MEMETICS

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MEMETICS

HS 214: Cultural Theory And Practice

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Evolution and Replicators

Fundamental la o! evolution:

All li!e evolve "y the di#erential survivalo! replicatin$ entities%

The $ene& the '(A molecule& happens to"e the replicatin$ entity that prevails onour planet%

)enes are considered to "e the "asicmechanisms "ehind human evolution%

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A gene is the "asic unit o! heredity in alivin$ or$anism% *t is composed o! '(Amolecules and e+ists as speci,c

se-uences o! these molecules% )enes hold the in!ormation to "uild and

maintain their cells and pass $enetic

traits to o#sprin$ throu$h replication%

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'./0E HE* 3.'E .F'(A

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Are )enes the onlyreplicators

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3E3ES: The ne replicators

3eme is an in!ormation pattern held in anindividual5s "rain hich is capa"le o! "ein$copied to another6or several7 individual5smemory%

The etymolo$y o! the term relates to the )ree8ord mimema !or 9somethin$ imitated9%

The ord as ,rst introduced "y 0ritish

scientist Richard 'a8ins in The Selfsh Gene 61;<7 to discuss evolutionary principles ine+plainin$ the spread o! ideas and culturalphenomena%

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Toemphasi=e

commonality ith$enes&'a8inscoined the

term

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For an understandin$ o! the evolution o!modern man& e must "e$in "y throin$out the $ene as the sole "asis o! our ideason evolution%

3eme can "e termed as a noun thatconveys the idea o! a unit o! culturaltransmission& or a unit o! imitation%

A meme has no $iven si=e% A meme could consist o! a sin$le ord& or a

meme could consist o! the entire speech inhich that ord ,rst occurred%

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E+amples o! 3eme

Tunes *deas Catch?phrases Clothes !ashion @ays o! ma8in$ tools& pots or "uildin$

arches an$ua$e Reli$ion

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@hich one

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*nternet 3eme

The term 9*nternetmeme9 re!ers to acatchphrase orconcept that

spreads rapidly !romperson to person viathe internet& lar$elythrou$h email&

"lo$s& !orums& socialnetor8in$ sites&and instantmessa$in$%

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3emetics: *t is the theoretical andempirical science that studies thereplication& spread and evolution o!

memes%

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Transmission o! 3emes

ust as $enes propa$atethemselves in the $enepool "y leapin$ !rom"ody to "ody via

sperms or e$$s& somemes propa$atethemselves in thememe pool "y leapin$!rom "rain to "rain via

a process hich& in the"road sense& can "ecalled imitation%

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*mitation o!ten involves thecopyin$ o! an o"served"ehaviour o! another

individual%

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B3emes may

transmit !romone individual toanother throu$h

a copy recordedin an inanimatesource& such as

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3emes hich replicate the most e#ectivelyspread "est& and some memes mayreplicate e#ectively >even hen they prove

detrimental to the el!are o! their hosts% *n the ords o! (%D%Humphrey&hen you

plant a !ertile meme in my mind youliterally parasiti=e my "rain& turnin$ it into

a vehicle !or the meme5s propa$ation in ust the ay that a virus may parasiti=e the$enetic mechanism o! the host cell%

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The )od 3eme

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Pro"a"ly it ori$inated many times "yindependent Gmutation%

*t replicates itsel! "y the spo8en and ritten

ord& aided "y $reat music and $reat art% The hi$h survival value o! the $od meme inthe meme pool results !rom its $reatpsycholo$ical appeal% *t provides a

super,cially plausi"le anser to deep andtrou"lin$ -uestions a"out e+istence% *tsu$$ests that inustices in this orld may"e recti,ed in the ne+t%

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The Geverlastin$ arms hold out acushion a$ainst our on inade-uacieshich& li8e a doctors place"o& is none

the less e#ective !or "ein$ ima$inary% )od e+ists& i! only in the !orm o! a meme

ith hi$h survival value& or in!ectivepoer& in the environment provided "yhuman culture%

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@here is )od

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Survival strate$y o! memes

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Survival strate$y o! memes

Cultural transmission is analo$ous to $enetictransmission in that& althou$h "asicallyconservative& it can $ive rise to a !orm o!evolution%

Some memes are more success!ul in thememe?pool than others%

Jualities that ma8e !or hi$h survival valueamon$ memes: longevity& fecundity and

copying-delity% The longevity o! any one copy o! a meme is

pro"a"ly relatively unimportant& as it is !or anyone copy o! a $ene%

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Fecundity is much more important thanlongevity o! particular copies%

Some memes& li8e some $enes& achieve

"rilliant short?term success in spreadin$rapidly& "ut do not last lon$ in the memepool% Popular son$s and stiletto heels aree+amples% .thers& such as the eishreli$ious las& may continue to propa$atethemselves !or thousands o! years& usually"ecause o! the $reat potentialpermanence o! ritten records%

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The memes are "ein$ passed on in altered!orm6copying-delity7% This loo8s -uiteunli8e the particulate& all?or?none -uality o!

