3 ms·
If virus are alive, then internet memes are alive. —They reproduce not by themselves but by infecting other organisms -- They evolve / mutate
by al3xandre 7y ago
If virus are alive, then internet memes are alive. —They reproduce not by themselves but by infecting other organisms
-- They evolve / mutate
- ASalazarMX 7y agoCome on, we're getting too philosophical. Viruses have genes, internet memes are just ideas.
- mcv 7y agoDo you know where the word meme comes from?
- ASalazarMX 7y agoOf course, and that reinforces their status of imaginary genes.
- al3xandre 7y agoWhat difference is there between information stored as proteins in a chains or as bytes on hard drive / neuron configuration in your brain. We just got used to the DNA=life, but is this a valid assumption? Some exotic lifeforms could encode their self-defining information on silicium magnetic polarisation, electron spin or whatever. And you would call them life if they were standing and moving in an animal-like way.
- emiliobumachar 7y agoI didn't read The Selfish Gene, the book that coined the term "meme", but I heard that it mostly explores that analogy, for a much broader definition of meme.