Meme Defined

Word  Definition:

meme

[meem]

–noun

a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manneranalogous to the biological transmission of genes.

Origin:
1976;  < Gk mīmeîsthai  to imitate, copy; coined by R. Dawkins,Brit. biologist

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

meme (miːm)
— n
	an idea or element of social behaviour passed on throughgenerations in a culture, esp by imitation
[C20: possibly from mimic , on the model of gene ]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 200

Word Origin & History

meme

1976, introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in ”TheSelfish Gene” (1976), coined by him from Gk. sources, e.g.mimeisthai  ”to imitate,” and intended to echo gene .

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Computing Dictionary

meme definition

philosophy

/meem/ [By analogy with "gene"] Richard Dawkins’s term for anidea considered as a replicator, especially with the connotation thatmemes parasitise people into propagating them much as virusesdo.
Memes can be considered the unit of cultural evolution. Ideas can evolve in a way analogous to biological evolution. Some ideas survive better than others; ideas can mutate through, for example,misunderstandings; and two ideas can recombine to produce a newidea involving elements of each parent idea.
The term is used especially in the phrase ”meme complex”denoting a group of mutually supporting memes that form anorganised belief system, such as a religion. However, ”meme” isoften misused to mean ”meme complex”.
Use of the term connotes acceptance of the idea that in humans(and presumably other tool- and language-using sophonts) culturalevolution by selection of adaptive ideas has become moreimportant than biological evolution by selection of hereditary traits.Hackers find this idea congenial for tolerably obvious reasons
(1996-08-11)

Title: Spiral Connection

Pastel drawing on stonehenge paper

Dangerous Memes

Once you have watched the talks consider the following…

Let us all be cognizant of the memes each one us launches into the world; remembering that a meme should not be at the exclusion of others.

Memes are out there to propagate at all cost.  So— we all need to be cautious with the memes that we each individually spread.

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_blackmore_on_memes_and_temes.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_memes.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_m00t_poole_the_case_for_anonymity_online.html