In the original introduction to the word meme in the last chapter of 'The Selfish Gene,' I did actually use the metaphor of a 'virus.' So when anybody talks about something going viral on the Internet, that is exactly what a meme is, and it looks as though the word has been appropriated for a subset of that.
Interpretation
A meme spreads ideas and behaviors much like a virus spreads infections.
In this quote, Richard Dawkins explains how the concept of a meme, originally described in his book 'The Selfish Gene,' functions similarly to a virus, propagating through culture and society. He emphasizes that the process of sharing ideas online, which is often referred to as 'going viral,' aligns closely with this original metaphor, highlighting the power of memes to influence and disseminate information rapidly.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about internet culture at a social media conference.
No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it's surprising how many parents think that it's somehow fun to pass on this falsehood to their children...I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic
If the history-deniers who doubt the fact of evolution are ignorant of biology, those who think the world began less than ten thousand years ago are worst than ignorant, they are the deluded to the point of perversity.
The population of the U.S. is nearly 300 million, including many of the best educated, most talented, most resourceful, humane people on earth. By almost any measure of civilised attainment, from Nobel prize-counts on down, the U.S. leads the world by miles.
When you make machines that are capable of obeying instructions slavishly, and among those instructions are 'duplicate me' instructions, then of course the system is wide open to exploitation by parasites.
Even if not a single fossil has ever been found, the evidence from surviving animals would still overwhelmingly force the conclusion that Darwin was right.
The bitter hatreds that now poison Middle Eastern politics are rooted in the real or perceived wrong of the setting up of a Jewish State in an Islamic region. In view of all that the Jews had been through, it must have seemed a fair and humane solution. Probably deep familiarity with the Old Testament had given the European and American decision-makers some sort of idea that this really was the historic homeland of the Jews.
Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.
Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That, in turn, will reduce civil unrest.
Nearly all men die of their medicines, not of their diseases.
Our ancestors worshipped the Sun, and they were not that foolish. It makes sense to revere the Sun and the stars, for we are their children.
A scientist who is also a human being cannot rest while knowledge which might be used to reduce suffering rests on the shelf.
I'm absolutely positive about human survival. We will continue to develop our civilisation and expand not just on Earth, but also across the solar system, the galaxy, even the entire universe.
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