A brief history of memes | BBC Ideas

Summary

The speaker reflects on the evolution of internet memes as a cultural phenomenon and their power to communicate complex ideas beyond language barriers. They discuss the concept of memes as units of culture that spread and evolve, drawing parallels to Richard Dawkins' theory of memes as self-replicating cultural units. The narrative also touches on the ironic and critical nature of memes, their role in advertising and design, and the idea that memes may be using humans for their own propagation, much like genes in biology.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Memes are cultural units that evolve and spread like genes, as described by Richard Dawkins.
• 😅 The term 'internet meme' is often misunderstood to be the only kind of meme, overshadowing the broader concept.
• 📈 Memes can convey complex ideas and emotions more efficiently than simple sentences.
• 🤝 Brands that participate in meme culture are seen as being in tune with the modern, ironic zeitgeist.
• 📱 The speaker communicates frequently using memes, highlighting their prevalence in digital communication.
• 😌 Memes can express a wide range of attitudes, including disdain, disappointment, and distrust.
• 🌟 Successful memes are those that capture attention and resonate with a large audience.
• 🔄 The process of meme evolution mirrors natural selection, with most ideas not surviving while a few become widespread.
• 🎨 The best advertising and design aim to create cultural artifacts or 'memes' that people identify with and share.
• 🤔 The concept of 'selfish replicators' suggests that memes use humans as a medium to propagate themselves.
• 🔄 A personal anecdote illustrates how a meme can quickly gain traction and become a viral phenomenon.

Q & A

What is the speaker's initial reaction to the term 'internet meme'?

The speaker was initially annoyed because people seemed to think that 'internet meme' was the only kind of meme, overlooking the broader concept of memes in culture.

How does the speaker view the evolution of cultural units?

The speaker finds the evolution of cultural units, or memes, to be super interesting as they are discrete units that exist and evolve around us all the time.

Why does the speaker believe brands might have a problem with their activities?

The speaker initially thought brands would be upset because of their involvement with memes, but realized that brands are part of the joke and understand the importance of being involved in the meme culture.

In what way does the speaker use memes to communicate?

The speaker communicates by sending memes, which can convey more meaning than a single sentence in certain situations.

What is the speaker's definition of a meme?

The speaker defines a meme as a written joke related to something happening in real life that can express various attitudes, including disdain, disappointment, or a lack of trust.

How does the speaker relate memes to the concept of a replicator?

The speaker relates memes to the concept of a replicator by explaining that memes are units of culture that spread from person to person, evolving as they are passed along, similar to how genes replicate with variation and selection.

What is the connection between memes and the idea presented in 'The Selfish Gene'?

The connection is that memes, like genes, are selfish replicators that spread and evolve. The speaker was inspired by Richard Dawkins' idea that religion could be considered the ultimate meme due to its infectious and evolutionary nature.

How does the speaker describe the process of meme selection?

The speaker describes the process of meme selection as competitive, where most memes are forgotten or ignored, but the few that capture widespread attention become prominent in our culture.

What example does the speaker give of a meme that gained significant attention?

The speaker gives the example of a meme featuring Celine Dion with a Dior bag, which they edited to look like a luxury item. After posting it, it gained attention when Dior reposted it, leading to a surge in popularity.

How does the speaker view the role of memes in advertising and design?

The speaker views memes as synonymous with creating bits of culture, and believes that the best advertising and design involve creating memetic content that resonates with people and becomes part of the cultural landscape.

What does the speaker mean when they say 'memes are selfish'?

The speaker means that memes, like genes, will get copied and spread whenever they can, using people as a medium to propagate themselves, suggesting that our role is not to control them but rather to be part of their propagation process.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Understanding Internet Memes

The speaker recalls their initial annoyance with the term 'internet meme,' as it seemed to overshadow the broader concept of memes in culture. They discuss how memes are discrete cultural units that evolve over time, similar to eras in art. The speaker also shares their concern about brands potentially disliking their meme usage, but notes that brands are part of the joke. They emphasize the importance of participating in meme culture as it is a reflection of the world we live in. The speaker communicates frequently through memes, which they find more expressive than simple sentences. They define a meme as a written joke related to real-life events and link it to an ironic attitude towards life. The concept of memes as a universal language that connects people within internet communities is highlighted. The influence of Richard Dawkins' 'The Selfish Gene' on the speaker's understanding of memes as cultural units that spread and evolve is mentioned.

Keywords

💡Internet Meme

An internet meme is a cultural phenomenon that spreads rapidly by being copied or imitated, often in a humorous or satirical context. In the video, the speaker expresses initial annoyance at the term 'internet meme' being perceived as the only kind of meme, highlighting the broader concept of memes as cultural units. The script discusses how memes evolve and are a form of communication, often conveying more than a single sentence can.

💡Cultural Units

Cultural units refer to discrete elements of culture that can be identified and analyzed. The video script discusses how these units are constantly surrounding us and evolve over time. The concept is used to emphasize the dynamic nature of culture and how memes, as cultural units, are part of this broader ecosystem.

💡Irony

Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or event in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality, often used to express criticism or humor. The script mentions that memes can link with an ironic attitude towards everything, allowing individuals to express disdain or disappointment in a humorous or critical way.

💡Universal Language

The term 'universal language' in the context of the video refers to the idea that memes can be understood across different cultures and communities, acting as a common form of communication. It suggests that memes have a broad appeal and can be a unifying force in the digital age.

💡Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist known for his book 'The Selfish Gene,' where he introduces the concept of memes as units of culture that spread from person to person. In the video, Dawkins' ideas are used to explain the concept of memes and their infectious nature, drawing a parallel between biological evolution and cultural spread.

