meme
Sign in to saveA meme (; ) 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. 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. In popular language, a meme may refer to
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A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person through imitation and carries meaning within a culture—functioning as a unit that transmits cultural practices through various forms like writing, speech, and gestures. Memes matter because they help explain how cultural ideas and practices propagate and evolve within societies, similar to how genes work in biology.
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Article
21 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Origins
- 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
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
A meme (; ) 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. 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. 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.
Proponents theorize that memes are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. 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.