The word 'Meme' was coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book 'The Selfish gene'. Many think it was a novel idea but he proposed that it is not. It has been used before in the times of Darwin and Huxley. Derived from the Greek word 'Mimeme', meaning imitated thing. But Richard Dawkins wanted something that sounds like 'gene'. So, he abbreviated it to 'meme' But, what does it really mean?
In the simplest language, a Meme is an idea that spreads through person-to-person by means of imitations within a culture, to carry on the genes safely. The main motive of every meme is the survival of the species or the group. The reason why he wanted something which rhymes with the gene is that memes also act like genes, So let me first explain what is a gene. a gene is a set of information about the organism in the DNA like the color of the eye, hair, etc.
Another great analogy to learn about memes is a virus, which I think is most relevant today. Just like the virus a meme also becomes viral which means it circulates quickly and widely. Just like genes passes from the biological body to the body. Memes pass from brain to brain through imitations. It acts as a unit for carrying ideas, practices, etc. Rituals, writing, speech, and other phenomena help to imitated memes.
But the genes that pass on to the child are not exactly the same as its parents. Same for memes, As Richard Dawkins explained that, 'Darwin's theory which he wrote in his own words could be very different from what you know as you have read from modern scientists which he is explaining in his own words' and So do I.
Animals are still in that gene game that they have to have their dominance in the group and move forward their gene but humans are playing the meme game on a massive scale as humanity.
Capitalism, Secularism, etc. are the memes created by humans that ensure that their genes are carried on successfully. The most successful meme (in an evolutionary sense) to date is Religion. Every single question which we were not able to answer we left it for the religion.
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