The Interplay of Memes and Genes: Unpacking Cultural Evolution
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Understanding Memes and Their Origins
Every time I encounter the term "meme," a sense of unease tends to wash over me. It's one of those concepts that seems essential to grasp, yet my understanding has always been somewhat superficial—until recently. My perspective shifted after diving into the history of memes as detailed in Carl Zimmer's She Has Her Mother's Laugh. It reminded me of my previous confusion regarding “photons,” where my lack of comprehension pushed me to finally seek clarity.
It's crucial to acknowledge that ignorance can be preferable to a misguided belief in understanding something. A lack of knowledge can often prompt action, unlike a false sense of understanding.
Memes are omnipresent, even for those who may not actively engage with social media. They bombard us from every angle—Barbenheimer, Babygirl, Angela Bassett Did the Thing, and a seemingly endless stream of quirky cat videos dominate our digital landscape.
Historically, memes were not always tied to the Internet. The term "meme" was introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. If you mentioned “the Internet” back then, you would likely receive puzzled stares—public data networks were only emerging in the late 1970s, vastly different from what we know today.
In 1986, the National Science Foundation began connecting major computer sites, laying the groundwork for our modern Internet. Thus, memes originated well before the Internet and even the World Wide Web.
Dawkins not only coined the term "meme" but also drew a clever parallel between it and "gene." He based the term on the ancient Greek word mēma, meaning “that which is imitated,” then anglicized it to mimeme, before finally shortening it to meme. This was no slow evolution; it was a flash of inspiration linking cultural concepts to genetic ideas.
The Relationship Between Genes and Memes
Memes can be seen as cultural phenomena, akin to how genes represent biological traits. Dawkins proposed that both genes and memes operate as self-replicating entities influencing evolution—genes affecting biological evolution and memes influencing cultural evolution.
Models serve as foundations in science, providing frameworks to explain our world. However, models vary widely in their effectiveness. A metaphysical model seeks to explain reality, while an epistemological model connects the known to the unknown for better understanding. Dawkins used the known concept of genes to explain the newly introduced idea of memes—illustrating that one thing can help clarify another.
The Birth of Memetics
In 1997, the Journal of Memetics was established, focusing on this new field. However, by 2005, it had ceased publication, highlighting the challenges of establishing memetics as a credible field of study. In stark contrast, there were 355 active academic journals on genetics in 2023.
The disconnection between the two fields raises questions about the viability of memetics as a discipline. Just because a model exists doesn’t mean it’s effective. The hydraulic model of emotions, for example, has been largely discredited despite its earlier popularity.
Genes and memes are not equivalent. Genes function as precise mechanisms, replicating without deviation, barring mutations. Memes represent broader patterns of behavior. While genes determine biological characteristics and can undergo mutations, memes are learned behaviors that evolve through social interactions.
The Role of Behavior in Memes
Memes include skills, melodies, and fashions—larger concepts compared to the granularity of genes. For instance, a child might learn to start a fire from an adult, a skill that can propagate through generations. Both genes and memes can replicate, but they do so in fundamentally different ways.
Consider chimpanzees, which also exhibit meme-like behaviors. Research has identified distinct behaviors within different groups, suggesting that these social animals have their own cultural phenomena.
Unlike genes, which replicate based on biochemical processes, memes rely on social imitation. Memes don’t mutate randomly; individuals can modify them, but success in replication isn’t guaranteed. The dynamics of memes are rooted in choice rather than biological necessity.
Memes can certainly change and adapt, but likening this evolution to genetic mutation is misleading. While genes evolve through natural selection, memes are replicated through social preference. The choices surrounding memes highlight the agency of individuals in a way that genetic replication does not.
The Evolution of Memes in the Digital Age
Despite the shortcomings of memetics, memes have achieved a kind of cultural ubiquity, especially since the advent of the World Wide Web. The Internet catalyzed the viral spread of memes, transforming the concept into a phenomenon that captures global attention.
Today's memes are primarily digital artifacts—combinations of text and imagery that convey ideas, rather than behaviors or cultural practices as originally envisioned by Dawkins. The Doge meme, for example, showcases a Shiba Inu with humorous captions, illustrating the quirks of modern meme culture.
Unlike Dawkins' original concept, contemporary memes have drifted from their roots in behavior and culture. The reasons behind the success of some memes over others remain largely unexplained, and participation often boils down to enjoyment rather than any deeper significance.
In essence, while today’s memes may not replicate specific behaviors, they nevertheless reflect human behavior in significant ways. Our inclination to engage with and share memes speaks to our social nature, providing a simple pleasure that can be likened to the age-old joke about why dogs engage in certain behaviors—because they can.
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