The term “meme” comes from Richard Dawkins’ 1976 book “The Selfish Gene.” A genetic meme, as described by Dawkins, is a gene that copies itself and proliferates throughout the species by way of Darwinian natural selection. A cultural meme is, similarly, a behavior or idea that spreads throughout a culture even faster. If I share a joke with you and you share it with your friends, we create a ripple effect until the joke is known on a collective level, changing the species forever.
