Yesterday I posted on the first of two variables in my proposed multivariate transmission rate formula, expression rate (how many people a seed exposes to a meme) and assimilation rate (how many people exposed to that meme turn into seeds themselves). Today I want to look at two more aspects: multiple exposure assimilation and assimilation threshold.
Multiple exposures to certain memes may increase that meme’s assimilation rate. Just hearing an idea from one friend may not catch your attention or allow the meme to be retained in your memory, but when you hear it from two or more friends that could change.
People are exposed to countless new and competing memes everyday and we clearly don’t assimilate all of them. As the number of competing (exclusive) memes increases, the number of exposures needed to achieve assimilation increases as well.
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This makes perfect sense, but I’ve never thought about its relation when competing memes exist. A great place to study these memes seems to be StumbleUpon, where you can click through about thirty in as many seconds
Are you familiar with George Lakoff’s work, such as Don’t Think of an Elephant or The Political Mind? The idea of “Frames” and “Framing” seems to closely parallel that of “memes”.
He points out how, when an idea is repeated, it is reinforced in the mind -that is, the actual neurological connections are made stronger.
He also discusses how decision-making is primarily an emotional process.