B21 – Memes & Virus of the Mind

Let’s play a fun game.

Do you remember the pet rock? How about beanie babies? Tamagotchis?

What about planking? Tebowing? Lolcat?

All of these are fads.  They spring out of nowhere and soar in popularity only to be forgotten for the next craze.  Why does this happen? Popular culture? Rise of social media? Internet trolls?

What if you thought of your body not as the primary vessel of your DNA but rather a vessel for ideas to be passed on to someone else, regardless if next of kin or not.

That’s the premise of Richard Brodie’s Virus of the Mind It looks at life and society from the unique angle in which ideas are meant to be spread just like genes are.  The only difference is that genes take years to spread where ideas can spread in minutes or even seconds.

The best memes just like the best genes are what survive generation after generation.  So while these fads have great growing power, they have weak staying power.  Just like a virus, they get passed around rapidly, only to be eliminated by the current establishment of ideas.  So what are the most sustainable memes?  Which one’s are ubiquitous and have passed the test of time?  Well, just look around, it permeates all aspects of life.

Still unsure, read on and read why, how, and what this whole concept of meme theory came about.  The best offense is a good defense.  And well, you may just pick up some tips at how to leverage memes for your own use.

 

Meme: basic unit of imitation

  • A unit of information in a mind whose existence influences events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds
    • Not the only way to look at the function of the mind, but one way to do so
  • A good meme is one that’s effective at replicating, often isn’t “good” for you/society
  • We are built with plenty of memes, but sometimes it takes just one new one to cause a chain reaction/proliferation
    • Like a Rube Goldberg reaction that spreads it
  • Cognitive Therapy: goes through process of your life’s mental models and finds and fixes inaccuracies
  • Virus of the mind: infectious pieces of our culture spread rapidly throughout society altering people’s thoughts and lives
    • Benign viruses: popularity of miniskirts, slang
    • Malignant viruses: entitlement
    • Your thoughts are not always your own original ideas
  • Meme: building block of culture and your mind
  • Virus: appears/exists in culture
  • Evolutionary psychology: certain buttons work better than others
  • Once virus of mind is created, takes on life of its own and infects as many people as possible
    • Ad agencies are most brazen of all of them

Instincts: certain behaviors that are a product of nature, in modern days often don’t work and our conscious has to take over and override

  • Most memes acquired are done so without conscious intent: religion, TV shows, etc.
  • Memes 3 classes
    • Distinction: how we slice up what we observe and define it, concepts we make up to understand things
      • When you do so you gain some awareness and lose others
      • Make distinctions over others, ex. Coke vs Pepsi
    • Strategy: tells you what to do when you come across an applicable situation in order to receive a desired result
      • Stop at a red traffic light
      • Cause and effect
      • All strategy memes are an approximation, learn a lot when young, but may not apply when older
    • Association: links 2+ memes in your mind
      • One thing triggers another which spreads the meme
    • People don’t own ideas, sometimes ideas can own people, ideas are made of memes
    • Civilization: compromise and collection of a lot of memes, many aren’t the best for a civilization but they are there
      • It is possible to shift or change ideas/memes in society but very difficult to
      • Peer pressure is huge, either adopt the meme or struggle
      • Anytime you obey or fully rebel these meme instructions, you’re ripe for another mind virus, so “Question authority, but not blindly”

Virus: makes copies of itself and uses us for making them; it won’t stop replicating itself

  • Must let host live long enough to replicate itself to another host: it’s very good at spreading
    • Our copying mechanism has a poor screening option, just does what it’s told
    • Our minds are good at both copying info and following instructions
  • Viruses: created by society/culture (cultural viruses), created by man (designer viruses)
    • Both equally as damaging

Replicators: things that are good at sticking around and self-replicating

  • Gene passed down through biology and meme passed down through minds
    • Both create themselves and get created
  • Evolution: scientific model of how things become more complex
  • Entropy: how things get simpler
    • Creative and destructive forces of the universe
    • Evolution: requires replication with certain degree of fidelity and innovation, certain degree of infidelity as well
    • Fitness: likelihood of being copied
    • Not survival of the fittest, it’s abundance of the fittest
      • Mothers protecting young: save 2 kids is a stronger incentive to have genes pass on than to run away or defend self
    • From gene’s viewpoint, human is just a way to make more genes
      • DNA is evolving and we simply play a part in it, but it is slow with its mutations and permutations
        • Lots of DNA does nothing but it still gets passed on
      • The replicator function of the DNA will beat individual’s survival mechanism when put in conflict
    • Mind allows evolution of memes to occur in days and hours through memes vs. generations with genes

