Timble2
Imaginary Person
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2003
- Messages
- 6,047
- Location
- In a Liminal Zone
julianpenrod - thank you for reminding me about the bloody "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -
It stuck with me for months back in the early 80s.
But on topic, the idea of earworms, doesn't sound that much difference from the concept of a 'meme', which Richard Dawkins proposed in his book The Selfish Gene these are units of intellectual or cultural information that survive long enough to be recognised, and which can pass from mind to mind. Songs, catch-phrases and even religion could be meme, self-perpetuating thought patterns.
EDIT*
Sorry, pi23, missed your earlier post mentioning memes, skimming the thread too fast again. Apologies.
It stuck with me for months back in the early 80s.
But on topic, the idea of earworms, doesn't sound that much difference from the concept of a 'meme', which Richard Dawkins proposed in his book The Selfish Gene these are units of intellectual or cultural information that survive long enough to be recognised, and which can pass from mind to mind. Songs, catch-phrases and even religion could be meme, self-perpetuating thought patterns.
EDIT*
Sorry, pi23, missed your earlier post mentioning memes, skimming the thread too fast again. Apologies.