Memes are everywhere online. You see them shared across social media, used in everyday conversations, and referenced in popular culture. You might even participate in meme trends without realizing it. But what exactly is a meme? While often associated with humorous images and viral videos on the internet, the concept of a meme is much older and more profound than you might think.
The Genesis of the Term “Meme”
Interestingly, the word “meme” predates the internet by several decades. It has even appeared in the New York Times Crossword puzzle a remarkable 60 times since the 1940s. Credit for introducing the term “meme” goes to British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. In his seminal 1976 book, “The Selfish Gene,” Dawkins proposed the idea of a meme as a unit of cultural information, analogous to a gene in biology.
To understand Dawkins’ concept, think of a meme as the cultural equivalent of a biological gene – a self-replicating unit of information. Kirby Conrod, a linguistics professor at Swarthmore College, clarifies this by comparing memes to familiar concepts: “I would explain the concept of a meme — a self-replicating chunk of information — by asking someone about an inside joke they had with friends or an advertising jingle that’s been stuck in their head for 20 years.” These jokes or jingles are examples of memes because they are pieces of information that spread from person to person as people share and repeat them. Each time you tell that inside joke or hum that catchy jingle, you are essentially helping the meme reproduce itself.
The New York Times Crossword subtly hinted at the concept of a meme long ago. In its first appearance in 1953, the clue was “Same: French,” pointing to the idea of replication. More recently, in 2021, the clue “Something that gets passed around a lot” directly reflects the modern understanding of memes as viral content.
Memes: A Timeless Form of Communication
According to Professor Conrod, memes, in their broader sense, have been a part of human communication since the dawn of symbolic systems. D. Andrew Price, Head of Content at Memes.com, reinforces this idea, stating that Dawkins merely “coined the term for something that’s existed literally forever.” In essence, “a meme is just an idea that rips through the public consciousness.” Therefore, while internet memes are a contemporary manifestation, the underlying concept of memes as spreading ideas and cultural units is a fundamental aspect of human culture and communication throughout history.
