To us, memes are like the luminiferous aether in Newtonian physics–a purely make-believe or hypothetical entity that does not really exist “out there” in space or time. In footnote 56 of our autobiographical essay, for example, we write:

… despite my general admiration* for [Richard] Dawkins, he and I completely part ways when it comes to “memes.” [*Note: I wrote these words before having read Dawkins’s dogmatic and intolerant screed The God Delusion.] Towards the end of his book [The Selfish Gene], Dawkins speculates about the spread of ideas and introduces the concept of memes in order to explain the evolution of human culture. In essence, Dawkins draws a crude analogy between memes and genes: if the evolution of living organisms is the product of changing gene frequencies over time, then the evolution of ideas must likewise be the result of the fierce competition among rival idea-memes … The problem with memes, however, is that they just plain and simple don’t exist—and pretending that they do is nothing but quackery on a par with astrology or alchemy. Memes are a fairy tale. They have no independent existence. They are unfalsifiable entities, like gods or boogie monsters.

We are by no means denying the existence of ideas. What we are denying is that ideas come in discrete packages called “memes.” After all, aside from simply offering conclusory statements positing the existence of memes, how would one test for their existence?

Where did all the luminiferous ether go?