding to the biological phenotype.
[edit] History
The term "meme" was coined by the British author Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene as a description of a unit of cultural transmission. According to Dawkins, the word should be pronounced "to rhyme with 'cream.'" It has since proven to be a powerful metaphor for thinking about the ways in which human culture is created and transmitted.
[edit] Examples
A simple example of a meme would be a joke. A particularly creative person may invent a new joke out of whole cloth and tell it to her friends. These friends, finding it funny, may repeat the joke to their friends, and so forth. As they repeat it, they may make minor changes (deliberately or accidentally) in the retelling, with the result that several different versions of the joke end up in circulation.
In this analysis, all of the elements necessary for a sort of evolution and natural selection are present. The joke is capable of "replication" by virtue of being funny, relevant, or important enough to be worth (re)telling; the funnier the joke, the more likely it is to be remembered and retold, with the effect that the funniest version of the joke may be able to out-compete other versions, a form of natural selection.
Other examples of memes might include stories such as Cinderella, urban legends such as those documented by Snopes.com, chain letters, fashions, scientific theories and practices, or religions. Some scholars have also discussed the concept of meme complexes, self-reinforcing collections of memes that, although in theory separable, are often transmitted as a unit, such as the entire collection of memes that constitute Christianity or other religions.
It should be noted that the term meme is non-judgemental and does not imply either that the belief involved is true or false. The existence of witches (as taught by scholars in the 17th century) is/was a meme, one that is now believed false and that has ceased to be replicated (continuing the genetic analogy, one might claim that it is now extinct), while the theory of gravity (as taught by modern physics teachers) is a viable meme that is believed to be true.
[edit] Meta-Memes
A meta-meme is a meme on the topic of another meme or memes. For example “Don’t believe everything you hear” is a successful meta-meme. “Skepticism” is a meme-complex which imparts some level of resistance to other memes. “Tolerance” is a meme-complex which suppresses automatic rejection of other memes.
With meta-memes, there is the possibility of self-reference. This can result in paradoxical situations, for example, when “Skepticism” allows an exception for the meme “Skepticism is good”, or when “Tolerance” includes the meme “Intolerance is evil”.
A “Vaccime” (by analogy with the biological “vaccine”) is a meta-meme that imparts resistance (“immunity”) to another meme. Many religions include vaccimes against rival memes.
“The Meta-Meme” refers to the meme-complex that is memetics itself. Note that “Memetics is a Meme” may also be a meme, but it does not appear to be very widespread at present.
[edit] Dissection of a Meme-Complex
A common structure of successful meme-complexes includes parts known in memetics jargon as the “hook” and the “bait”.
The bait is the part of the meme-complex responsible for infection. It usually manifests as a benefit (or perceived benefit) to the host. The meme “Belief in God will bring your eternal happiness” is an example of bait, as is “Your parents will be annoyed if you wear your hat backwards”.
The hook is the meme responsible for reproduction of the meme-complex. It may be represented by such explicit statements as “Warn your friends!”. It may be implicit, perhaps represented as an appeal to the desire to put pithy bumper-stickers on one’s car.
Many meme-complexes include a meme called the “threat”, which encourages infection and discourages mis-replication through an actual threat of harm upon the host. For example “eternal damnation” is a common threat in many Christian religions. A commercial message may threaten that “your acid-reflux may be wearing away the lining of your esophagus”.
Many meme-complexes also include a vaccime against rival meme-complexes that challenge them. For example, many Christian religions contain “faith is preferable to proof”, which defends against attacks from the Skepticism meme-complex.
[edit] Thought-Viruses
- "There is a virus on America Online being sent by E-Mail. If you get anything called "Good Times", DON'T read it or download it. It is a virus that will erase your hard drive. Forward this to all your friends. It may help them a lot."—"Goodtimes" virus hoax, circa 1994.
In his Scientific Ameican column (Jan 1983), Douglas Hofstadter discussed memes of the form:
- “It is your duty to convince others that this sentence is true.”
Assuming that an individual becomes infected with this meme, they will be inclined to attempt to reproduce the meme. What is interesting is that any meme-complex containing this meme will propagate based on its semiotic form alone, without regard to its truth, its benefit to the host, etc. In this way, it may be compared to a biological virus, which is adapted for reproduction alone, and does not necessarily benefit the host.
Hofstadter argues that this meme is implicit in the popular “Save the whales” meme-complex, various “Victimizer vs. Victim” meme-complexes, and evangelistic religions.
While a meme that uses this replication strategy is does not necessarily represent a false belief, this mechanism is helpful in understanding why false beliefs are so durable and widespread.
[edit] Misconceptions
[edit] Memes are false
The term “meme”, like the term “urban legend” has quickly come to imply falsity in the meme’s subject matter. Memetics recognizes mechanisms by which falsity may become belief; however, widespread belief does not in any way imply falsity. At best , identification of an idea as a meme may explain how a belief ‘might’ be false, in spite of its belief. Among memeticists, the phrase “just a meme” is used to suggest that the meme’s success is independent of its truth.
[edit] Memes are true
The appearance of truth is a powerful bait for the infection by a meme, since knowledge of the truth is believed to cause happiness. Thus it seems likely that memes enjoying wide reproductive success represent truth. This is not necessarily so; Hofstadter’s example of a self-referential meme shows that memes can reproduce without any relevance to truth at all. What may be important, however, is the ‘appearance of truth’, as judged by the “common sense” of the prospective host. Common sense, of course, was adapted by human evolution to judge very simple matters of basic survival based on very simple criteria, and is not well adapted to finding truth in a complex world. There is no shortage of examples of truths which defy common sense, and conversely, no shortage of false memes which enjoy great success.
[edit] Memes are dangerous or destructive
Many memes are dangerous or destructive to their host or to human culture in general. Most are not, as the entire support mechanism for memes within human culture evolved in ways that were beneficial to that culture. The process for making steel, the concept of republican government, the scientific method, and even the knock-knock joke have all undoubtedly benefited mankind. Many memes are merely benign: the smiley face, blue jeans, or “never split an infinitive”.
[edit] Memes are undesirable
The idea that one's ideas are self-sufficient entities that "infect" one's mind may be offensive to some. (It should be noted that "memes are undesirable" is itself a meme!) This seems antithetical to the notion that one's thoughts are one's own, and chosen freely or at least logically. (Yet another popular meme!) Achieving freedom from the tyrrany of one’s own beliefs is a common theme of Dadaism, Zen Buddhism, and perhaps Discordianism (Memes all!).
[edit] Memes are thought-viruses cooked up by advertisers
There is a misconception that the term “meme” is a special term for virulent, pervasive, or controlling ideas, such as fads, cliches, urban legends, and advertising jingles. The term actually applies to any idea that is transmitted widely: nursery rhymes, chili recipes, and cultural traditions.
[edit] How dare you call my religion a meme!
Calling your religion a meme-complex is no more disparaging than calling it a religion. That religions are meme-complexes, does not speak to their truth in any way. Observing that they contain a bait, or a hook, does not disrespect or deny any supernatural meaning to these things.
