meme: (pron. 'meem')
A contagious idea that replicates like a virus, passed on from mind to
mind. Memes function the same way genes and viruses do, propagating through
communication networks and face-to-face contact between people. The root
of the word "memetics," a field of study which postulates that
the meme is the basic unit of cultural evolution. Examples of memes include
melodies, icons, fashion statements and phrases.
A meme is a
cognitive or behavioral pattern that can be transmitted from one individual
to another one. Since the individual who transmitted the meme will continue
to carry it, the transmission can be interpreted as a replication: a copy
of the meme is made in the memory of another individual, making him or
her into a carrier of the meme. This process of self-reproduction, leading
to spreading over a growing group of individuals, defines the meme as
a replicator, similar in that respect to the gene. Dawkins, 1976; Moritz,
1991
The most important
medium at present is the emerging global computer network, which can transmit
any type of information to practically any place on the planet, in a negligible
time.
"I think that
a new kind of replicator has recently emerged on this very planet. It
is staring us in the face. It is in its infancy, still drifting clumsily
about in its primeval soup, but already it is achieving evolutionary
change at a rate that leaves the old gene panting far behind. The new
soup is the soup of human culture. We need a name for the new replicator,
a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or
a unit of imitation. 'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but
I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'. I hope my classicist
friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any
consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to
'memory', or to the French word même. It should be pronounced
to rhyme with 'cream.' Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases,
clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as
genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to
body via sperms and eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme
pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad
sense, can be called imitation. If a scientist hears, or reads about,
a good idea, he passes it on to his colleagues and students. He mentions
it in his articles and his lectures. If the idea catches on, it can
be said to propagate itself, spreading from brain to brain." Dawkins,
1976
Dawkins listed the
following three characteristics for any successful replicator:
copying-fidelity:
the more faithful the copy, the more will remain of the initial pattern
after several rounds of copying. If a painting is reproduced by making
photocopies from photocopies, the underlying pattern will quickly become
unrecognizable.
fecundity: the faster the rate of copying, the more the replicator will
spread. An industrial printing press can churn out many more copies of
a text than an office copying machine.
longevity: the longer any instance of the replicating pattern survives,
the more copies can be made of it. A drawing made by etching lines in
the sand is likely to be erased before anybody could have photographed
or otherwise reproduced it.
In these general characteristics,
memes are similar to genes and to other replicators, such as computer
viruses or crystals. The genetic metaphor for cultural transmission is
limited since genes can only be transmitted from parent to child ("vertical
transmission"). Memes can be transmitted between any two individuals
("horizontal transmission" or "multiple parenting").
In that sense they are more similar to parasites or infections (cf. Cullen,
1998).
Memes only take minutes
to replicate, and thus have potentially much higher fecundity. On the
other hand, the copying-fidelity of memes is in general much lower. If
a story is spread by being told from person to person, the final version
will be very different from the original one. It is this variability or
fuzziness that perhaps distinguishes cultural patterns most strikingly
from DNA structures: every individual's version of an idea or belief will
be in some respect different from the others'.
Examples of memes
in the animal world are most bird songs, and certain techniques for hunting
or using tools that are passed from parents or the social group to the
youngsters (Bonner, 1980). In human society, almost any cultural entity
can be seen as a meme: religions, language, fashions, songs, techniques,
scientific theories and concepts, conventions, traditions, etc. The defining
characteristic of memes as informational patterns, is that they can be
replicated in unlimited amounts by communication between individuals,
independently of any replication at the level of the genes.
Variation, replication
and selection on the basis of meme fitness determine a complex dynamics.
The medium through which memes is communicated, and the copying-fidelity
will influence this dynamics, fecundity and longevity it allows. Perhaps
the most powerful medium for meme transmission is the computer network,
and this implies some specific characteristics for memes on the net.
The most important
medium at present is the emerging global computer network, which can transmit
any type of information to practically any place on the planet, in a negligible
time.
This highly increased
efficiency of transmission directly affects the dynamics of replication.
Meme transmission over the network has a much higher copying-fidelity
than communication through image, sound or word. Digitalization allows
the transfer of information without loss, unlike the analog mechanisms
of photocopying, filming or tape recording. Fecundity too is greatly increased,
since computers can produce thousands of copies of a message in very little
time. Longevity, finally, becomes potentially larger, since information
can be stored indefinitely on disks or in archives. Together, these three
properties ensure that memes can replicate much more efficiently via the
networks. This makes the corresponding memo-types and socio-types potentially
less fuzzy.
In addition, the network
transcends geographical and cultural boundaries. This means that a new
development does not need to diffuse gradually from a center outward,
as, e.g., fashions or rumors do. Such diffusion can easily be stopped
by different kinds of physical or linguistic barriers. On the net, an
idea can appear virtually simultaneously in different parts of the world,
and spread independently of the distance or proximity between senders
and receivers.
Walter Benjamin - Illuminations[1Book, Amazon US] Walter Benjamin, a German structuralist. Included in this book is his influential the 1936 essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction".
If you have read Mondo 2000 magazine before, then nothing in this book will be much of a surprise. In fact in 1998 this book is clearly retro. Still, to the new reader you will find much of the information interesting. The format is basically an A-Z of popular memes and cultural phenomena with a pseudo hypertext interface. High gloss and flashy. Suitable for a coffee table, but you might want to keep it on your reference shelf. Limited availability. Mentions Gilles Deleuze and Georges Bataille in bibliography. Bataille in the 'meat' section.