Meme
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| - | 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". | + | A meme identifies ideas, practices, traditions 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 == | == Genes and Memes == | ||
| - | In analogy with gene, a meme is any form of cultural replicator - | + | In analogy with gene, a meme is any form of cultural [[Replicator|replicator]] - |
an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to | an idea, behavior, style or usage that spreads from person to | ||
person within a culture. In the narrower sense, only those | person within a culture. In the narrower sense, only those | ||
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== Memetic Bodies == | == Memetic Bodies == | ||
| - | + | Cultural objects can be viewed as constructs of cultural DNA: companies contain [http://gigaom.com/2011/02/10/corporate-dna/ Corporate DNA], social groups and societies are based on a common set of shared customs, laws, and policies. In this sense, both genes and memes are capable of having "bodies". Languages, [[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 == | == Soul Dust == | ||
