Memetics 101

Definition

Towards a definition of memes...

Since Dawkins first spoke of memes in The Selfish Gene, much time has passed and several scientists have ventured into the realm of memetics. It has proven to be a problem for scientists to find a standing definition of 'a meme' and quite some meme-criticists use this as a point of critique towards the field of memetics.

Dawkins only gave a very simple definition of what a meme is. Most authors quote him by limiting his meme definition to "a unit of cultural transmission". It can be interesting, however, to also add some words from the following paragraph of Dawkins' book to this early definition; more specifically the claim that 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" (Selfish Gene 192). As this truly is the first definition, it is, in my opinion, important to add this very specific factor of imitation which is usually not included when Dawkins' definition is quoted.

Other scientists have altered the definition; either adding more information and thus expanding what exactly can be called a meme or by limiting the definition to fit within a specific field of research. According to Wilkins, a meme is "The least unit of socio-cultural information relative to a selection process that has favourable or unfavourable selection bias that exceeds its endogenous tendency to change" (What's in a meme). Heylighen describes memes as "an information pattern, held in an individual's memory, which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory" (Memetics).

Susan Blackmore comes to the conclusion that it is nearly impossible to agree on a definition of memetics (Meme Machine 53). Indeed, it seems that every scientist has his or her own definition of what exactly can be considered a meme.

I personally use a definition that is somewhere in the middle of the three aforementioned ones:

A meme is an information pattern which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory, mostly by means of imitation (though other techniques are possible as well) and which is subject to a selection process.

Memes as Replicators

One of the major changes throughout the emergence of life on this planet was the formation of a special molecule. Whereas the molecules that were already formed at that time were more or less coincidental bindings of free-floating building blocks that were available in the primeval soup, at a certain point in time a molecule was formed which had a most noteworthy capacity. This new molecule was formed in a way that it "had the extraordinary property of being able to create copies of itself" (Selfish Gene 15). This evolution gave way to the creation of more replicators which was the final breakthrough to life on this planet.

Long before Dawkins, other scientists had uttered the idea of cultural transmission. Sociobiology had already acknowledged man as a product of not only biology but also of its cultural environment. Earlier than that James Baldwin had used the term "social heredity" to describe the learning process of mankind (Blackmore 24) and in 1880 William James published an article in which he talked about the "remarkable parallel (...) between the facts of social evolution on the one hand, and of zoological evolution as expounded by Mr. Darwin on the other" (1).

Dawkins, however, saw memes as replicators and compared them to the better known replicators: genes. When studying genetics, one makes a difference between the genotype, which is "(...) the sum total of all the genes present in an individual" and the phenotype, which is the way we perceive the organism. The phenotype is the result of interactions between the genotype and the environment (Curtis and Barnes, G10, G16), so different organisms can have the same genotype but different phenotypes. However, it is only the genotype that will be passed on when the gene spreads (through replication/reproduction). Memes also have the ability to adapt themselves by interaction with the environment (host), and in this way change their phenotypic properties (Dennett, DDI 355).

For a gene, a genotype will only show in what we know as the phenotype of this particular genotype while still passing on its original genotype, no matter what changes are made to the phenotype. A meme however, will not be passed on in its original 'genotypic' state but will instead be copied in a phenotypic state which will, for the new host, become the genotype of this meme.

Linked Memes or Memeplexes

Many scientists have argued that memes do not always work alone; just like genes group themselves in gene complexes, memes group themselves in so-called meme complexes or memeplexes. Like genes, they work together and influence each other. Memeplexes work together in ways that they will build in protections for each other within the memeplex.

By taking a very open definition of memes as a starting point, it is possible to see every meme as a memeplex because, in some way, our own views have been influenced by our own memes and are thus unavoidably linked to them. This relates closely to the phenomenological problem that all the research is, per definition, not entirely objective, as there is already a frame of reference in which the research is carried out. The German philosopher, Kant, said that our thinking was limited by our perception; because of this, we can never observe the true nature of something ("ding an sich") but only the nature of the object as it is perceived, shaped by our frame of reference.

Both Dawkins and Blackmore have described how religions can be defined as memeplexes. It is essential to see the importance of a memeplex such as religion. Such memeplexes do not only find shelter in the mind of a new host, but they will change the perceptions and life of their new host.

