Cat purple

February 03, 2023

One of the things I love the most about reality is how, when being a scientist, you are presented the word "meme" as "one of the most missused scientific words ever" (when that achievement should in reality be given to the word "theory").

Because, indeed, the word meme is actually a scientific term coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene, in analogy with the word "gene", meaning:

"The smallest theoretical unit of cultural information that can be transmitted from one individual to another, from one mind to another, or from one generation to the next."

ONLY TO REALISE AFTERWARDS that the way we use the word "meme" and what it refers to is actually just on point, with its original definition. As memes as we use them today quite literally are a very small piece of cultural information that is transmitted through individuals. The only thing we made to the definition is adding a humoristic connotation to it, but that's it. Memes are actually just a very basic cultural reference in context, and it is indeed that context that gives meaning, purpose and entertainment to it.

Therefore, yes, a "meme" ended up being exactly the smallest piece of cultural information that can be transmitted from one to another.

Fascinating