virus: FW: MEME UPDATE: What Is a Meme?
Richard Brodie (RBrodie@brodietech.com)
Wed, 22 Jan 1997 13:49:00 -0800
[cc'ed to Virus list]
>
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>WHAT IS A MEME?
>
>When Richard Dawkins introduced the word "meme" in his book The Selfish
>Gene, he had the glimmering of a concept in mind -- a replicator akin
>to the gene that would be at the center of the evolution of culture the
>way genes are at the center of the evolution of organisms.
>
>Since then, there has been a great deal of thought from many camps as
>to the nature of the meme. Does it have a physical existence? Does a
>meme in your head remain constant, or does it change over time? Are
>words written down on paper memes. or are memes only memes when they're
>in your mind?
>
>Since we want to come up with a useful definition for meme, there is no
>True answer to these questions. While researching Virus of the Mind, I
>read and spoke with many thinkers about memes. The most useful
>definition seemed to be the one I called "A Working Definition" in
>Virus of the Mind:
>
>A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose existence influences
>events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds.
>
>The key here is the link between mental programming and behavior. I
>take the position that all our behavior is a combination of instinctual
>-- directed by our genes -- and learned -- directed by our memes. So
>when I say that the presence of a meme in my mind influences my
>behavior, I mean that I act differently because I have learned
>something. And when I act differently, I change the world, if only
>subtly.
>
>One argument that pops up from time to time is that it is possible to
>learn something, but not have it be a meme, because it doesn't seem to
>replicate itself. I reject this argument. Anything learned changes your
>behavior in at least a small way -- otherwise, how do you know you've
>learned it? And if it changes your behavior, it has the potential to
>affect the replication of memes. Remember when Radar O'Reilly learned
>to recognize music by Bach on the old TV show MASH? "Ah, Bach," he
>would say. And so the distinction-meme for Bach would replicate.
>
>I don't call books, TV shows, or other human artifacts "memes" because
>while they seem to contain information, they don't have the dual
>capacity that a meme (or a gene) has: both as carriers of information
>and as creators of behavior. It's that Von Neumann-esque duality that
>makes replicators so interesting and makes evolution possible.
>
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>EVENTS
>
>Thu. February 13, 1997: Getting Past OK: a three-hour mini-workshop on
>how to have a fantastic life! $29 plus $5 registration fee. Offered
>through Discover U in Seattle. To register, call them at 206-443-0447.
>
>Thu. February 27, 1997: Richard Brodie will be giving the keynote
>address at the American Society for Quality Control convention in Los
>Angeles.
>
>July 3-6, 1997: Richard Brodie will be a speaker and panelist at
>Westercon 50, the West Coast Science Fiction Convention, in Seattle.
>
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>POLITICS AS UNUSUAL DEPARTMENT
>
>Rep. JOHN E. SUNUNU (R-NH) says, in the February issue of George
>magazine, that the last books that changed his mind were Richard
>Dawkins's The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype, because they
>"made sense." Wow! Is the enlightenment of the U.S. Legislature at
>hand? I'm sending him a complimentary copy of VIRUS OF THE MIND...
>
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>
>THE MEMETICS BOOKSTORE turned a gross profit of almost $10 last quarter
>($9.96). This actually translates into quite a few of you buying (and,
>I hope, enjoying) books I've recommended. We don't actually make much
>money from Amazon.Com on referral fees: just 8%, and that only on books
>that aren't already discounted above the standard 10%. Since the most
>popular memetics books are Amazon.Com bestsellers, when you buy one or
>all of them The Memetics Bookstore makes zilch.
>
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>
>VIRUS OF THE MIND finished the year as Amazon.Com's #16 bestseller!
>Thank you for spreading the meme!
>
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>
>
>Richard Brodie RBrodie@brodietech.com +1.206.688.8600
>CEO, Brodie Technology Group, Inc., Bellevue, WA, USA
>http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie
>Do you know what a "meme" is?
>http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm
>
>