Doesn’t that seem like a weakness in the definition of memes? After all, a gene that does not replicate (eg arising through mutation and causing the organism to be non-viable) is still a gene.
It is more a question of the emphasis of analysis. If you speak of a meme, you are thinking of its replicative power; if you speak of mindware, you are thinking about its effect on the possessor’s thoughts; but either way it is the same concept. To draw the analogy with genes, it is as though the word ‘protein-builder’ had been coined for the purpose of speaking of a gene’s effect on the body, and we retained the word ‘gene’ for use when discussing allele frequencies.
Doesn’t that seem like a weakness in the definition of memes? After all, a gene that does not replicate (eg arising through mutation and causing the organism to be non-viable) is still a gene.
It is more a question of the emphasis of analysis. If you speak of a meme, you are thinking of its replicative power; if you speak of mindware, you are thinking about its effect on the possessor’s thoughts; but either way it is the same concept. To draw the analogy with genes, it is as though the word ‘protein-builder’ had been coined for the purpose of speaking of a gene’s effect on the body, and we retained the word ‘gene’ for use when discussing allele frequencies.