From a scientific perspective: are memes real? If so, what are they? If not, are they scientific?
by 
hijklmno
ANSWERS: 4
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Sure. A meme is an idea or phrase that spreads like a virus. Have you ever heard that the average person eats two spiders while they are asleep during their lifetime? This plausible "factoid" was actually made up to scientifically study the propagation of memes. It has propagated so well that it is often found in lists of interesting facts. Other "memes" are quotations from films. In one list "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" is listed as the most recognised phrase from a film.
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To say a "meme is real" is to promote an abstraction beyond its rightful place. We can all observe that ideas take on a "life of their own", as they propagate from one person to the next, and it's reasonable to develop coherent theories which explain how this happens and which factors affect the propagation, etc. All of that is consistent with a scientific view. But that's different than saying "memes are real", because "meme" is an abstraction. In the same sense, it's stretching the language a bit to say "evolution is real". Evolution is an abstraction. What is real? Well, specific animals having offspring with mutations, that's real. And some of those offspring dying or thriving as a result, that's real... you have to back up to the 10,000 foot level and look at patterns and think in abstractions to say "evolution is real".
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oops... should've been a comment.
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And again... grrr...
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