What Are Memes
A "meme" is an idea which can be passed from person to person, the basic unit of cultural transmission. Memes are often analogized to genes, as self replicating information patterns; or to viruses, organic or computer, which prosper by infecting new hosts (in this case human minds) with copies of themselves. The term was invented by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene.
What are some examples of memes ? Things like Rollerblading, Forrest Gump, the WWWeb, skinny half-decaf double lattes at Starbucks, flat tax...20th century things like the New York Yankees, World Wars, Gershwin , cyberspace and classic things like: the bible, folk dances,Y2K, recipes, respect for elders, nodding ...
Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers
|
and be very hostile to breadmaking. However, he may fervently believe that OJ is innocent. You, on the other hand, may have a mind environment where breadmaking thrives, along with "OJ was guilty". So we see that a meme is nothing more than a pattern of information, one that happens to have evolved a form which induces people to repeat that pattern. Typical memes include individual slogans, ideas, catch-phrases, melodies, icons, inventions, and fashions. It may sound a bit sinister, this idea that people are hosts for mind-altering strings of symbols, but in fact this is what human culture is all about.
As a species, we have co-evolved with our memes. Imagine a group of early Homo Sapiens in the Late Pleistocene epoch. They've recently arrived with the latest high-tech hand axes and are trying to show their Homo Erectus neighbors how to make them. Those who can't get their heads around the new meme will be at a disadvantage and will be out-evolved by their smarter ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
What Are Memes. (2004, December 14). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/What-Are-Memes/19002
"What Are Memes." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 14 Dec. 2004. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/What-Are-Memes/19002>
"What Are Memes." Essayworld.com. December 14, 2004. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/What-Are-Memes/19002.
"What Are Memes." Essayworld.com. December 14, 2004. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/What-Are-Memes/19002.
|
Save
Report