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The Problem With Memes
There is an analogy there with genes that might come to the rescue, but not reality. In fact, most genes only work in conjunction with other genes. So if you have a meme like E equals MC squared, it doesn't really make sense to talk about its adaptiveness or fitness on its own. But population geneticists do have a way to deal with this. They can average the fitness of a gene against a certain number of genetic backgrounds and see whether natural selection would favor it or not.