[coldtea]

>Is your comment different than saying "some ideas are catchier than others"?

No, and that's the whole point.

Since "some ideas are catchier than others", ideas are superset of memes.

Memes being, precisely, the ideas with higher virality.

Ideas with low or zero virality are not memes.

[rarefied_tomato]

The field of virology doesn't draw a line in the sand excluding certain viruses with low transmission rates. Viruses that are more transmissible simply draw the attention of the field.

Presumably, a scientific study of ideas would observe ideas commonly transmitted in the wild.

[coldtea]

>The field of virology doesn't draw a line in the sand excluding certain viruses with low transmission rates. Viruses that are more transmissible simply draw the attention of the field.

The field of meme-ology however does. So there's that.