This "conformity pressure" can be explained by the fact that the newcomer will be subjected to expressions of the idea more often, and will more likely get in trouble if he expresses dissonant idea (Heylighen, 1992). Though conformity pressure is mostly irrational, often rejecting knowledge that is adequate because it contradicts already established beliefs, its alternative formulation, "consensus", is a criterion of the invariance type, since it implies that a belief does not vary over individuals. …showed first 75 words of 227 total…

…showed last 75 words of 227 total…memes are in a similar relation of competition as alleles: genes that compete for the same location in the genome. Memes that induce behavior in their carriers that tends to eliminate rival memes will be more fit, since they will have more resources for themselves. The concrete result is that a group of carriers with different memes will tend towards homogeneity, resulting from the imposition of the majority meme and elimination of all non-conforming memes.