Meme evolution happens because our minds are good at copying and innovating ideas and behaviors

  • Purpose of mind is to allow for rapid evolution of the meme
  • Selfish meme = selfish gene (but copies itself faster)
  • Most prevalent and popular parts of our culture are ones most effective at copying
    • Most people own a TV or smart phone to receive these memes
    • Language has boosted ability to copy memes otherwise we couldn’t pass them down
    • Strong memes around 4 F’s: fighting, fleeing, feeding, and fornicating
  • Memes involving: food, danger and sex spread faster than other memes because we have inherent buttons around those memes
    • Priority of genes: genes trying to overpower the most powerful concept we have: consciousness
    • Crisis (fear), mission (accomplish this task), problem (scarcity issue), danger, opportunity
    • Negative examples: anger, fear, hunger and lust
      • Be skeptical of memes as they come your way
    • We may not act on these “memes” but we have to pay attention
  • 2nd order drives are also good sources of memes: belonging, distinguishing yourself, caring, approval, obeying authority
    • You get a good or bad feeling when they’re elicited
    • Not about quality of life you get, but the quantity of replication for a meme’s survival
      • Fit memes
        • Tradition: what is done/has been done, pass it down, repeat
        • Evangelism: tell everyone about it
        • Faith: believe in it blindly, resistant to any new ones
        • Skepticism: resistant to any opposing views
        • Familiarity
        • Making sense: we will accept something that’s easy to follow but flawed versus hard to understand but correct
  • We aren’t evolving into a better world, rather, one with more memes and mind viruses
    • And computers are even better replicators than our minds and will soon become the power force

Realize you are here because your ancestors all were successful at mating

  • By definition and selection we become more and more sexually attractive with stronger sex drives
  • Sexual differentiation (sexism)
    • Men
      • Caring/nurture (surreptitious)
      • He-men (dominant, display and seek power)
    • Women
      • Attractive/popular
      • Secure and nurturing
    • Many sub roles and variations
    • Mate with those similar to you because means higher chance passing on same genes
      • Niche strategy: go different/exotic to allow self to pass on genes in uncrowded environment
    • All morals, values, rights, and traditions are result of meme evolution
    • Women more to invest than men, could be picky
    • Faking: he-men hard to fake because will be called out, easier to fake nurturer
    • Cheating: man’s natural instinct, try to avoid cuckolding
      • Women: not much if he goes back to her to raise her kids
    • Another strategy is to make harder for them to reproduce (and then don’t follow that rule)
      • Interest of females, grandparents to create several memes: rules of game that go against natural desires: help everyone else out
    • Access to sex/women is driving force behind society’s rules
      • Little access = power huge deal, women have low power, virginity and violence big (Middle East)
      • Lots of access = women in power, sex with a lot of people, men not as violent (Sweden)
    • Buttons
      • Males: power, dominance, opportunity
      • Female: security, commitment, investment
    • Didn’t realize could have sex without reproducing = huge game changer
      • Some religions forbid birth control = genetically winning strategy
    • Those of us with few children will be swamped and meant to care for those with many children
      • We have been given the right mind viruses to be happy to work to raise other’s children

Many myths, religions, etc. have memes involving danger, because those are the ones we pay attention to

  • Danger, safety, fear, revulsion, anxiety, anger, and everything in between (different degrees)
    • Specific fears are far from universal and can change in course of lifetime, are function of hard wiring with memes
    • We live in a society so far removed from primal danger, fear is no longer that necessary, but it’s being applied everywhere
      • Feeling of “get away from it all” desire to simplify everything
    • Altruism buttons: help children, birds of a feather, racism, elitism (we deserve better/more resources)
    • Danger doesn’t have to be real, we just have to think it is
    • Gambling (pure chance): plays off humans overvaluing a long shot, cheap insurance, playing streaks (with or against them), past performance usually good indicator except in purely random events like gambling, stingy when down, generous when up (should be reversed in gambling), playing a hunch
    • Superstitions: cheap insurance, playing the streaks
      • Train self to think every time to face that fear, rather than just react instinctively

