Even now, it's quite hard to nail down a fixed definition of the word - it could be anything. And, if it could be anything, then why not declare a collection of headlines lifted from a series of blogs - memes?
Here's what Dawkins had to say: "If a scientist hears, or reads about, a good idea, he passes it on to his colleagues and students. He mentions it in his articles and his lectures. If the idea catches on, it can be said to propagate itself, spreading from brain to brain. Memes should be regarded as living structures, not just metaphorically but technically. When you plant a fertile meme in my mind, you literally parasitize my brain, turning it into a vehicle for the meme's propagation in just the way that a virus may parasitize the genetic mechanism of a host cell."
Perhaps Dawkins' definition does apply. After all, the Internet has certainly become part of our culture, as has blogging. I'd be happy to hear your feedback on this. Has blogging become a unit of cultural transmission? By republishing headlines, linked to stories, have we become parasitized by this meme?
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Have you tried Megite, at http://www.megite.com. it is a cool service too.
Posted by: matt | February 9, 2006 9:17 PM | Permalink to Comment