Re: virus: Definition of meme (from alt.memetics)

RayHiggins@aol.com
Mon, 30 Dec 1996 15:48:06 -0500


: Dawkins has recanted his original definition as imprecise. From "Virus of
: the Mind":

: A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose existence influences
events
: such that more copies of itself get created in other minds.


How about a wierd little thought and a problem I've had with Various
definitions of meme.
The definition mentioned above results in a slightly hisenburg type paradox.
Namely, any unit of information you examine to determine if it is a meme,
has, by definition, met all the requirements for being a meme in that it has
influenced events by its mere exixtence (your mind deciding to examine it)
and it has been successfully replicated in your mind.

Ray Higgins
rhiggins@pipeline.com