We get infected by memes: conditioning (repetition “buy me” 7x), cognitive dissonance (things don’t make sense, try to figure it out/force to make sense [really effective on “thinkers/intellectuals]), Trojan horse (on button/meme and slide in a bunch more, commitment and consistency)

  • Conditioning
    • Passive–do nothing but happens anyways
    • Operant conditioning—behavior gets rewarded (don’t reward every time)
      • Kids graded at school, praising them when do good, tough teachers are ones “most valuable to student”
    • Cognitive dissonance: 2 ways: accept meme or bailout (ex. Hazing, “succeed” by not being hazed anymore)
    • Trojan horse: embed (package into currently accepted memes), anchoring (feeling, image, etc. connected to unrelated idea to create association (coke = happiness)
    • Sell: be the one asking the questions (can Trojan horse), create value is to find what customer thinks is important, not what seller thinks is
    • Close
      • Direct (straightforward request)
      • Presumptive (assume close, full of bundled memes like marriage)
      • Embedded (bypass customer’s pressure detector because doesn’t seem aimed at person)
      • Rapport (buddy meme/mirroring)
      • Confidence (get them to trust you by giving them your confidence first)
    • Reproduction: tradition is truth, reward verbatim copying (military), right/wrong way of doing things (spelling)
    • Spreading: movers and shakers: window to get word out before too late, teach children to pass it on, evangelize yourself
    • Cultural viruses: institutions evolved on own to be self-perpetuating

All cultural institutions regardless of their initial designs/intentions evolve to one goal: to perpetuate themselves

  • Mistaken to believe that anything complicated must be purposefully designed/intended, sometimes things just happen
  • Ads have evolved to be only the most successful button pushers of danger, food, sex, etc.
    • Moved from advertising content of product to association/feeling
    • Many ads these days tell a mini story (Bud Bowl: know that competition is a big meme of the watchers)
    • Culture shifts that way, little good to blame single person for it
    • Celeb’s on talk shows, just there to pitch their newest product/ideas
    • Authors writing more for easily adapted screenplays (more visual) because more lucrative
  • Valueless demeaning junk is a better replicator
  • Make better replicator: better exploit the environment, or change environment to its advantage
  • TV has evolved into self-perpetuating cultural virus with only most poignant button pushing
  • Truth is not one of the strong meme selectors: “making sense” is
    • Astrology: birthdate only
  • Op-ed/editorial: where claim bias part of paper, implies rest isn’t
    • Prime breeding ground for memes
    • Can’t really be unbiased/writer’s own context of life
    • “Things are fine” memes very weak (status quo doesn’t sell)
    • Has to be a button pushing story to not die/get beaten by another vying for attention
  • Making sense: conspiracy theories, many real conspiracies are just boring and get no coverage anyways because we want new/different/unusual
    • Difficult to remove self from memetic programming and view how others see you
  • Unusual and amplifying power of media: distorted view of life/the world = more fear, danger, power crisis
    • Otherwise people won’t tune in and stations die
    • News = drug of the mind
  • Pets: cultural virus, we are their slaves, panhandling: best push out those who need it the most
  • Government: little by little, shifted power for people to state/federal, when governed by TV, we have a skewed view on life
  • Black market: power, window of opportunity, scarcity, already criminals (low risk/high reward)
    • Leaders are forced to market selves with most powerful memes available (crisis, problem, danger)
  • Tyranny of majority: react to crisis, ask government to step in, take more and more power
    • Further: so many want legislator power and return for their vote, package it with money and other things to get their attention
      • Repetition with lobbyists to get message across, politicians want to fix something, anything has strings attached though
    • Even if wanted not to compete on low level, would lose to those who did and push most effectively
    • To unseat incumbent, have to show can do more, fix problem = bigger, more expensive government
      • Compete just on button pushing, not on real agendas

Any meme you can consciously choose whether programming yourself with aids or hinders your life purpose

