Is memetics a legitimate science? I don't mean pepe bullshit,

>>8505152

i feel like it is conceivably testable and can make predictions from it. I imagine they do something similar in sociology because they do lots of modelling now.

Anything working with people though is going to be very difficult logistically. Which i think is partly why fields like psychology have a hard time.

>>8505152
>Is it even falsifiable?
Depending on how you phrase the statement, sure.

The statement
>Ideas do not spread through a culture
is so trivially easy to falsify it barely warrants thought

>>8505152
You need certain genes to entertain certain ideas.
Like for instance, if you are biologically incapable of altruism, then you won't be convinced by an ideology that asks you to die for someone else.
And, if you don't have a strong sense of Agent Detection, then you won't be convinced by the idea of God.

>>8505313
>biologically incapable of altruism
uh

>>8505152
>particular memes always only have two parents
abstractkindoffeel.png
but really, the simmilarity is in how they propagate, not in how they're directly related, that powerpoint slide is missing the point

also why would you represent gene sharing with a venn diagram in the first place? Seems weird.

Yes ideas do reproduce. There is no such thing as a truly original thought, it's all just people remixing stuff they observe, experience, or have been told.
Memetics could be thought of as being a field which envelops linguistics since it goes beyond language and includes pictures, ideas, etc.
It would be pointless as hell to study since it doesn't really benefit mankind. Only useful applications I can see are for people in the government or that own a business and want to become really efficient at making propaganda or ads which easily permeate people's minds.

>>8505614
>It would be pointless as hell to study since it doesn't really benefit mankind.
Are you kidding? Right now the average joe needs to pay at least an hour's worth of pay to access most respectable journal articles and spend even more time reading through it, while at the same time can also opt to smash that like button on facebook and spread misinformation free of charge in a quick and convenient fashion. Being able to quantify the difference between the rate at which an individual can validate information versus spread it in modern society could greatly aid in swaying political debates concerning who to fund and how much to give.