Definition
Memetics is the study of culture through the lens of replication. A meme, a term Dawkins coined, is a unit of cultural information — a tune, a phrase, an idea, a practice — that copies itself from mind to mind by imitation.
The proposal is that memes, like genes, form a system of inheritance. Some copy more faithfully or more often than others, and over time the more successful variants come to dominate the cultural pool. Culture, on this view, is shaped by a selection process of its own.
Why it matters
How it works
For a meme to spread it needs the equivalent of fidelity, fecundity, and longevity — accurate copying, many copies, and durability. Religious ideas, Dawkins argues, often carry features that boost transmission: promises of reward, threats of punishment, and instructions to pass the belief to children.