What the hell is a meme anyway?

A meme = Information that gets copied (roughly)

Susan Blackmore talks of memes as bits of information that get copied from person to person similar to how a virus can get spread from person to person.

She has expanded the idea to a "technological meme", a piece of technology that gets copied, mutated, etc. like a virus or a meme. "Teme" is her word for technological meme.

For instance, a mating ritual can be a form of a meme. Language can be seen as being built up of memes.

Basically for Blackmore, there are three selfish replicators.

1) Genes (genes like in viruses get copied around between living organisms) 2) Memes (information getting copied between the brains of living organisms) 3) Temes (technological information that gets copied around, not necessarily needing living organisms, like for example an internet worm can just travel at will throughout the internet, not needing human help to get copied)

They are "selfish" replicators in that, "if they can get copied, they will." I posted a blog article to my blog on this last year -

http://blogkinnetic.blogspot.com/2008/08/susan-blackmore-tal...