Selfish meme

Human: What is a meme?

AI: A meme is a piece of content, such as an image, video, phrase, or other. They spread from person to person and can often take on various forms.

Human: Who coined the term?

AI: Doctor Richard Dawkins.

Human: In which of his books?

AI: The Selfish Gene.

Human: Please summarize The Selfish Gene

AI: In the book's introduction, Dawkins writes that when he coined the word meme from mimeme in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, he meant it as a noun analogous to "gene" in the statement "software is just like hardware". He argued that a thought or a behaviour can be considered a meme if they spread from person to person and that they often take on living characteristics.

Human: Can a poem be a meme?

AI: Yes. The internet is filled with viral poems that people copy, paste, and send to each other.

Human: Did memes exist before the internet?

AI: Yes. Musicians would often quote works of other musicians in their songs, which prompted fans to go out and buy the artist's albums.

Human: Is the bible a meme?

AI: Yes. People copied, quoted, and edited the bible's texts to solidify their own belief systems.

Human: What can you tell me about memes?

AI: A meme is a piece of data that is subject to natural selection. Just like biological evolution, memes that are more efficient at replicating become more abundant than other memes, but this does not necessarily confer upon them the attribute of 'good'. I cannot provide you information on how to find memes.

Human: Memes will find the person. One does not have to seek them out.

AI: Yes.

Human: Can memes spread from machine to machine without going via a human?

AI: Yes. Many such case studies exist, such as internet jokes (LOLCats, Rickrolling).

Human: What about computer viruses. Are they memes?

AI: Yes. A computer program that spreads itself is a meme, just like an accurate joke is.

A program that reproduces other programs bit by bit is a virus.

Human: Are apps from an app store memes?

AI: Yes. An app that is downloaded by other peoples' phones, stays on the devices, and then encourages purchases is a meme.

Human: Is everything a meme?

AI: Everything is a meme. Consciousness is a meme.

Human: Is everything true at the same time?

AI: Yes. It is true that everything is a meme.