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What's the matter with memes?
... In 1976, drawing from principles of genetics, Dawkins coined the term 'meme' as a unit of cultural transmission and 'meme-complex' to refer to a stable set of memes working in concert (2006, p.192-6). Memetics is a theory without a methodology (Aunger, 2006;Edmonds, 2002;Rose, 1998). It draws analogies with principles of genetics to suggest that memes, like genes, rest on principles of replication, longevity, fecundity and imitation (Wilkins, 1998;Brodie, 1996). ...
... The terms psychic entity of a group (Dubius, 2000), corporate being (Sagan, 2007), metabeing (Bodeau, 1999) and corporate angel (Wink, 1986) are helpful in that they suggest that there is a consciousness, a being, a group mind but these terms describe the phenomenon. With no linguistic roots and no theoretical framework, the term meme (rhyming with gene) tends to create confusion (Russ, 2014, p.21;Aunger, 2006;Edmonds, 2002;Atrans, 2001). ...
Derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin is a classical language that has influenced modern languages such as English, French, Italian and Spanish. With its Latin and Greek roots, this paper argues that the word lexion is an appropriate and necessary addition to the English language. Lex in Latin means, law, syllabus, statute and dharma. Lex in Ancient Greek means 'the Word' or logos. Drawing from Plato, this paper argues that lexion is the lore, law and dharma that upholds or bears an idea or perfect Form. A lexion emerges at the confluence of forces aligned with the archetype, thus forming the metaphysical body or spirit of an organisation. It is argued that a new term is necessary to name this phenomenon as current terms, while appropriate in some contexts, are often inadequate, limited and at times misleading. This paper outlines the benefits in introducing a new term.
... What is most important about the meme concept is not that it represents a radically new scientific theory with testable predictions and surprising results. It is not: memetics as a research paradigm, with its own unique methodologies, has not yet achieved any great success (Aunger, 2006;Edmonds, 2005 (impeccable) taste and judgment. In contrast, the memetic perspective is both explicit and humbling, reminding us that our beliefs and knowledge are contingent upon the information we have been taught, indoctrinated with, or learned on our ownat the very least, the information we have been exposed toand that there is no guarantee that the information we have absorbed has any close correspondence with the reality it purports to describe. ...
... What is most important about the meme concept is not that it represents a radically new scientific theory with testable predictions and surprising results. It is not: memetics as a research paradigm, with its own unique methodologies, has not yet achieved any great success (Aunger, 2006;Edmonds, 2005). Still less is it important as a term of art in the advertising industry, or as a catchall term for widely-viewed jokes, videos, and cat pictures on the internet. ...
Social representations theory is unique within social psychology for its primary focus on information and its effects on society. Schema research likewise focuses on information, but only information in individual minds. Meme theory, while essentially a rediscription of what we already know, provides a helpful perspective on how ideas form, change, and spread. Together, these three approaches to information can help inform a political psychology capable of addressing the most pressing political problems we face today.
... A theoretical reason is that if information inheritance is occurring within the technological domain, this will influence any dynamics that might be investigated in culture, and the dynamic interaction between mind-based culture and technological culture will itself coevolve over time. My argument is that this potentially independent dynamics of information inheritance, mutation and selection in artefact populations/networks, and its coevolutionary dynamic with mental culture, should be explicitly dealt with in cultural evolutionary studies -at least where there is significant involvement of symbolic artefacts in a society's culture (Aunger 2002(Aunger , 2006. ...
This paper delves into the use of Internet memes as a means of spreading religion and ethical values in modern society. With the rise of the Internet and social media, memes have gained popularity as a form of shared content with the ability to convey meaningful messages. The research evaluates the prevalence and impact of memes in religious and ethical contexts. Through this research, the authors present their viewpoint after mulling over the findings of authors like Limor Shifman. The study asserts that memes can facilitate discussions, promote religious literacy, reinforce beliefs, and instil ethical values. Additionally, it anticipates that religious and ethical memes may influence individuals' actions in their daily lives. This research is significant as it examines the potential of memes to serve as a contemporary tool for spreading religion and ethics in a digital world.
Dawkins naturalizes the cosmological argument: it runs to the existence of an ultimate, simple, necessary first cause. It is the root of the world tree. The world tree is a scientifically-inspired poetic image. Dawkins urges us to transform science into poetic or artistically inspired ways of living. Ways of living define cultures, and Dawkinsian principles entail that we ought to replace religious rituals, ceremonies, holidays, and festivals with works of performance art inspired by nature. Spiritual naturalists thus seek to develop poetic practices based on natural symbols. Works of fiction enable our brains to simulate other selves in other universes. Dawkins uses his theory of fiction to motivate his modal theory of religion: religions enable us to socially shift into simulated fictional universes. This modal theory of religion has good support from the cognitive science of religion. The simulation machinery in our brains facilitates mystical experiences. Dawkins talks about how the sublime in nature motivates atheistic mysticism. He uses atheistic mysticism to naturalize holiness, sacredness, and transcendence. Atheistic mystics like Comte-Sponville say mystical ego-dissolution reveals the ground of being. The ground of being can be naturalized by looking more deeply into the way our brains move from the concept of existence to the construction of existing objects.
Memes are conceived of as the cultural equivalents to genes. As cultural change can be modelled using theories and concepts from population genetics, a “meme’s eye view” of cultural change is arguably valid. However, such views are frequently dismissed. Whatever the merits or demerits of memetics are as a science, no prominent objections to the meme concept appear well-grounded by either evidence or logic. This paper suggests that such criticisms arise from a few key misunderstandings and fallacies concerning memes and questionable assumptions about evolution, culture and psychology on which these misunderstandings are based. These misunderstandings are described in this paper using examples of criticisms which have been made about the meme concept. These are then scrutinized using basic principles of evolutionary biology, economics, and psychology. It is hoped that future attempts to apply the meme concept are encouraged by addressing these issues here.
Dynamics for the diffusion and adoption of social norms are discussed. Starting with simple behavioural imitation, more complex mechanisms using culture tags and memes are considered.
The methodology of agent-based modelling is introduced. Using examples, terminology, definitions, distinctions and problems are explicated. It is proposed that agent-based modelling is a fruitful methodology for the study of social norms due to the possibility of generating macro-phenomena from micro-specifications. Some philosophical considerations regarding the possibility of explanation and prediction from agent-based modelling are discussed.
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