> Hi,
> I need a little help here. I have been a subscriber to this list for a couple
> of months now. I usually limit my replies to one-liners because frankly a lot
> of this is way above my head. I do enjoy reading the posts because all of the
> topics are interesting to me and I do feel I am learning. The basis of this
> group is the meme. I need to make sure I have it correct in the absolute
> plainest of English. Please, can someone give me the basest definition? Like
> you were explaining it to a child as opposed to a dictionary styled
> definition. I am sorry to be such a pain in the ass but without grasping that
> I can never go from a mere observer to a true participant. Thanks, Maureen
>
Attempt #1:
The core idea of a meme is that it is a unit of culturally-transmitted
information, in the same sense that a gene is a unit of
biologically-transmitted information. It could be a unit of any size,
but, usually, large and elaborate memes consisting of several simpler
memes in interaction are called meme-complexes or schemes.
The transmission of memes involves both ideas-in-the-mind and the
representation of them via language (or enactment of them in artifacts
or behaviours). Some writers disagree on which aspects of this cycle are
most appropriately or usefully referred to as "memes": the part in one
peson's mind, or the part between, or both.
Attempt #2:
A meme is something that can spread from one person to another by
imitation or communication.
Memetics is the study of the evolution and spread of ideas and practices,
from a perspective viewing them as units in themselves, using people as
hosts. This perspective illuminates aspects of the proces which are seen
less clearly by other approaches.
--Eva