The purpose of religion may seem awkward or even unintelligible, but to the host the memeplex of religion creates a paradigm through which he or she can solve philosophical questions and feel content in knowing that these questions can be solved. The built-in defense mechanisms against other explanations will furthermore protect the host (and the memeplex) from being subjected to changes of this basic belief system. Aside from protecting the host from hostile meme-intrusions, religions also include a factor of 'conversion'. All major world-religions have a religious task to spread the religion and convert non-believers. Next to that, they all have their own holy scriptures which hasten spreading and make sure the memes can survive over time (Blackmore, Meme Machine 187-194).

Life-Cycle of a Meme

A meme is virtually immortal. The Life-span of a meme depends on several criteria. In the definition that is used in this research, the aspect of selection is also considered. The selection process of memes is what will determine their longevity. A meme which is frequently selected for replication will find more hosts and will have a larger 'offspring' than a meme which resides within one host and is only very rarely selected for replication and transmission. Seth Godin calls this measure of how fast a meme can spread its "velocity" (Unleashing the Ideavirus 33).

When the field of marketing became interested in memetics, they tried to define the criteria to create a good meme in order to use these criteria to help create "Marketing Epidemics" and improve marketing strategies. According to Godin, "an ideavirus adores a vacuum" (28). It will be easier for a meme to be spread if there is not already a certain idea that embodies the same information that is contained in the meme. He gives the example of a search engine such as Yahoo! that could easily fit in to the new internet and fill up the vacuum there was in the lack of a structured search engine; the same goes for Amazon, eBay and Hotmail (Godin 63). The names have become buzz-words and are now well known to almost all internet users.

Next to the idea of the vacuum in the market, he also proposes two new criteria for memes; the velocity and the smoothness factor. The velocity refers to the speed the meme spreads, the smoothness is the factor that describes how easy it is for a meme to spread. In the case of viral marketing the memes propagate themselves, in other cases, especially in web-related memes; there is an easy way to spread the meme to other hosts. Websites use techniques such as buttons that allow you to "send this page to a friend" or will add in a self referring message in emails sent through the specific website (e.g. Hotmail) (Godin 33/64).

Once a meme has found a host, there are different selection processes at work. Heylighen described four selection phases for memes: 'Assimilation, Retention, Expression and Transmission' (1998). During each of these stages there is a striving of multiple memes to be the one that will be selected and within each of these stages memes must try to stay in the host instead of being pushed out of the way by another meme. These phases will be discussed more in depth in the chapter on memetic selection.

Examples of Memes

Many authors (e.g. Dawkins, Dennett and others) have summed up several examples of memes. Both Dennett & Dawkins give the example of Beethoven's symphonies. In this specific case it is often enough to take only a couple of bars, for example the first few bars of Beethoven's fifth symphony (Dennett 344).

This example shows the importance of perception. At the end of the previous paragraph you may have imagined the first measures of this symphony. It can be assumed that you would not have done so if the only reference given was the figure of the first six bars. If a host already has the knowledge of modern western musical notation, he or she will find it easy to recognize the tune. A host who lacks this knowledge, or memeplex that allows the decryption and encryption of music, will not be able to decode the code and will therefore be insusceptible and will not be able to assimilate the meme in this form. This example also shows that if one would hear the first few notes, this may be enough to trigger the rest of the symphony or at least the rest of the first movement.

Other examples of memes are what Dennett calls 'distinct memorable units', with examples such as the alphabet, chess, impressionism, building arches etc. (Darwin's Dangerous Idea 344). The notion of being 'memorable' limits memes in this definition. A random sequence of letters is not very memorable. When this random sequence of letters takes the shape of a self contained token with a distinct meaning to it, it becomes memorable and can then be considered a meme. So 'dll' may not mean anything to some people and may not be something that will be passed on, but to an experienced computer user and programmer, it will stand for 'dynamic link library' and will have a specific meaning. This shows that the frame of reference of the host is very important when considering meme examples.

The distinct meaning of the particular meme does not necessarily have to be decodable by conventional means. Symbols and logos often carry no direct link with their meaning. Nike's wavelike symbol says nothing about the company 'Nike' but is nevertheless so popular that the company has started using it even without the brand name.

Sometimes memes only proliferate within a small community. They become tokens of mutual understanding and represent a shared background or interest. Band logos, street gang tags and territory markers, religious symbols and the hacker alphabet all belong to a certain category of hosts. Another example is the number 42; to most people this is the number between 41 and 43 but to adepts of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it is the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything.

An example of a graphical meme is the symbolic representation of the initials of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and creator of the world of Middle Earth. These initials are an artistic rendition of the letters and represent not only the name of the author but specifically the name of the author linked to the novels which he wrote and not to his scholarly work.

Memetics Research Archive