Not necessary, like Daniel implied, we can develop Memes aka Germs to Fight other Memes aka Germs.

Virus and Bacteria are important part of Darwinism!

So, someone wants to go “Viral” someone else will go “Anti-Viral” hence Pathogen! Or in simple English Anarchist! Don’t you love a Core Hacker! lol

Douglas, very well put!

The author provides no causal link between social idea’s and gene’s to make an assumption that idea’s behave in the way gene’s do. A very prominent political economist, Freidreich Hayek, posits that ideas and mores that stand the test of time because they most benefit society, not themselves.

THIS ARTICLE IS TERRIBLE!!!!
Information is spread via repeaters. That is to say people who repeat information. Just as genes replicate information replicates. Today, the mainstream media has depends on centralized sources that are then repeated all over the world, and the mainstream media has a vested interest in keeping the secrets of the established elite, because the established elite own the mainstream media and/or advertise on the mainstream media and/or permit or deny FCC licenses to the mainstream media. The mainstream media is full of lies, manipulation and propaganda. Our major media system is based on a system that is good at replicating centralized propaganda. My sense is that this article was referring to the alternative media. More truth is to be found in the Alternative media than the mainstream.

As for the author’s references to “adopted bad ideas”…

* Blood feuds …if elitists start a war, the other side needs to fight back. The people who start wars are often elitist with a lot of money. The people blamed are usually poor.
* Terrorism…is an idea and an idea and never be killed. That is why a “war on terrorism” is just an excuse to run up our debt and fatten the wallets of government contractors.
* Suicide… when did this ever catch on in any significant way as a viral idea (stupid example).
* Drug abuse… Define “abuse”. When did this ever catch on in any significant way as a viral idea (stupid example). The idea of a “war on drugs” is another example of a stupid viral idea. “Drugs” can never be defeated. This causes endless war and endless victims of war and endless expenditure on war. No tolerance = no sense!
* Anti-Semitism - About 90% of Jews are not Semitic and the 10% who are Semitic are not the controversial bankers (generally speaking). Oddly, the Palestinians are a Semitic people. What a mind scramble. This is an example of a viral idea put out by the mainstream that is not true but has lodged in the general consciousness and continues to replicate.
* Pyramid schemes - good is relative to point of view. Some benefit from pyramid schemes.
* Cults - saying all cults are bad is like saying all religions are bad. Another bad example.
THIS ARTICLE IS TERRIBLE!!!!

@Scott - the idea that suicide is “contagious” is a well-documented idea - have a look into ’suicide clusters’ if you want to find out more.

I guess this explains why some blogs are in the Top 100.

Oops, sorry about the repeat “The Tipping Point” suggestion.

This piece is a big “duh”. I’d be surprised if anyone with half a brain these days thought the quality of an idea had any effect on it’s spreadability. The believers in that myth are probably outnumbered by the believers in Zeus these days.

Just look at Windows and Microsoft products. They’re not good ideas, but they market them so much that people buy them. Great article!

Here’s another myth for you to bust: memes.

There’s no such thing.

Essentially, anyone who uses this word is announcing “I am intellectually lazy and am simply not up to the task of trying to explain human behavior.”

This is fine, but just don’t pretend otherwise. It’s not as if no one has ever come up with explanations for things like
* Blood feuds
* Terrorism
* Suicide
* Drug abuse
* Antisemitism
* Pyramid schemes
* Cults
A lot of anthropology is dedicated to illuminating practices like these.

But of course, they are actually the result of the activity of some mythical entity. Might as well just say the gods did it.

At least that explanation doesn’t pretend to be rational.

I have been saying this all along, but everyone, especially these days, thinks that their ideas being great is all that matters when in reality the greatness could be in the form of promotion. Oh and I love the mythbusters!

I’ll go ahead and stand up for Oran there. Memes, in the end, cannot survive without the human actors who perpetuate them. While it is an interesting idea, and can be useful to explain some specific situations, not all cultural practices can be considered ‘memetic’. As well, a simple test for these memes would be to say, ‘if they are so good at replicating themselves, why are they not embraced by every person on earth?’ Obviously, blood feuds and terrorism will hit a brick wall sooner or later as the meme will perpetuate itself into oblivion, but where is the check on something like anti-semitism? or religion? both of these have been posited as self-replicating memes, but if they are so powerful, why am both an atheist and a lover of the semitic races? The reason is because human beings, as sometimes logical actors, are not slaves to their actions or to their culture. They, to quote a phrase, live in webs of significance that they themselves, create.

As good as Ted is I really hate that they have a pre-roll commercial for themselves. we get it. ted is good, except when they are telling us so.

That’s just what the memes want you to think!

Very interesting book about this is : “the purple cow” , by Seth Godin.

If anyone has jumped straight to the comments, congratulations, you win! Protip: skip the entire pretentious and annoying article and read this one useful paraphrased sentence:

we should rid ourselves of the notion that we only adopt ideas, content and products because of how good and useful they are. we instead adopt them because they are good at getting adopted.

This article was not very well written in my opinion. It makes too many leaps for the reader. Assumptions on memes and their meanings, leaves some readers wondering “what you are talking about.”
However, you didn’t add Communism to your list of bad ideas that keep going and going and going…like the energizer bunny.

Excellent points Dan. I often come up against ideas and content that is not necessarily the best…but is promoted by the best. It is an interesting juxtaposition within social media and one that will continue to grow as more and more marketers (who aren’t necessarily great writers/content producers) enter the content arena.