Meme: an information pattern, held in an individual's memory, which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory.

Meme [link to en.wikipedia.org]
Memetics [link to pespmc1.vub.ac.be]


First people need to understand what a meme is. It is not just a silly picture on the internet with a catchy slogan or image. It is an idea. A point of view that spreads from person to person and changes the way they live their lives.

America claiming it's freedom away from the crown was a meme. An idea that started in some obscure persons minds and then spread like a fire through the hearts and minds of men and women in the colonies motivating them to fight against overwhelming and some would say impossible odds to overthrow the ancient system of royalty and commoners.

It is directly related to what people call the universal mind. How do people seem to have the same idea simultaneously in different parts of the world? Even before social media and the internet. There is no explanation. The study of memes (memetics) is attempting to unravel the mystery of these powerful thoughts that seem to spread everywhere at once in human minds and have no obvious origin.

An example of a powerful short meme is the Harlem shake.
Why did everyone love this and feel compelled to make tens of thousands of videos that were watched countless millions of times? Then it disappeared like a wild fire burning itself out when there was nothing else for it to consume.

The Nobody is an example of an obscure but persistent meme.
Why won't that idea just die already? Regardless of your personal feelings about that meme many here have to admit it has a strange allure to it sometimes and has a way of sucking in the most rational minds. While turning other people absolutely bat shit crazy. That is why i am interested in it myself. It's resilience and ability to make hundreds and likely thousands of people believe it is about them while homing in our more narcissistic posters and exposing them as being unstable mentally much of the time. While being an outlet for art, and love for others. Definitely it is one of the more extreme and therefore interesting examples of a persistent and powerful meme from a memetic point of view that i have come across.

Are memes alive? [link to www.lucifer.com]

At first that seems like an absurd question i know. Through memetics though we have learned that memes follow a pattern in their journey through minds strikingly similar to things we find in nature. Those things are the human replicating genes and viruses.

Both live to multiply and spread. Genes typically replicate and spread to insure survival of their host. While viruses quickly and aggressively spread in an attempt to overwhelm their host and destroy it.
The nature of genes and viruses is identical to the nature of the memes that we have been able to track with some consistency. Many have survival tactics when attacked and the most successful ones adapt quickly to changes in their environment. Again like genes and viruses.

Because of these obvious similarities in behavior many who study memetics treat them as if they are alive on principle even though there is no proof of such an impossible thing because it leads to a better understanding of them and how they work.

I am in no way suggesting that i believe they are in fact alive. That leads to pseudo science very quickly. People want to compare them to demons and angels and muses and ghosts and all sorts of other things that only serve to get in the way of what memetics is trying to and has already accomplished in trying to explain and understand the natural phenomenon that is the meme.

Why is memetics important?

What Hitler accomplished before his defeat was because of a meme. A meme that spread until it found a man capable of spreading it's influence world wide and almost succeeding in taking over the world. An ARCH MEME. Understanding and categorizing these seemingly "alive and conscience" ideas could lead us to better understanding ourselves as a species and hopefully give us insight into how we may finally move forward together without destroying ourselves and our planet because of destructive memes invading our minds and stopping our progress towards a peaceful and fulfilling society for all.

So next time you are talking to an otherwise sane and rational person who seems to lose their mind and normal reasoning skills every time a certain subject comes up. Think about the meme...and wonder if your friend has been infected.