Memetic evolution is the study of how ideas, behaviors, and styles spread throughout a culture. A “meme” is the unit of this cultural transmission. It is not limited to online images with text, but encompasses any piece of cultural information that passes from one person’s mind to another, shaping everything from fashion trends to societal norms.
The Origin of Memes
The term “meme” was first introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. Dawkins proposed the meme as the cultural equivalent of the biological gene—a self-replicating unit of information that propagates through a population. He coined the term by shortening the Greek word mimeme, which means “imitated thing,” and intended for it to sound similar to “gene.”
In its original conception, the meme was a broad concept describing how cultural information is transmitted. Dawkins provided several examples of these pre-internet memes, including catchy tunes, memorable catchphrases, and prevailing fashion trends. He also pointed to more substantial cultural units, such as the techniques for building architectural arches or religious beliefs, to illustrate the concept.
Dawkins argued that, like genes, memes compete for survival. A meme’s success is not dependent on it being true or beneficial to its human host, but simply on its ability to be copied and transmitted effectively. The idea itself is the replicator, driving its own spread across society through imitation.
How Memes Spread and Evolve
The transmission of memes occurs through imitation, where one person copies a behavior, skill, or idea from another. This replication is the foundation of cultural evolution, which, like its biological counterpart, relies on three principles: variation, selection, and retention. These elements work together to drive how ideas change and persist over time.
Variation occurs because memes are not always copied perfectly, undergoing slight modifications as they pass from person to person. For instance, a family recipe for bread might be altered when someone adds a new spice, creating a new variant of the original. This process introduces novelty into the cultural landscape, providing a pool of different ideas to draw from.
These variations are then subject to selection. Memes that are more appealing, useful, or memorable are more likely to be imitated and passed on. In the recipe example, if the version with the added spice is more delicious, it will be shared more frequently than the original. The ideas that survive this process are then retained in memories or stored in external forms like books or digital files, ready to be transmitted again.
The Rise of Internet Memes
The principles of memetic evolution are highly visible in the digital age. The internet has created an environment where the components of replication—speed, reach, and fidelity—are greatly amplified. This digital ecosystem acts as an accelerator for the spread and evolution of ideas.
Online, memes are replicated with near-perfect fidelity, as a digital image or video can be copied millions of times without degradation. The speed and reach of transmission are also increased, as social media platforms allow an idea to cross the globe in minutes. This allows memes to reach a vast audience much faster than through traditional communication.
This digital environment provides clear mechanisms for variation and selection. Variation occurs when users alter or “remix” existing content, such as by adding new text to an image macro or creating a parody of a viral video. Selection is driven by user engagement, where likes, shares, and upvotes act as pressures determining which variations thrive. Memes that resonate most with the online community are replicated most widely.
Memeplexes and Cultural Systems
Individual memes often group together to form larger structures known as “memeplexes,” or meme complexes. A memeplex is a collection of related, mutually reinforcing memes that are frequently transmitted together. Much like genes in gene complexes, these memes form symbiotic relationships that enhance their collective survival and replication.
Memeplexes serve as the foundation for many large-scale cultural systems. A political ideology, for example, is a memeplex composed of interconnected concepts, values, and beliefs that support one another. When someone adopts an ideology, they often adopt the entire cluster of associated memes.
Religions offer another clear example of a memeplex. They consist of a wide range of memes, including moral codes, rituals, stories, and theological doctrines, that are passed down as a cohesive unit. Scientific theories also function as memeplexes, comprising foundational principles, experimental methods, and accumulated knowledge that are taught and transmitted together.