(b) What is a meme?
Richard provided:
>A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose presence influences
>events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds.
>Memes can be seen as the basic building blocks of culture, or as the
>software of the human mind.
I'd be much more comfortable using some variation on the Oxford English Dictionary definition:
"MEME -- An element of culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, esp. imitation."
Rather than spreading Richard's specific (and somewhat disputable) "information in the mind" take on them.
(And, yes, I understand that Richard wasn't particularly trying to co-opt the process, but just that he was the only one to offer an answer; to provide some memes for selection.)
-Prof. Tim