Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil.
Phys Rev E. 2023 Dec;108(6-1):064103. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.108.064103.
Dawkins introduced a groundbreaking concept suggesting that humans, similar to other animals, operate as gene-propagating machines. Following in his footsteps, Blackmore posits that humans might distinguish themselves from other animals by also serving as specialized meme-replicating machines. Here we introduce a mathematical model that examines the impact of social conformity on the propagation of bad memes (memes with low intrinsic appeal). We state the meme equations, which give us the number of different kinds of memes living in the population and its total amount. We show that, unlike a virus, bad memes have a very low probability of initially spreading. However, as memes are produced in large numbers, some will eventually experience a stochastic rise and persist for extended periods, aided by social conformism within groups. We develop analytical approximations to calculate the mean time taken for memes to become extinct and the mean time spent in each population state. These approximations enable us to apply the meme equations to conduct a qualitative analysis.
道金斯提出了一个开创性的概念，认为人类与其他动物一样，是基因传播的机器。在他的理论基础上，布莱克莫尔进一步提出，人类可能还具有作为专门的模因复制机器的特征，从而与其他动物区分开来。在这里，我们引入了一个数学模型，用于研究社会从众对不良模因（内在吸引力低的模因）传播的影响。我们陈述了模因方程，这些方程为我们提供了生活在群体中的不同类型的模因的数量及其总量。我们表明，与病毒不同，不良模因最初传播的概率非常低。然而，随着模因的大量产生，一些模因最终会经历随机上升并持续较长时间，这得益于群体内的社会从众。我们开发了分析近似值来计算模因灭绝所需的平均时间以及在每个群体状态中花费的平均时间。这些近似值使我们能够应用模因方程进行定性分析。
