From: JudyBat@pyramid.com Subj: RE: meme? : Nym's responses marked by a colon...well, this true enough, as far as source goes. i only want to note one thing, and i GNOW i'll get flamed for this, because i've been through it countless times before. i feel the need to re-iterate that Dawkin's approach was an analogy to the GENE because that was the field from which he was SPEAKING! that doesn't mean the meme is a strictly "biological" thing. i've seen it constructively discussed from the point of view of information theory... or even in discussions of architecture and artistic styles. just because Dawkins actually came up with the label that *caught on* to contain the idea, that doesn't make his biological approach to culture any more "official" than anything else. the MEME seems to be a metaphor for metaphors in general, and as such it will adapt to fit the specific needs of its environment, plain and simple. remember, Umberto Eco came up with the idea of the "cultural unit" in semiotics as long ago as '67. why hasn't the *specific term* "cultural unit" caught on? hm, maybe too many syllables? too hard to remember right away? who knows. memes have to be easily spread, as well.> Timothy writes: > Hello all. I was wondering about this word I'd heard elsewhere around the > Net, and about it's origins. The word is "meme." : Well, as for "origins:" the word was coined in 1976 by Oxford biologist : Richard Dawkins in his book, "The Selfish Gene." It wasn't really a major : argument of the book, simply a final chapter which attempted to suggest that, : just as there were biological replicators -- genes, so there could perhaps be : cultural replicators -- memes.
: Everything from fashion fads to catch-phrases [for instance, the word "OK" to : denote being all-right. The root of its original meaning is lost, but that : meaning remains tied to the meme].i once heard that "OK" was originally a catchphrase in a political campaign for some obscure person whose initials were O and K. Ironically enough, he obviously lost, because his name is lost to time. but the meme, "OK" is most definitely a part of the *world* cultural store, i'd risk saying. Of course, you have no more way of knowing whether this tale is true than i do. that's "word of mouth" for you. i DO assure you that i heard this tale. ah well.
: Even such behaviors as "waving" could be explained as memes which traveled : like viruses throughout groups of people, resulting in a common "culture" and : the messy-but-real concentrations which attend it.yeah, my favorite meme in this sense is *accent in speech!* i mean, how the heck do you suppose it developed, but through a mimicking of the peculiar twangs of the surrounding peoples. yet it's as real as the weather and its climates, with identifiable regions, even: a southern accent, a Canadian accent... a California accent. great stuff!
: Hah, tell me about it! :)hey, there's a prime meme right there: the EMOTICON! :) <- it seeped into net.correspondence somehow. obviously out of the need to portray emotion in casual written word. but where the heck did it come from? even i don't know this. anyone else? i wonder, Timothy: did anyone have to explain to you what the EMOTICON was, or did you "pick it up" contextually? me, i sort of figured it our after a few readings. i've never heard anyone *admit* to having had it explained to them, but surely there are those out there...
: Whether or not a particular idea is useful or bogus to you will depend on : its plain old elbow-grease UTILITY to you as a tool for communication with : the people you're around, and then on how well whatever source you run across : can translate their conception of the idea into your own personal local : lingo.i second that emotion. Information Wants To Be Free and all that jazz...
: Still, I can empathize. Being of a scholarly bent myself, I can't help but : wonder how these ideas will translate to the "outside" and how warmly they'll : be accepted when there aren't any "official" places to cross-check. hm.well, according to what you said above, it seems to me that the scholars will just have to take the ideas themselves at face value and decide "empirically" almost whether or not they're useful. maybe the meme will catch, maybe not. but they should give everything a fair shot, it seems to me: when before have scholars had an opportunity for a sort of empirical cultural testing ground? i have Faith in Academia!
;)
-- JudyBat