1976, Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins wrote about the concept of a meme (pronounced meem), or mind-virus, in his book The Selfish Gene. His original definition of a stated "the meme is simply a unit of intellectual or cultural information that survives long enough to be recognized as such, and which can pass from mind to mind." Examples of memes exist throughout history while new ones are created daily. From an early handheld ax to the changing of English grammar due to text messaging, memes infect our minds, alter our behavior, and cause us to propagate certain patterns.