$ene transmission% *t loo8s as thou$hmeme transmission is su"ect tocontinuous mutation& and also to "lendin$%

3emes that propa$ate less proli,cally may

"ecome e+tinct& hile others may survive&spread& and 6!or "etter or !or orse7mutate%

A(A.)K 0ET@EE( 3E3E A('

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A(A.)K 0ET@EE( 3E3E A(')E(E

@e must not thin8 o! $enes as conscious&purpose!ul a$ents% 0lind natural selection&hoever& ma8es them "ehave rather as i! they

ere purpose!ul& and it has "een convenient& as ashorthand& to re!er to $enes in the lan$ua$e o!purpose%e%$%? $enes are tryin$ to increase their num"ers in

!uture $ene pools& hat e really mean is those$enes that "ehave in such a ay as to increasetheir num"ers in !uture $ene pools tend to "e the$enes hose e#ects e see in the orld%

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Replication And *mitation

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REP*CAT*.( A('*3*TAT*.( The e+treme reductionist claims o! socio"iolo$ists

and evolutionary psycholo$ists have "eensomehat tempered "y the cultural selectionismapproach& hich admits the e+istence o! a dual

system o! inheritance in the human species:$enetic transmission and cultural transmission%

3emetics can "e considered a su"cate$ory ithincultural selectionism& di#erin$ !rom mainstream

co evolutionism in its insistence on replication asthe mechanism o! cultural inheritance%

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The copyin$ process is pro"a"ly muchless precise 6in the case o! memes7 thanin the case o! $enes: there may "e a

certain >mutational element in everycopyin$ event% 3emes may partially"lend ith each other in a ay that$enes do not% (e mutations may "edirected rather than random ithrespect to evolutionary trends%

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Another di#erence "eteen cultural selectionism andmemetics is that cultural selectionism considers thatany means o! non?$enetic transmission can ta8e partin cultural transmission& and thus admits a ide array

o! possi"ilities: imprintin$& classical conditionin$&operative conditionin$& o"servation& imitation& directinstruction% 0y contrast& standard memetics is morerestrictive in that it de,nes imitation as the only

learnin$ process hich ma8es cultural di#usionpossi"le% Accordin$ to one o! the leadin$ memeticists&Susan 0lac8more & the reason !or this emphasis onimitation is that it is the only means o! transmission

hich ma8es possi"le the accumulation o!modi,cations over enerations ?? hat is 8non as

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3utually?assistin$ memes

Some memes "ecome associated ith oneanother and this association assists thesurvival o! each o! the participatin$ memes%

To ta8e a particular e+ample& an aspect o!doctrine that has "een very e#ective inen!orcin$ reli$ious o"servance is the threatof hell re%

This is a peculiarly nasty techni-ue o!persuasion& causin$ $reat psycholo$icalan$uish throu$hout the middle a$es andeven today% 0ut it is highly eective.

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The idea o! hell ,re is& -uite simply& sel perpetuating& "ecause o! its on deeppsycholo$ical impact% *t has "ecome lin8edith the $od meme "ecause the to rein!orce

each other& and assist each others survival inthe meme pool%

Another mem"er o! the reli$ious memecomple+ is called !aith% 3emes !or "lind !aith

have their on ruthless ays o! propa$atin$themselves% This is true o! patriotic and political as ell as

reli$ious "lind !aith%

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ConMicts amon$ 3emes

3emes and $enes may o!ten rein!orce eachother& "ut they sometimes come intoopposition%

3eme?comple+es evolve in the same 8ind o!

ay as co?adapted $ene?comple+es% Selection!avours memes that e+ploit their culturalenvironment to their on advanta$e% Thiscultural environment consists o! other memes

hich are also "ein$ selected% The meme pool there!ore comes to have theattri"utes o! an evolutionarily sta"le set& hichne memes ,nd it hard to invade%

Wh t’ i t t???

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What’s more important???Genes or Memes

Gene Me!e

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)enes

@e are $ene machines& and e erecreated to pass on our $enes to the ne+t$eneration%

0ut as each $eneration passes& thecontri"ution o! our $enes are halved%

So immortality cant "e see8ed throu$h

reproduction%

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As $eneration passes "y& our$enes $et halved

oy ychromosome!rom male

chromosome !rom!emale%

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3emes

3emes li8e reli$ion& music& ritualdancin$ etc% plays an important aspect inour lives%

These are imitated very rapidly&provided a mind is present hich iscapa"le o! imitation%

This is the reason that humans havemuch more memes than animals%

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*n a ay& e can say that memes aremore important in our lives than $enes"ecause $enes !ade out "ut memes are

trans!erred to the ne+t $eneration% !or e$% 3eme comple+es o! Socrates&

eonardo& Copernicus and 3arconi are

still $oin$ stron$%

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Humans are the mostsuperiorNNNN .ne uni-ue !eature o! man& hich may or

may not evolved memitically& is hiscapacity !or conscious !oresi$ht i%e% our

capacity to stimulate the !uture inima$ination% Sel,sh $enes are unconscious& "lind

replicators% Another uni-ue -uality o! man is a

capacity !or $enuine& disinterested& truealtrui!.

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A 1 T R / * S 3 N N N

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@e can see the lon$ term "ene,ts in ourlives and ta8e the necessary steps toachieve them%

Throu$h this essay& 'a8ins li8es toconvey that e humans& have the poerto de!y our sel,sh $enes "y "irth& and

also sel,sh memes o! our indoctrination%

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“ We are built as gene machinesand cultured as meme

machines, but we have the power to turn against our owncreators. We, alone on earth, can

rebel against the tyranny o theselfsh replicators.”

!ichard

"aw#ins

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Presented "y:

Dama8hya Prasad 0asumatary'ipa8 0ansal3adhurya 'ehin$ia0raen 0aishya)aurav Ranan

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Than8in$ Kou

MEMETICS

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