Memetic explanations of racism
In Cultural Software: A Theory of Ideology, Jack Balkin argued that memetic processes can explain many of the most familiar features of ideological thought. His theory of “cultural software” maintained …
Read MoreApplications
Opinions differ as to how best to apply the concept of memes within a “proper” disciplinary framework. One view sees memes as providing a useful philosophical perspective with which to …
Read MoreCriticism of meme theory
An objection to the study of the evolution of memes in genetic terms (although not to the existence of memes) involves a perceived gap in the gene/meme analogy: the cumulative …
Read MoreEvolutionary influences on memes
Richard Dawkins noted the three conditions that must exist for evolution to occur: variation, or the introduction of new change to existing elements; heredity or replication, or the capacity to …
Read MoreMemes as discrete units
Richard Dawkins initially defined meme as a noun that “conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation”. John S. Wilkins retained the notion of …
Read MoreProponents
Proponents theorize that memes may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. Memes do this through the processes of variation, mutation, competition and inheritance, …
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