  • Religious belief systems don’t matter if they are true/good ways to lead life, just self-perpetuating mechanisms added in
  • Our problem solving tendency motivates us to try to solve everything, even complex things that can’t be solved in our quest for truth (absolute truth)
  • Religions all have same memes in them
    • Tradition (perpetuate/ingrain/pass on)
    • Heresy (shun the nonbeliever)
    • Evangelism (spread/copy)
    • Make sense (have answers to most difficult questions of life)
    • Repetition (rituals, daily prayer)
  • Religions push same buttons
    • Security (fear/ostracism)
    • Crisis
    • Food (feasts/fasts)
    • Sex (opinions on them)
    • Problem (for intelligent people, only get answer when study really long/hard)
    • Dominance (power structure/hierarchy internally)
    • Belonging (to a group)
  • Faith in God works because gives them a purpose in their lives, would accomplish things they wouldn’t otherwise
  • Belief memes like computer programs, lead them to perform action
    • Give “Life purpose program” = get a purpose

Science of memetics: powerful tools for manipulation, unleash, self-replicate and channel others to some self-serving end

  • In near future, bulk of society will be composed of designer viruses because take over other thoughts and other viruses will lose out or people with them will be cast out/ostracized from main culture
  • Increasingly powerful technology will be needed to create a winner and fine-tune before launching
  • Three kinds: profit motivated, power motivated, and vision of better future
  • Profit
    • Window of opportunity + reward + get rich quick + Evangelism
    • Problem is quickly maxes out of people (multilevel marketing)
    • Top level gets rich at expense of those under who join for a bit, do a little, then quit
    • One to one selling is business of future in a more and more crowded/noisy environment
    • Key for successful profit meme is to incentivize people to enroll/evangelize new people
  • Power
    • Cult: not necessarily a religion
      • Each commits to serve some higher mission/purpose
      • Serious consequences attached to leaving
      • Evangelism
    • When give power to purpose outside self, give power to that purpose to control you
      • Mission statement to align everyone
      • Golden handcuffs: “consequences of leaving” vesting stock
    • Cognitive dissonance: initiation, pledging, paying your dues, commit crime, all intended to hold power over you
    • 3 tests on mission
      • What is most important use of your life? Is it that mission
      • Does evidence show that participation in this group really most effective way to fulfill mission
      • Do you have a personal sense of fulfillment from your day to day participation with that group
        • If no, why do it
        • If absolute yes, you are in a cult
        • If difficult to answer, on right track
      • Beliefs are like cow paths, more you walk down it, more it looks like the right way to go
      • It’s not you who has control of the designer virus, but virus itself takes off
      • So take any agenda and plug into it (as long as won’t interfere with virus’ function of self-replication)
        • Political campaigns (volunteer to get more volunteers), MLM companies, word of mouth seminars (recruit one and sign up for next one)
      • Quality of life
        • When find one, evangelize!
        • Tie all together (help children, it’s a crisis, serve food, offer sex)
      • Take any opportunity to spread the memes you want in the world

2 important ethical questions you can’t avoid (otherwise viruses will take over and won’t fix itself)

  • How should I program myself
  • What memes should I spread
  • Gut feeling is DNA’s way of replicating if follow the feeling, worked back in the day not so much in society today
    • Humans could be slaves to computers: spend lives in front/entering in them
    • Program self with truth: can’t know all truth, spend too much time finding it to be useful
      • More you understand memes, more realize very little “Absolute truth”
    • Serve genes: no life purpose, mere animal, silly concept
      • Find life purpose: be conscious
        • Next time desire to turn on TV, stop, sit, clear mind, allow thoughts to enter and exit
        • More aware, more realize what you take for granted, find different perspectives and realize where wrong
          • Know succeed when other person says “yes exactly what I’m trying to say!”
        • Most people are so full of mind viruses that they spend whole life not doing what they want
        • 3 Level learning pyramid
          • level 1: genetic DNA, do thing, survive, reproduce
          • level 2: academic, long term advantages, studying
            • most people are here
            • Bored, quiet desperation, unmotivated
          • Level 3: life is something to be created, out of personal programming and hold onto that mission as your highest priority
      • Spread
        • Live and let live: virus will take over, have to evangelize
        • Educate children: education just copying memes (tradition, stuck in old times—3 month summer break, lectures worst retention method)
        • Shift from what to think to how to think (level 3 conscious), find what motivates, empowers, excites…be conscious