My recent exposure to the science of memes has intrigued me, and also somewhat troubled me. The word slipped into my consciousness a couple of years ago after reading a book on marketing. I can’t even remember the title or the author but I do remember that the author’s take on memes was positive. And since it was a book on marketing, I thought that made sense. After all, one job of a great marketer is to brand a product with a logo and tagline.
But more recently I watched a video on TED by Susan Blackmore. She likens memes to a virus that spreads itself from brain to brain. She goes further and says that a meme’s only purpose is to replicate itself through human consciousness.
Prior to the Star War’s trilogy, no one would have known what you meant if you said, “May the force be with you.” Now we all know the meaning. The phrase is a meme that’s now part of our culture. “Live long and prosper,” is another. (Yes, I’m a sci-fi fan.)
It’s the theory of unknowing replication that intrigues and troubles me. If it’s true, we humans are mostly unconscious dupes serving memes mission to replicate.
I don’t have the answers to any of those questions. I can only resolve to continue expressing myself creatively and if I’m participating in the replication process of a meme, I want to be doing it consciously.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
How could individual creativity be lost once the idea becomes a meme? Without the original individual creative thought the meme would not be. Birth new ideas and be proud that they have become memes.
The creation of a meme can be creative. But unconscious participation in the replication is not a creative act in my opinion.