Of ocurse they're real memes! If you selectively breed dogs to produce a new breed, you're still using genes.
However, they're definitely bordering towards the artificially selected end of the meme spectrum. However, ass all memes are spread through human brains, they're more valid as an analogy of meme distribution than artificially selected genes are.
In fact, as very few people on LJ are really aware what a meme is (You can tell by the number of people who pronounce it with two syllables, betraying an ignorance of it's etymology), it's almost a perfect analogy of a 'wild' meme. The same factors that affect the spread of a meme on LJ (entertainment, controversy, opinion) also affect the spread of memes elsewhere
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Its function is analogous. It's the unit of inheritance for intellect, as the gene is the unit of inheritance for biology. It allows the observer to study the evolution of ideas in similar patterns and concepts to the evolution of organisms.
Culture is right, sorry. It's an exterior thing, not an internalised system.
See, I'm not sure where exactly this overconfidence comes in: maybe its my overfamiliarity with biological inheritance, selection and evolution, but the idea that a unit of culture such as a phrase, an idea or a story, is going to be subject to certain pressures affecting whether its passed on or not, and those that are passed on have some quality that resists those pressures. Either it changes to possess a quality that supports propogation, or it already has that quality.
As in biological selection, the basic concpet seems so self-evident I lack the imagination to understand how it could not be so. Somewhat like when creationists start. They have to accept natural selection because it's logically obvious. It's taking the next logical step they all fall down on
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However, they're definitely bordering towards the artificially selected end of the meme spectrum. However, ass all memes are spread through human brains, they're more valid as an analogy of meme distribution than artificially selected genes are.
In fact, as very few people on LJ are really aware what a meme is (You can tell by the number of people who pronounce it with two syllables, betraying an ignorance of it's etymology), it's almost a perfect analogy of a 'wild' meme. The same factors that affect the spread of a meme on LJ (entertainment, controversy, opinion) also affect the spread of memes elsewhere ( ... )
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(The comment has been removed)
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See, I'm not sure where exactly this overconfidence comes in: maybe its my overfamiliarity with biological inheritance, selection and evolution, but the idea that a unit of culture such as a phrase, an idea or a story, is going to be subject to certain pressures affecting whether its passed on or not, and those that are passed on have some quality that resists those pressures. Either it changes to possess a quality that supports propogation, or it already has that quality.
As in biological selection, the basic concpet seems so self-evident I lack the imagination to understand how it could not be so. Somewhat like when creationists start. They have to accept natural selection because it's logically obvious. It's taking the next logical step they all fall down on ( ... )
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