Nerd Alert: Mēmes For Dummies

I was relieved to see from the comments on my post yesterday that I’m not the only one that didn’t know how to pronounce meme (mēm).  If I’m guessing correctly, most of us probably don’t know exactly what it is either, or how it came to be.  The question becomes at this point, do you really care to ascend another rung up the nerd ladder?  If you do, push up your glasses, hike up your pants and keep reading.

I thought it was kind of silly that none of us knew anything about something we all read and participate in regularly.  So I decided to come up with a non-technical bullet list to describe a meme (mēm).  After reading this list you’ll be ready to dork it up at your next dinner party.  Bring it on nerds, we may even teach you something! 

Then we’ll have to talk about shoe shopping or Brittany Spears, because phew, I’ll be tapped out.

Ok, you ready?  I’ll put this in terms we can all understand:

1. In 1976 a nerd named Dawkins shortened the Greek word ‘mimeme’ (something imitated) to meme (mēm) so that it sounded similar to the word gene. (He did that on purpose)
2. In his mind, a meme is similar to a gene, in that it’s self replicating. 
3. He wanted his new word to describe a unit of social and cultural evolution.
4. A meme can constantly mutate into something new, depending on the host, and be passed on.  In this way it also resembles a virus.
5. A blog meme is generally a pre-made list of questions that the author answers for her readers.  She then “tags” other readers to answer the same questions.  The author of that meme is at liberty to keep the same questions, or tweak them as she wishes.  Hence the “mutation”, if you will.
6. A specific blog meme is only one unit in a memeplex (a group of memes).  I assume that the different blog memes make up their own memeplex and fall into a larger technology meme.  But Heaven help me, I’m not an expert on such things.
7. There are memes for most human behaviors and cultural systems.  For example: politics, religion, fashion, personality, etc, etc, etc.  And I mean etcetera.  There are lots of the little buggers out there. 

I know, crazy – right?  There’s a whole world of memes out there being replicated and passed along in human life.  Most of us know they’re there, but didn’t know what they were called.  And now we do.  Or I do, depending on how long you’ve been able to stay with me here.  I won’t be upset if you dropped off there in the middle somewhere, I do it all the time when Mr. Wright’s talking.

Anyway, I’m going to go play Rockband now, I’ve successfully bored myself.