User:SoupyCube/Meme

Criticism of meme theory[edit]

See also: Memetics § Critics of memetics

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2021)

An objection to the study of the evolution of memes in genetic terms (although not to the existence of memes) involves a perceived gap in the gene/meme analogy: the cumulative evolution of genes depends on biological selection-pressures neither too great nor too small in relation to mutation-rates. There seems no reason to think that the same balance will exist in the selection pressures on memes.

Luis Benitez-Bribiesca M.D., a critic of memetics, calls the theory a "pseudoscientific dogma" and "a dangerous idea that poses a threat to the serious study of consciousness and cultural evolution". As a factual criticism, Benitez-Bribiesca points to the lack of a "code script" for memes (analogous to the DNA of genes), and to the excessive instability of the meme mutation mechanism (that of an idea going from one brain to another), which would lead to a low replication accuracy and a high mutation rate, rendering the evolutionary process chaotic. In his book Darwin's Dangerous Idea Daniel C. Dennett rebuts this claim, pointing to the existence of self-regulating correction mechanisms (vaguely resembling those of gene transcription) enabled by the redundancy and other properties of most meme expression languages which stabilize information transfer. Dennett notes that spiritual narratives, including music and dance forms, can survive in full detail across any number of generations even in cultures with oral tradition only. Memes for which stable copying methods are available will inevitably get selected for survival more often than those which can only have unstable mutations, therefore going extinct.

British political philosopher John Gray has characterized Dawkins's memetic theory of religion as "nonsense" and "not even a theory... the latest in a succession of ill-judged Darwinian metaphors", comparable to Intelligent Design in its value as a science.

Another critique comes from semiotic theorists such as Terrence Deacon and Kalevi Kull. This view regards the concept of "meme" as a primitivized concept of "sign". The meme is thus described in memetics as a sign lacking a triadic nature. Semioticians can regard a meme as a "degenerate" sign, which includes only its ability of being copied. Accordingly, in the broadest sense, the objects of copying are memes, whereas the objects of translation and interpretation are signs.^{[clarification needed]}

Fracchia and Lewontin regard memetics as reductionist and inadequate. Evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr disapproved of Dawkins's gene-based view and usage of the term "meme", asserting it to be an "unnecessary synonym" for "concept", reasoning that concepts are not restricted to an individual or a generation, may persist for long periods of time, and may evolve.

Radim Chvaja, a researcher for Masaryk University states that Memetic theory has failed due to the idea's founders Richard Dawkins and George C. Williams taking on a "strict adoption" of their argument which in turn forced them to dig in to the idea that the replication of a meme is biological in nature.

Elliott Oring calls Dawkins' term "the selfish gene" potentially "dangerous and misleading". Dawkins', according to Oring, suggestion that genes aren't already selfish in the sense that they will do whatever it takes to survive and replicate as it is. Memes, as Dawkins describes them do not behave that way according to Oring. They do not have strict generational lines, they do not do whatever it takes to assure their own survival as memes are not alive. Oring goes on to say that memes are dissimilar from genes in the sense that they do not particularly need to keep their individual biological hosts alive, as they do not rely on any type of genetic code to replicate and reproduce. Oring suggests that the problem with memes as a whole is that they cannot be "precisely specified".

Internet culture[edit]

Main article: Internet meme

See also: List of Internet phenomena

An "Internet meme" is a concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the Internet.

In 2013, Richard Dawkins characterized an Internet meme as one deliberately altered by human creativity, distinguished from Dawkins's original idea involving mutation "by random change and a form of Darwinian selection."

Internet memes have been around since the beginning of the internet itself, but were made massively popular when social media sites and message boards first began popping up. Typically, memes have been based on a certain format such as the 'Grumpy Cat' or 'Bad-Luck Brian' memes that were popular in the early 2010's. the creator of the meme conveys a message through said format. Internet memes have become one of the primary forms of digital communication in the past two decades. They are used by everyday people for purposes of self-expression, they are used by businesses for advertising purposes, by political groups to make points or convey messages to their followers, for comedic purposes and even for religious reasons.

Internet memes are an example of Dawkins' meme theory at work in the sense of how they so rapidly mirror current cultural events and become a part of how the time period is defined. Limor Shifman uses the example of the 'Gangnam Style' Music video by South Korean pop-star, Psy that went viral in 2012. Shifman cites examples of how the meme mutated itself into the cultural sphere, mixing with other things going on at the time such as the 2012 U.S. presidential election, which led to the creation of Mitt Romney Style, a parody of the original Gangnam style, intended to be a jab at the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

Meme stocks[edit]

Meme stocks are listed companies lauded for the social media buzz they create, rather than their operating performance. r/wallstreetbets, a subreddit where participants discuss stock and option trading, became notable in 2021 for its involvement on the popularization of meme stocks.

Some examples of Meme stocks even use internet memes, such as the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

References

FINAL NOTE

It appears that the edits I made to the wikipedia article were not removed by any of the other contributors, they are still up and live on the main page for Meme on wikipedia.