“Meme” has multiple meanings, and I’m genuinely unsure which you have in mind.
Originally “meme” meant anything that can spread from one mind to another: beliefs, melodies, quirks of speech, etc.
Now it often means something much more specific, something like “moderately-sized digital image containing short bits of text, probably not perfectly grammatical, optimized for sharing on the internet”.
Or it can mean something intermediate, along the lines of “belief or belief-like thing heavily optimized for spreading effectively”.
Some of the things you say about “memes” seem like they only makes sense with the recent very specific meaning (e.g., when you say that memes “are the most interesting development of the digital age”). Some seem like they only make sense with a much broader meaning (e.g., when you say “memes are us”, or for that matter the claim in the title of this post).
Is there a specific meaning you have in mind throughout, or are you using “meme” to denote radically different things in different places?
“Meme” has multiple meanings, and I’m genuinely unsure which you have in mind.
Originally “meme” meant anything that can spread from one mind to another: beliefs, melodies, quirks of speech, etc.
Now it often means something much more specific, something like “moderately-sized digital image containing short bits of text, probably not perfectly grammatical, optimized for sharing on the internet”.
Or it can mean something intermediate, along the lines of “belief or belief-like thing heavily optimized for spreading effectively”.
Some of the things you say about “memes” seem like they only makes sense with the recent very specific meaning (e.g., when you say that memes “are the most interesting development of the digital age”). Some seem like they only make sense with a much broader meaning (e.g., when you say “memes are us”, or for that matter the claim in the title of this post).
Is there a specific meaning you have in mind throughout, or are you using “meme” to denote radically different things in different places?