Metameme
Encyclopedia
In the field of memetics
, a metameme (or meta-meme) is defined as a meme
about a meme. A metaphor
or the idea of memetic engineering
are, thus, metamemes. The concept of memes has been referred to as "The Metameme". Some other metamemes of interest include the meme tolerance and memeplex
es.
one society has about the very meme
s that form it is correlated with how evolved that society is. The difficulties associated with measuring the "metamemetic content" of a given society, however, render that proposition impractical.
This can be viewed (to some extent) as a memetic approach to the American sociologist Gerhard Lenski
's view that the more information a given society has, the more advanced it is.
Memetics
Memetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. A meme, analogous to a gene, is essentially a "unit of...
, a metameme (or meta-meme) is defined as a meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
about a meme. A metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
or the idea of memetic engineering
Memetic engineering
Memetic engineering is a term developed and coined by Leveious Rolando, John Sokol, and Gibran Burchett while they researched and observed the behavior of people after being purposely exposed to certain memetic themes...
are, thus, metamemes. The concept of memes has been referred to as "The Metameme". Some other metamemes of interest include the meme tolerance and memeplex
Memeplex
Much of the study of memes focuses on groups of memes called meme complexes, or "memeplexes." Like the gene complexes found in biology, memeplexes are groups of memes that are often found present in the same individual. Applying the theory of Universal Darwinism, memeplexes group together because...
es.
Measuring social evolution
Metamemes may be used to measure the evolution of a given society. It has been proposed that the degree of consciousnessConsciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
one society has about the very meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
s that form it is correlated with how evolved that society is. The difficulties associated with measuring the "metamemetic content" of a given society, however, render that proposition impractical.
This can be viewed (to some extent) as a memetic approach to the American sociologist Gerhard Lenski
Gerhard Lenski
Gerhard Emmanuel Lenski is an American sociologist known for contributions to the sociology of religion, social inequality, and ecological-evolutionary social theory...
's view that the more information a given society has, the more advanced it is.