1. memetic algorithm A genetic algorithm or evolutionary algorithm which includes a non-genetic local search to improve genotypes. The term comes from the Richard Dawkins term "meme". One big difference between memes and genes is that memes are processed and possibly improved by the people that hold them - something that cannot happen to genes. It is this advantage that the memetic algorithm has over simple genetic or evolutionary algorithms. These algorithms are useful in solving complex problems, such as the "Travelling Salesman Problem," which involves finding the shortest path through a large number of nodes, or in creating artificial life to test evolutionary theories. Memetic algorithms are one kind of metaheuristic. UNLP memetic algorithms home page http://www. ing. unlp. edu. ar/cetad/mos/memetic_home. html. 07 July 1997 memetics /me-metiks/ The study of memes. As of mid-1993, this is still an extremely informal and speculative endeavor, though the first steps toward at least statistical rigor have been made by H. Keith Henson and others. Memetics is a popular topic for speculation among hackers, who like to see themselves as the architects of the new information ecologies in which memes live and replicate. [Jargon File]
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