There are some developmentsin the 1920s in what is called today 'memory studies'. The sociologist Maurice Halbwachs coined the term of "collective memory" as related to certain social groups (and not just as an individual biological function of data retrieval as assumed by positivist biologists and psychologists). The art historian Aby Warburg (1866-1929) developed the second fundamental concept of cultural memory through pathos formulas and European memory of images as patterns of transmission of culturally formed images.The British psychologist Frederic C. Bartlett in his book "Remembering" (1932) combined elements of experimental and social psychology to demonstrate that all cognitive processes must be understood as an 'effort after meaning'. He proved that memory is shaped by distortions - leveling, accentuation, assimilation. Important here is his notion of 'schemata' as patterns and structures of knowledge on the basis of which persupposition regarding specific objects, people, and situations as well as regarding the nature of their relationship can be made. They help to reduce complexity and guide perception and remembering. Schemata are acquired through socialization and therefore not universal, but culturally shaped. Bartlett's studies did not attract much attention among his dominant behaviourist contemporaries. Only after overcoming behaviourism through the 'cognitive turn' they were 'remembered'. See Daniel L. Schacter (ed.) "Memory Distortions: How Minds, Brains, and Societies Reconstruct the Past" (Cambridge 1995), ibid: Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the PAst (New York 1996).

Many thanks for this Oliver. All very interesting. I will look into these references.

Also - I take it, that means: No - nobody else has scientifically and empirically defined the meme, the unit of culture (...?)

Best,

JT

I have come across of some discussion of the "meme" in the pre-Dawkins period, but I am afraid it was in the German language memory study field. I will try to look it up.

Many thanks Oliver...I am fairly sure no-one has defined it (the meme) before, as that problem in the domain crops up countless times in all the literature on Memetics (ie pre-2014)... but of course, I may have missed something.

Ok - thanks Rob.

I think you study Pre-Dawkins period, but... meme is small virus of culture.

Hi Robert,

Are you aware of this paper on Applied Evolutionary Epistemology (Gontier 2012)?

https://www.academia.edu/1567913/Applied_Evolutionary_Epistemology_A_new_method_to_enhance_interdisciplinary_research_between_the_life_and_human_sciences 

Just in case it's of interest

Best

JT

Hello, sorry for my delay.

It's only my opinion, in my study meme is a small virus culture a small piece of code of which we know neither the shape nor the media, nor grammar, but they are the means by which propagates culture.

According to with the definition of meme Brody and Dawkins

The ideas of Hayek and his evolutionary epistemology related to order, process and emergence in the economy may be a possible source that pre-dates Dawkins. Since Hayek highlights rules and their connection to the knowledge econony. If one were to formalize rules, one may speak of algorithms/fragments of code-though that may not have been part of the nomenclature during Hayek's time.

Since the recognition given to information as the currency of our age, the idea of packets of information and rudimentary building blocks of culture such as the monadology propounded by Leibniz and atomism advanced by Leucippus would seem less far-fetched today; may even be considered scientific. Since an approach emphasizing modularity and the measurable is often regarded as being scientific. In a sense the history of memetics is yet another account of evolutionary epistemology. A short chronology:

• Leucippus (circa 5th c. BCE) proponent of atomism
• Leibniz (1714): La Monadologie
• Hayek (1945) The use of knowledge in society

Article 'Notions of Order and Process in Hayek: The Significance of ...

Hi, I don't know if this question is still of interest to you. I recently published an article on memetics, where we propose a "three-dimensional" view on memes: p-memes, i-memes, and e-memes. We do not exactly provide a "definition" of the meme, but this differentiation might be helpful, and so may be some of the references we cited. 

Chapter Complexity, Cultural Evolution, and the Discovery and Creati...

Dear RObert,

I think you can try these books about meme.

Best wishes for you.

Best regards,

Hiep from Vietnam

Dear Robert,

Have you tried this paper?

Where the Word Meme Comes From

In its early days, “meme”, which incidentally is often mispronounced as “me-me” or “meh-meh”, but in fact should be pronounced “meem”, primarily was only known and used by certain academics, but today this neologism is beginning to reach widespread use thanks to describing the viral spread of jokes, ideas, etc. via the internet.

“Meme” was coined by the often controversial evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. 

Hiep

Please see this chapter on the meme, the unit of culture.

https://storyality.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/storyality132-the-holon-parton-structure-of-the-meme-the-unit-of-culture/

Best

JT

No, see: https://evolutionary-culturology.blogspot.com/2023/10/160-past-names-for-unit-of-culture-and.html

My PhD thesis about the ontology and phenomenology of memes is (after thorough research) the first one to propose not only the ontology of memes but also the meme detector, which could scientifically prove or disprove the thesis. The paper has not yet been published, but I can send my thesis if anyone wishes.

At the moment, I'm trying to locate a quantum mechanics expert who would join me in the next step of my research.

Andrej