The Algorithmic Niche: an Integrative Framework for the Memetic Mind in Cultural Evolution

Area of Science:

• Digital Communication
• Cultural Evolution
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Internet memes significantly influence culture, politics, and social behavior.
• Previous analyses of memes were fragmented across disciplines like psychology and computer science.
• A unified framework is needed to understand the broad societal impact of memes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) as an integrative framework for analyzing internet memes.
• To explain meme influence as high-speed cultural evolution within a digital niche.
• To explore the interplay between human psychology, algorithms, and meme propagation.

Main Methods:

• Synthesizing insights from dual inheritance theory, niche construction theory, ethology, and behavioral epigenetics.
• Analyzing evolved psychological biases that enhance meme engagement.
• Reframing social media platforms as constructed niches exerting selective pressures.

Main Results:

• Internet memes represent accelerated cultural niche construction, altering human behavior and cognition.
• Memes function as digital rituals and ethological signals for group identity.
• Misinformation proliferation is understood as maladaptive cultural evolution.

Conclusions:

• Addressing meme-related challenges necessitates ethical niche construction informed by human-centered AI principles.
• The framework provides a multi-level explanation for the 'memetic mind'.
• Potential long-term epigenetic consequences of digital environments warrant consideration.