Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

MEMETICS FOR THREAT REDUCTION IN RISK MANAGEMENT

ROBERT FINKELSTEIN

Robotic Technology Inc., University of Maryland University College, Adelphi, Maryland

BILAL M. AYYUB

Center for Technology and Systems Management, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

1 PREMISE

Risk, defined as a function of the probability of an event occurring and the consequences given that the event occurs, can be controlled and managed by either reducing the adverse consequences of an event, given that it occurs, or reducing the probability of the event occurring [1, 2]. Memetics can influence both risk components.

Memetics promises to reduce homeland security risks that are a result of human-caused threats by reducing the number of adversaries and thus the probability of an act; increasing the awareness of the risk to the public at large and those responsible for the targeted infrastructure, thus reducing the probability of a successful attack or mitigating its consequences; and enhancing the training of first responders, thus mitigating the consequences of a terrorist act.

2 THE MEME

The word “meme” is a neologism coined by Richard Dawkins [3] in The Selfish Gene (1976), (although it may have had earlier roots) and defined as a self-reproducing and propagating information structure analogous to a gene in biology. Dawkins focused on the meme as a replicator, analogous to the gene, able to affect human evolution through the evolutionary algorithm ...