virus: One More Time, From the Top... (was: Extrocranial Memes)

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Wed, 12 Aug 1998 14:36:05 -0700


Wade wrote:

>Why in Occam's name should we even bring a term like "meme" into a
>description of cultural activity when we already have a whole jargon in
>several fields that describes cultural activity in much more accurate
>terms?
>
>To turnabout in fair play.

Maybe we need to (shutter) define what we are calling a meme.

Let's leave the gene/meme analogy on the shelf, where it belongs. It has
little real value as anything other than a way to get peoples heads around
the concept from the start. So, what qualities do we require in a meme?
I'll start:

A meme:
1) Evolves through mutation and selection.

Anyone want to add a #2 and continue the list? Or have a problem with #1
already?

-Prof. Tim