What’s in a Meme?
Meme n. Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).
The term meme often has mixed emotions that are quickly to follow. Coined in 1976 by the zoologist and evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins, it refers to a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another. Examples of memes are tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Why are so many quick to argue that a meme has a negative presence?


