My meme dream

I first heard Susan Blackmore talk about memetics early last year at an art vs science discussion forum organised by the Royal Society. Unlike many in the audience I found the notion of cultural evolution, the genetic analogy and her conclusions about human creativity to be fascinating and utterly intuitive.

Since then, I've been frantically reading up on memetic theory, from Dawkins to Dennett to... well actually I haven't got much further than that. (I can recommend the typically chaotic Wikipedia entry and Susan's book The Meme Machine to anyone seeking an intro to memetics).

In this blog I'll be documenting and discussing some of the memes that I observe as my eye - and my mind's eye - become ever more accustomed to the memetic lense. I'm also going to report on the progress of my ongoing slog through the past and present literature on memes.

My aim is to combine observation and education to achieve some practical end in my day job as an advertising planner, with the ultimate goal being to define a clear and actionable theory of memetic marketing.

Of course, the dreamy kid in me would one day like to seed and monitor a keenly replicated meme of my own, hence the blog's title.

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey. Please feel free to point things out or proffer direction if I stray off course.