memetici

Memetici, or memetics, is the study of memes and their propagation within culture. A meme is a unit of cultural information that can be transmitted between minds and across social networks, such as ideas, tunes, phrases, or practices. The term memetics was popularized by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) to explain how cultural traits spread and evolve through imitation and selection, in a manner analogous to genetic evolution.

Memetic theory posits that memes replicate with variation, compete for cognitive and social attention, and are subject to selection pressures from cultural environments. A meme’s fitness depends on factors like communicability, emotional resonance, and contextual usefulness, as well as the structure of the transmission network. Memes propagate via vertical transmission (parent to offspring), horizontal transmission (peer-to-peer), and oblique transmission (influencers, institutions).

Researchers in memetics have drawn on evolutionary theory, cognitive science, and network analysis to model meme dynamics, including replication fidelity, mutation, copying biases, and growth rates. The field has faced criticism for vague definitions, difficulties in isolating discrete memes, and challenges in empirical testing; some scholars argue for broader frameworks of cultural evolution or dual inheritance theory as more robust explanations of cultural change.

In contemporary discourse, memes—particularly internet memes—function as rapid, self-propagating cultural units that illustrate memetic processes in real time. The study remains interdisciplinary, intersecting anthropology, psychology, information science, and communication studies.