Early formulations
Dawkins
After Dawkins: Role of physical media
Memetic lifecycle: transmission, retention
Memes as discrete units
Evolutionary influences on memes
Memetics
Criticism of meme theory
Applications
Memetic explanations of racism
Religion
Architectural memes
Internet culture
Meme stocks
Politics
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the usage of the term on the Internet, see Internet meme. For other uses, see Meme (disambiguation).
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A meme (/miːm/ ⓘ; MEEM)[1][2][3] is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.[4] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.[5] In popular language, a meme may refer to an Internet meme, typically an image, that is remixed, copied, and circulated in a shared cultural experience online.[6][7]
Proponents theorize that memes are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution.[8] Memes do this through processes analogous to those of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance, each of which influences a meme's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behavior that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread, and (for better or for worse) mutate. Memes that replicate most effectively enjoy more success, and some may replicate effectively even when they prove to be detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.[9]
