Ok, I am an idiot. What the heck does "meme" mean??

[progmom]

:shrug:

[Osamasux]

1. Oh!!! I know!!!! MEME!!!! Call on MEME!!!!

[Cadence]

11. LOL!

Nothin....just LOL!

[Rick Myers]

2. cha- cha - cha- chia!!!

cha- cha- chia...

(get it?)

[nutsnberries]

3. got the gist from context but looked it up on Wikipedia recently . Here->

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

ver-r-r-r-r-y inter-esting!

[progmom]

6. thanks!

...and to all of you. It was driving me crazy.

[ChiciB1]

8. WOW!!

Yoouuuu soooooo GOOD! After checking out that site I had to print it out. Pretty interesting, I just LOVE this type of stuff! Ten pages, but worth it!

Thanks so much!

[nutsnberries]

9. np!

:)

[ChiciB1]

12. Thanks, but

yours was better! I get up each morning thinking I have something to learn. You know, use it or lose it!!????

[Schema Thing]

4. "meme", it's so much more readable than "ii"

[OrwellwasRight]

13. LOL. nt.

[elperromagico]

5. I believe "meme" is mainly used around here to refer to talking points,

repeated ad infinitum, although that is not the exclusive definition.

[FizzFuzz]

7. It's the Bush Family Motto!

No seriously, it means a phrase that acquires a life of it's own and spreads through the culture, like a virus. (William S Borroughs called language a virus, I think?)

Well, that's a very superficial definition, just off the top of my head. It's probably pretty off track.....hmmm now I'm curious, gotta check that Wikipedia link

[durutti]

10. A crudely reductionist product of pop psychology that annoys the hell ou-

tta me.

[Thor_MN]

14. Isn't she Drew Carey's nemisis?

Or something like that idea?

[Solon]

15. Sort of like genetics for ideas...

at least that is what I heard, I think Richard Dawkins, I think that is his name, came up with the "meme" about memes. Basically he said that memes spread through a population much like genes do. OK, instructor's hat off. :)

[DrGonzoLives]

16. It's a pseudo-intellectual word meaning "talking point"

used mainly by people who want others to think that they are just SO, like, smart and stuff.

[Undercover Owl]

17. can it be used as a verb?

as in, pay attention while I meme?

[Az]

18. Its a word meaning a basic component of an idea

It was coined by Richard Dawkins in the book The Selfish Gene. The idea is it is similar to the gene (hence the form of the word) in that it is a basic building block of ideas.

Memes are learned by copying what we learn and see. If a meme has a good hook to it many minds will pick up on it and it will spread. Some memes develop systems of reinforcement to insure their spread. This is not a conscious thing. Rather it is simply evolution. Those memes which are effective at spreading do so.