💡Replicator

A replicator, as mentioned in the script, is any entity that can produce copies of itself. The concept is central to understanding how memes propagate. The video explains that memes, like genes, are replicators that spread through copying with variation and selection, influencing their success in cultural transmission.

💡Selfish Gene

The 'Selfish Gene' is a concept from Dawkins' book, suggesting that genes act in their own interest to get copied and passed on to future generations. The video uses this term to illustrate how memes, like genes, are 'selfish' in their spread, using humans as a medium to propagate themselves.

💡Meme Evolution

Meme evolution refers to the process by which memes change and adapt over time as they are shared and spread through culture. The video script describes how memes evolve as they pass from person to person, much like how biological organisms evolve over generations.

💡Collective

The term 'collective' in the video script refers to the collective consciousness or shared experiences of a community, particularly in the context of the internet. Memes are seen as a way to connect individuals to a larger community, fostering a sense of belonging and shared understanding.

💡Brands and Memes

The video discusses the relationship between brands and memes, suggesting that brands are aware of and participate in meme culture. It implies that brands that understand and engage with memes can effectively communicate and resonate with their audience.

💡Memetics

Memetics is the study of memes and their spread as cultural phenomena. The video touches on the importance of understanding memetics to grasp how cultural ideas and trends propagate. It suggests that successful advertising and design often involve creating memetic content that resonates and spreads within culture.

Highlights

The annoyance with the term 'internet meme' overshadowing the broader concept of memes.

Cultural eras and the evolution of discrete cultural units.

The importance of understanding how memes evolve in our surroundings.

The fear of brands disliking meme usage and the need to be part of the joke.

Memes as a form of communication that can convey more than a single sentence.

Memes as a written joke related to real-life events.

Memes expressing ironic attitudes and societal discontent.

Memes as a universal language that connects people in online communities.

Inspiration from Richard Dawkins' 'The Selfish Gene' and the concept of cultural replicators.

Religion as an example of a meme that spreads and evolves.

Understanding memes through the concept of replicators: information copied with variation and selection.

The competition for attention among various forms of information, similar to Darwin's theory of natural selection.

The virality of memes and their impact on brand recognition, exemplified by a Celine Dion and Dior incident.

Memes as creators of culture and their significance in advertising and design.

The selfish nature of memes and their use of humans for propagation.

The parallel between the biological and memetic worlds in terms of competition and evolution.

Transcripts

I remember first hearing the phrase internet meme

and then being kind of annoyed

because people very clearly thought that an internet meme

was the only kind of meme there is.

We think about culture being eras, epochs or times within art,

and so to actually talk about the discrete units that exist

that are surrounding us all the time and how they evolve -

that was super, super interesting.

All the time I was thinking,

"God these brands are just going to tear me apart

because of what I'm doing."

But they're still in on the joke.

And you have to be, and that's the thing.

You can't be seen as going,

"No, I don’t want to be a part of this."

This is the world we live in, this is it.

This is what's going on around us.

Do you send a lot of memes?

I do yeah, constantly.

Rather than communicate, like yeah.

That's how I communicate.

And they can just say a lot more than one sentence as well,

in some situations. True.

Yeah, a meme is a written...

is a written joke, yeah,

that's related to something that happens in real life.

I think it also links with this ironic attitude to everything.

Where you can just express your disdain, disappointment,

a lack of trust in something.

So that's why we call it a universal language.

It brings you to this part of the internet collective,

so you feel that a certain community gets you

or maybe you're getting a certain community.

I read The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins, back at university

and I was really inspired by the idea that you could have these

units of culture called a meme that spread from person to person.

So Dawkins talked about religion being the ultimate meme -

how you can have religion or the idea of God as such an infectious concept

that you can't not think about it once you've heard it,

but then as it passes from person to person, it evolves.

To understand memes,

you need to understand the concept of a replicator.

That is information that is copied with variation and selection.

So genes are a replicator,

when animals mate or seeds grow and so on

you have information that’s copied

with variations

and huge selection pressure, so most of them die.

This is what Darwin saw back in The Origin of Species in 1859.

The same applies to memes.

All the information that we put out all day long and all the books

we read and the radio programs and TV things we watch and so on,

they're competing for our attention.

Most of them we forget, most of them nobody bothers to watch

and the very few that succeed and get millions of people involved

are the ones that we see all around us in the world.

Same process is happening in biology with a different mechanism.

First of all it got a bit of attention

but it sort of sat there for a little bit

and things and I was thinking, "Ah maybe they're not that funny".

And then there was a fashion show in Paris, the Dior show.

And at the time Celine Dion was superhype because

she was over in Paris and everyone was just going crazy for her.

And I saw this image of her with this Dior bag, so I put the Celine logo

on top of it and faked it up to look like it was gold,

posted it,

went to bed,

woke up in the morning to a complete tirade of messages on my phone.

And Dior had reposted it and it just completely kicked off.

When I think of memes I think of them as synonymous with the idea

of creating bits of culture.

And I think the best advertising and the best design and the best thinkers

behind the best advertising, and best design,

have always gone out to create bits of culture. And that's memetic.

The fact that you've given people the structure for them

to find themselves in, they might not have called it

memetic or called it memes.

It's really important to understand what it means to say

genes are selfish.

Or replicators are selfish or memes are selfish.

What it means is that they will get copied

however and whenever they can, given the opportunity.

So when we think about the world of memes -

internet memes or every other kind of memes -

we think we're developing them, designing them, creating them

for our own purposes, when a different way of looking at it

is they are using us to get themselves ahead in the competition.

And that way of looking at it shows you how very close to biology it is

and how our role is not to be in charge and doing it for our own sake,

it's all really happening for the sake of the memes themselves.