meme death is a categorical misunderstanding of the meme lifecycle, albeit an understandable one.
the flawed model is that after the hyper-prevalence of a meme, it becomes overrepresented to the point of no longer having value (“relevance”) and then “dies.” however this model is based in the flawed assumption that something which retreats to a fraction of its former state is “dead.”
this is, of course, absurd. memes are simply ideas; rarely, if ever, do ideas truly die. rather, a meme which has “died” has simply undergone a transition, a movement to a memetic position that is more stable; equilibrium.
in this way, memes are more similar to radioactive elements, or perhaps novel species introduced to an ecosystem. they may boom to an extreme degree at first, but of course, like everything, it must retreat to balance.
I think his meme is meant for something in a broader sense, it’s basically mean an idea that spread via imitation, and we human learn and advance mostly due to this imitation.
Edit:ohh i see what you mean now, and yes i agree.
meme death is a categorical misunderstanding of the meme lifecycle, albeit an understandable one.
the flawed model is that after the hyper-prevalence of a meme, it becomes overrepresented to the point of no longer having value (“relevance”) and then “dies.” however this model is based in the flawed assumption that something which retreats to a fraction of its former state is “dead.”
this is, of course, absurd. memes are simply ideas; rarely, if ever, do ideas truly die. rather, a meme which has “died” has simply undergone a transition, a movement to a memetic position that is more stable; equilibrium.
in this way, memes are more similar to radioactive elements, or perhaps novel species introduced to an ecosystem. they may boom to an extreme degree at first, but of course, like everything, it must retreat to balance.
Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of meme science?
i’m chronically online
Gene & Meme: A Scientific Exploration Of Human Cultural Phenomenon
it’s kind of crazy that Dawkins came up with a word describing a cultural phenomenon before it took off.
not often that that happens and usually folks are left floundering for a minute trying to find language that describes their experience.
I think his meme is meant for something in a broader sense, it’s basically mean an idea that spread via imitation, and we human learn and advance mostly due to this imitation.
Edit:ohh i see what you mean now, and yes i agree.
absolutely correct, nevertheless it applied to this niche scenario basically from the beginning
as such, the internet meme became the most poignant example of the term, but i would never say that internet memes are definitive of the term itself.