memetic

Memetic is an adjective related to memes and the study of memes as units of cultural transmission. The term memetics was popularized by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976), where memes are described as ideas, tunes, images, or practices that spread within a culture through imitation. Memetic theory treats memes as replicators that undergo variation, selection, and retention, akin to genes in biological evolution, but operating on ideas and behaviors rather than genetic material.

Core concepts include the meme, the basic unit of cultural information; memeplex, a collection of memes that reinforce one another; and the processes of replication, mutation, competition for attention, and cultural drift. Transmission relies on social learning, communication networks, and cognitive biases that influence what is copied. Memes that are easily articulated, emotionally salient, or functionally useful tend to spread more widely.

In contemporary usage, memetic analysis often focuses on internet memes and other rapid spreads of ideas. The term memetic is used to describe phenomena that resemble or claim to follow memetic dynamics, such as marketing campaigns, political messaging, or online misinformation. Critics argue that memetics lacks a fully established empirical framework and that cultural evolution is better described by broader theories that incorporate social structure, institutions, and context. As a descriptor, memetic remains popular in media discourse and in some academic circles as a heuristic for studying cultural transmission.