ideons
Ideons are a theoretical concept in evolutionary biology, specifically within the field of memetics, which studies cultural transmission. An ideon is conceived as the smallest indivisible unit of an idea, analogous to a gene in biological evolution. The term was popularized by the philosopher Daniel Dennett, who borrowed it from the geneticist Richard Dawkins.
The core idea behind ideons is that just as genes are replicated and passed down through generations,
The concept suggests that ideons, like genes, are subject to variation and selection. Variations in an idea
While the gene is a physical entity (a sequence of DNA), the ideon is abstract, existing in