Gunnar
We agree.
Yes, Richard Dawkins coined the term "meme." The term has been debated and
the definition expanded by others in the scientific and academic community.
I do consider those discussions authoritative for our purpose. I also find
the term "meme" useful.
You ask:
On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 12:39 PM, Gunnar Swanson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>
>
> Quick: Name three "elements of a culture or system of behavior" that may
> *not* "be considered to be passed from one individual to another by
> nongenetic means, especially imitation."
>
Ah, but you said "elements of a culture or system of behavior." I would
argue that this does not cover all the possible stuff we know. Culure, by
definition, is a meme (or to be recursive, is a meme that is comprised of
multiple memes). Some behyavioral routines are memes, if others copy them
or they are taught. When a tennis player bounces the ball several times on
the ground before serving, that behavioral routine is a meme, copied by
aspiring young players all over the world, forno apparent reason other than
the fact that they have seen other plasyers do it. The behavior has gone
viral.
But my understanding that my friend John loves peanut butter is not a meme.
Why not? Ah, to answer that question is to explain what it is that makes a
meme. A meme is a unit of knowledge that also has sharing, transmititive,
viral properties is why it is useful to have a name for that sort of thing:
Not everything is a meme.
Moreover, memes change as they are spread, and studying these changes is a
valuable contribution to the social use of knowledge. (It is related to
studies of the spread of rumours -- a rumor is a form of meme.)
Don
--
Don Norman
Prof. and Director, DesignLab, UC San Diego
[log in to unmask] designlab.ucsd.edu/ www.jnd.org <http://www.jnd.org/>
Executive Assistant:
Olga McConnell, [log in to unmask] +1 858 534-0992
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