Another take on memes:
Imitation and the definition of a meme
Abstract: The dictionary definition, and Dawkins's (1976) original conception
of the meme, both include the idea
that memes are copied from one person to another by imitation. We
therefore need to be clear what is
meant by imitation. Imitation is distinguished from contagion,
individual learning and various kinds of
non-imitative social learning such as stimulus enhancement, local
enhancement and goal emulation.
True imitation is extremely rare in animals other than humans, except
for birdsong and dolphin
vocalisation, suggesting that they can have few or no memes. I argue
that more complex human
cognitive processes, such as language, reading, scientific research and
so on, all build in some way on
the ability to imitate, and therefore all these processes are, or can
be, memetic. When we are clear about
the nature of imitation, it is obvious what does and does not count as a
meme. I suggest that we stick to
defining the meme as that which is passed on by imitation.
Full paper at: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/1998/vol2/blackmore_s.html
Ed Weick wrote:
> >From Cordell commenting on a posting by Brad McC....
> >
> > This is really at the heart of many issues. What if they had a war and no
> > one showed up. Stopping the virus of competition, or fashion, or one more
> > iteration of this or that product line is only stopped by people somehow
> > finding something else to do with their lives. It is very difficult to do
> > since as Brad shows even by showing up and saying " I really don't believe
> > in this.....", the virus continues.
> >
>
> Arthur refers to the "virus" of competition. More probably, what he is
> actually referring to is a "meme". Like viruses, memes use people as hosts
> but work through infesting, reshaping and controlling the mind. They are
> essentially concerned about their own survival; that is, they use us in an
> evolutionary competition with each other, with dominant memes winning out
> and displacing more submissive ones. In medieval times, they used religion
> to propagate themselves by having us believe that God is great and good and
> in favour of the established order, or the crusades or whatever, no matter
> how brutal. More recently, for a time, they used ideologies such as
> communism and fascism and, again, no matter how brutal. Now they are using
> capitalism and neo-liberalism, although they are encountering strong
> opposition from anti-capitalist and anti-globalist memes. When they are
> done with us, they will likely move onto some other species, perhaps rats.
>
> So, Arthur, "virus" is not correct. It's "meme". And in case you think I'm
> making this up, memes were first proposed by no less eminent a scientist
> than Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist who teaches at Oxford.
>
> Ed W.
--
http://publish.uwo.ca/~mcdaniel/
