Meme

A meme identifies ideas, practices or beliefs that are transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another (from one person or group of people to another person or group of people). It identifies a basic unit of cultural information. The concept comes from an analogy made by Richard Dawkins in his book in The Selfish Gene (1976): as [[Gene|genes]] transmit biological information, memes can be said to transmit idea and belief information. Richard Dawkins initially defined meme as a noun which "conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation".

== Genes and Memes ==

In analogy with gene, a meme is any form of cultural replicator - 
an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to 
person within a culture. In the narrower sense, only those
ideas can be considered as a meme which form a kind of body
as survival mechanism.
Just as genes are the recipes for stringing together 
amino acids into proteins, memes are the general recipes 
for stringing together independent objects into 
coherent systems: ideas into theories, persons into 
social systems, and individuals into groups.

Both genes and memes are capable of being copied and replicated.
As an abstract information pattern, a meme is more abstract
and less concrete than a gene, in fact a gene can be considered
as the implementation of a special meme, the idea of a 
self-replicating molecule.
Although memes appeared later than genes in evolution, because
they are associated with society, culture, and social systems,
they are indeed more fundamental than genes. They are the
more general and more abstract idea.

== Memetic Bodies ==

Both genes and memes are capable of having "bodies". [[Civilization|Civilizations]], [[Complex Society|complex societies]] and [[Mind|minds]] can be considered as memetic bodies, at least to some extent. In principles, any social group which is defined by a set of memes can be considered as a memetic body, similar to a genetic body constructed by [[Gene|genes]].

== Soul Dust ==

A single meme or idea can be considered as the legacy of a civilization or individual person. In the former case it would be "dust of a civilization", in the latter a kind of "soul dust", for example a quote from someone who is no longer living. Although he is no longer living, he has left traces of his existence in this particular sentence.

== Reconstruct a Mind ==

Can we (re-)construct minds from different 
parts or pieces ? Is there a blueprint for 
a soul (whatever that is)? If [[Gene|genes]] are
blueprints used to construct bodies, then 
maybe [[Meme|memes]] can be considered as 
blueprints to construct [[Mind|minds]].


== Links ==

* Wikipedia entry for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme meme]