Editing Meme (section)

=== Dawkins ===
The word ''meme'' originated with [[Richard Dawkins]]' 1976 book ''[[The Selfish Gene]]''.

Dawkins cites as inspiration the work of geneticist [[L. L. Cavalli-Sforza]], anthropologist F. T. Cloak,<ref>Cloak, F. T. 1966. "Cultural microevolution". ''Research Previews'' 13(2): 7–10. (Also presented at the November, 1966 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association.)</ref><ref>Cloak, F. T. 1975. "Is a cultural ethology possible?" [[Human Ecology (journal)|''Human Ecology'']] 3: 161–182. {{doi|10.1007/BF01531639}}.</ref> and ethologist J. M. Cullen.<ref>"[https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-selfish-gene/chapter-11-memes-the-new-replicators The Selfish Gene: Chapter 11 – Summary & Analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114235259/https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-selfish-gene/chapter-11-memes-the-new-replicators |date=14 November 2021}}". ''LitCharts''.</ref> Dawkins wrote that evolution depended not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmission—in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution.

[[File:Kilroy was here (re-drawn).gif|thumb|right|"[[Kilroy was here]]" was a [[Graffiti|graffito]] that became popular in the 1940s, and existed under various names in different countries, illustrating how a meme can be modified through replication. This is seen as one of the first widespread memes in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gardner |first=Martin |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-05-bk-5402-story.html |title=Kilroy Was Here |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=5 March 2000 |access-date=8 October 2021 |archive-date=11 October 2021  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011161432/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-05-bk-5402-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Dawkins used the term to refer to any cultural entity that an observer might consider a [[self-replication|replicator]]. He hypothesized that one could view many cultural entities as replicators, and pointed to melodies, fashions and learned skills as examples. Memes generally replicate through exposure to humans, who have evolved as efficient copiers of information and behavior. Because humans do not always copy memes perfectly, and because they may refine, combine or otherwise modify them with other memes to create new memes, they can change over time. Dawkins likened the process by which memes survive and change through the [[cultural evolution|evolution of culture]] to the natural selection of genes in biological [[evolution]].<ref name="selfish"/>
Dawkins noted that in a society with culture a person need not have biological descendants to remain influential in the actions of individuals thousands of years after their death:<blockquote>But if you contribute to the world's culture, if you have a good idea...it may live on, intact, long after your genes have dissolved in the common pool. [[Socrates]] may or may not have a gene or two alive in the world today, as [[George C. Williams (biologist)|G.C. Williams]] has remarked, but who cares? The meme-complexes of Socrates, [[Leonardo da Vinci|Leonardo]], [[Copernicus]] and [[Guglielmo Marconi|Marconi]] are still going strong.<ref name="The Selfish Gene 30th Anniversary Edition section on survival" /></blockquote>

In that context, Dawkins defined the ''meme'' as a unit of [[Cultural Transmission|cultural transmission]], or a unit of imitation and replication, but later definitions would vary. The lack of a consistent, rigorous, and precise understanding of what typically makes up one unit of cultural transmission remains a problem in debates about [[memetics]].<ref name="machine">{{harvnb|Blackmore|1999}}</ref> In contrast, the concept of genetics gained concrete evidence with the [[DNA#History|discovery]] of the [[DNA#Biological functions|biological functions]] of [[DNA]]. Meme transmission requires a physical medium, such as photons, sound waves, touch, taste, or smell because memes can be transmitted only through the senses.