The Importance of Memes

The "latest" manifestation of evolution -- apart from the cosmos and genes -- is the "meme." Memes are products of our big brains, and are most easily understood as communicable ideas. The concept of memes was first introduced by Richard Dawkins in his pioneering book, "The Selfish Gene." In "Consilience," the great American naturalist, Edward O. Wilson, elaborated on the concept of memes. Wilson, like Dawkins, theorized that memes -- like genes --have evolutionary histories. These can be studied as cultural transmissions.

For memes, the "primordial pool" is the collective human mind. Once created , memes, like genes, face the same pressures of natural selection. The "fitness" of a meme is determined by whether it "catches on" within a human population and across generations. Agriculture, steel tools, domestication of animals, rap music are all memes that "caught on." As a result of their ultimate dependency on humans, meme survival depends on a symbiotic relationship with human groups. This symbiosis was most likely mutualistic (mutually advantageous) or at worst commensal (doing neither harm nor good) in the early part of the meme-man relationship, when memes were often vital in offering survival advantages to human tribes. More recently, it can be argued, the relationship is more parasitic in nature. After all, how necessary are nuclear bombs, Hummer sport utility vehicles and picture in cell phones to human survival?

Since memes are information vectors that can be observed in time-space (i.e. over generations and in populations), they must possess "matter" or "energy" or X-like properties. Determining the "physical" properties of "memes" is a task that will require a multidisciplinary effort drawing from evolutionary psychology, anthropology, biochemistry, artificial intelligence, quantum physics, cosmology, theology, art history and philosophy-- the essence of Wilson's "Consilience."

In the world of cosmic mysticism, memes have special importance. Memes are, in many ways, the bridge from the organic world to the cosmos. For example, thanks to the utter plasticity of our Big brain, we have the ability to explore the cosmos and leave Mother Earth. By leaving the friendly confines of Earth, however, we are no longer living within the parameters of an "open system." Instead, we are forced to manage a reality which insists on an ever-changing, self-contained and evolving universe. Our brains, though, seem to have evolved the mechanisms to handle this reality -- our ability to narrate through language. If evolution is observation and evolution is the natural state of the universe, then our brain waves -- memes, language --, in a very mystical way, recapitulate the ordering principles of the universe.

This, of course, is not to imply that humans are integral to the existence of the universe because we can "observe" it. Rather, our brains do nothing more than articulate the cosmic truism that "we" are all connected. In science, that truism is reflected in String Theory, physics' unifying Theory of Everything. A central tenet of String theory is that every object, be it matter or energy (or information vector), existing in the universe is ultimately made of the same building blocks --vibrating strings. The universe "is" as a result of every object in it "perceiving" simultaneously its existence and that of the universe -- a grand cosmic orchestra of vibrating strings whose "genesis is by observership."

The State of Memes Today

The really interesting and telling point of this discussion is that the potential for "cosmic inference of unity" (or, in hippie terms, "cosmic consciousness") was present in our brains almost from the onset of self-awareness and our potential to narrate observable phenomenon. Without having literally gone to the moon, many "less advanced" nonwestern societies not only were able to make correct predictions about the stars, but were able to make the connection of the "self" to the cosmos. Buddhists, through meditation and keen observation, long ago realized the interrelated nature of the universe and ourselves; we are one, literally, in Nirvana. Native Americans, through an emphasis on a direct relationship with Pacha Mama (Nature), have reached similar conclusions; we are inseparable from the world around us. Even some Western thinkers have posited similar ideas. For example, we find evidence of this in the writings of transcendentalists like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson and their "transparent eyeball."

Alas, the mainstream society in the powerful "West" has obscured most forms of cosmic mysticism from its cultural makeup. This dismissal stems from purely narrow self-interests. In their place, psychologically powerful and primitive memes that originate from "fear" (see Joseph Conrad's "Into the Heart of Darkness") pervade Western society. These memes (i.e. racism, imperialism, Manifest Destiny) emphasize an egocentric, exclusionary view of humanity that is colored by deterministic religious fundamentalism (i.e. Genesis). Thanks to technological symbiosis and the voracious "survival of the fittest" meme (which gave rise to laissez faire capitalist agendas), power has been concentrated in the West --reinforcing the "fear" memes.

Further, a macroeconomics tinged overemphasis on the "freedom" meme has made individualism and consumerism powerful modern day ideas. For example, freedom in Iraq means "free markets" and, in America, the home of the free, patriotism means shopping. These "selfish" memes, unfortunately, are severing the connection between man and Nature and making obsolete narrative based human societal relationships. Instead, these memes are promoting the survival of other memes (i.e. corporations, technology). These trends, I submit as have others, are putting our human society in increasing peril of evolving into a "Matrix" type world (i.e. machine-dominated).

Interestingly, such "matrix" societies already exist in the natural realm. In a beehive, for example, there exists a central queen (powerful, large corporations?) who is taken care of by a small cadre of worker females (wealthy businessmen?) A swarm of sexless drones (the future Viagra deprived, Play Station hooked neutered masses?) work "mindlessly" to build honeycombs -- all so that the cycle of drone and honeycomb production can go on! This has proven to be a highly sustainable adaptation for bees. I have my doubts, though, that it would work as well for humans.

Of course, all is not rotten in the West. After all, "freedom" and "democracy" -- with the emphasis and dependence on empirical education -- are pillars of the Western mind. These memes, it can be argued, offer the greatest protection of memetic diversity, critical to the biological healthiness of the human ecosystem.

Conclusions

Retreating for a moment from the mystical and theoretical to the practical, I believe that we can benefit from evolution-derived insights in a very real way. To accomplish this, first we must map out memetic history ranging from cave drawings to Reality TV, from hunter-gatherers to genetically modified crops, from Adam and Eve to Adam and Steve --a process akin to the mapping of the human genome. The end result would be "The Natural History of Ideas." With the "Natural History of Ideas" in our hands, coupled with a humble understanding of our cosmic origin, we can better understand our human nature and begin to imagine a sustainable future for humanity.

A second step for our globalized societies would be to implement a naturalist education for our children. In other words, teach our future generations to be observant and aware of natural processes, which includes, most importantly, their own narrative histories. A naturalist education will neither negate God (though it will trump Creationism) nor advocate ruthless competition as our species' unavoidable destiny. Through a profound understanding of the evolution of the cosmos, genes and memes -- with an emphasis on their ultimate inter-relatedness -- this approach would emphasize empathy and awareness through perspective and meditation.

I believe naturalism will remove centuries of false learning and fear through the unmasking of the true nature of memes. This "revelation" will lead to the assertion that life, in balance, needs to be celebrated and lived in the moment, in harmony with natural and cosmic processes. All else -- power, money, technology-- are mostly distracting constructs taking us away from our essence.

Biologically, I suggest that it is populations who subscribe to such principles (i.e. Homo sapiens celebratoricus, as in the dancing Wu Li Masters) that will lead the most sustainable lives -- the only real accomplishment a species or group can be proud of.

Finally, as Milan Kundera wrote, the "form" of life may indeed be"sadness" due to inevitable death and decay) but the "content" can and need be "happiness" (creative and spiritual freedom attained through cosmic insight?).