Taxonomy

Memetic Algorithms have elements of Metaheuristics and Computational Intelligence. Although they have principles of Evolutionary Algorithms, they may not strictly be considered an Evolutionary Technique. Memetic Algorithms have functional similarities to Baldwinian Evolutionary Algorithms, Lamarckian Evolutionary Algorithms, Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithms, and Cultural Algorithms. Using ideas of memes and Memetic Algorithms in optimization may be referred to as Memetic Computing.

Inspiration

Memetic Algorithms are inspired by the interplay of genetic evolution and memetic evolution. Universal Darwinism is the generalization of genes beyond biological-based systems to any system where discrete units of information can be inherited and be subjected to evolutionary forces of selection and variation. The term ‘meme’ is used to refer to a piece of discrete cultural information, suggesting at the interplay of genetic and cultural evolution.

Strategy

The objective of the information processing strategy is to exploit a population based global search technique to broadly locate good areas of the search space, combined with the repeated usage of a local search heuristic by individual solutions to locate local optimum. Ideally, memetic algorithms embrace the duality of genetic and cultural evolution, allowing the transmission, selection, inheritance, and variation of memes as well as genes.

Implementation

http://www.cleveralgorithms.com/nature-inspired/physical/memetic_algorithm.rb