On The Subject of Memetics:
Memes began as a metaphor in Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene for the promulgation of ideas and information. It was later taken on as a serious idea by Susan Blackmore, Aaron Lynch and others. Critics of memetics think the idea has gone too far and that there is no basis in reality for such an entity. Others point to its benefits as being descriptive and useful in tracing the success and failure of ideas. Serious advocates of memetics actually consider it a proto-science on the verge of being accepted in the scientific community. What are the arguments for and against memes and the field of memetics? Here we hope to explore the issue by presenting two differing opinions.