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Originally Posted by PepsiFree
First Wikipedia is a meme, then I’m supposed to reach out the the grandma in an actual meme and tell her to read a book.
Corsi’s internet is a fascinating place.
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Sigh... Alright, I'll explain it to you. A "meme" is a term coined by Richard Dawkins in
The Selfish Gene. It refers to an idea or concept that is transmitted from person to person, gaining a foothold in the mind irrespective of its validity.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dawkins
Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperm or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation. If a scientist hears, or reads about, a good idea, he passes it on to his colleagues and students. He mentions it in his articles and his lectures. If the idea catches on, it can be said to propagate itself, spreading from brain to brain. [...] When you plant a fertile meme in my mind, you literally parasitize my brain, turning it into a vehicle for the meme's propagation in just the way that a virus may parasitize the genetic mechanism of a host cell. And this isn't just a way of talking -- the meme for, say, 'belief in life after death' is actually realized physically, millions of times over, as a structure in the nervous systems of people all over the world.
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The Karl Popper quote has become a fairly obnoxious meme circulated primarily among the far left as a justification for things like violence by antifa protestors, attempting to piggyback on Popper's reputation in other areas to suggest that it's a valid paradox or a generally accepted philosophical principle, which it decidedly is not. It's akin to trying to justify alchemy by reference to Isaac Newton's fascination with that topic. That is what makes it a misplaced appeal to authority, and incredibly frustrating for anyone who's actually studied philosophy.
