Speak your mind in the
Counter-Culture Forum |
|
Coined by zoologist Richard Dawkins in his
controversial book 'TheSelfish Gene' (1975), the 'meme' is the study
of ideas which replicate and transmit themselves via the human mind
the way a virus does in a biological host.Important early scientific
studies were conducted by Daniel C. Dennett and Douglas Hofstadter
in the 1980s, before a climate of viral metaphors(Ebola, AIDS) and a
rapidly growing hedonistic cyberculture helped popularize the
memetics field in the 1990s.
Memetic engineering developed from diverse influences, including
cutting edge physics of consciousness and memetics research, chaos
theory, semiotics, culture jamming, military information warfare,
and the viral texts of iconoclasts William S. Burroughs, J.G.
Ballard, and Genesis P-Orridge.
The savvy memetic engineer is able to isolate, study, and subtly
manipulate the underlying values systems, symbolic balance and
primal atavisms that unconsciously influence the individual psyche
and collective identity. A highly educated but susceptible
intelligentsia, worldwide travel, and information vectors like the
Internet and cable television means that hysterical epidemics and
disinformation campaigns will become more common. This warfare will
be conducted using aesthetics, symbols, and doctrines as camouflage
that will ultimately influence our cultural meme pool. These
contemporary 'life conditions' are explored in books like Carl
Sagan's 'The Demon Haunted World', John Brockman's 'The Third
Culture', and Michael Shermer's 'Why People Believe Weird Things.'
Fictional descriptions of memetic engineering include Isaac
Asimov's seminal 'Foundation' series, G.I. Gurdjieff's 'Beelzebub's
Tales To His Grandson', Neil Stephenson's 'Snow Crash', and Robert
W. Chambers' unearthly 'The King In Yellow' tome. Political examples
of memetic engineering include Adolf Hitler's 'Mein Kampf',
Zhirinovksy's 'Black Book', and Muammar Quadaffi's 'Green
Book.' |
|
- Spiral Dynamics
- "Mind-blowing site that combines Richard Dawkins'
concept of the 'meme' with the optimal psychology of Mihalyi
Csikzentmihalyi, and the pioneering 'Bio-Psycho-Social'
framework of Clare W. Graves. 'Spiral Dynamics' differs from
other memetics sites in being oriented towards open-ended
evolving values systems. It reveals the hidden codes that shape
human nature, create global diversities, and drive evolutionary
change. The methodologies have been successfully applied in a
wide variety of contexts, including transforming South Africa
out of race categories, revitalizing local communities and
sporting teams, and designing organizational and marketing
systems for blue chip corporate firms and top-level government
sectors. Mandatory reading if you want to actually be Asimov's
Hari Seldon."
- Aaron
Lynch's Thought Contagion
- "Lynch is an ex-Fermilab physicist who has studied
memetics full-time since1986. His landmark book 'Thought
Contagion: How Belief Spreads Through Society' (1996) contained
a wealth of scientific information. This site contains book
excerpts, scientific papers, core mathematical data, and
analyses of various thought contagion plagues. A growing wealth
ofinformation for the specialist."
- Richard Brodie's Meme Central
- "Brodie is an ex-Microsoft software developer who
popularized memetic engineering with his populist book 'Virus of
the Mind' (1996). This site contains book excerpts,
de-programming advice, and links to the rapidly growing memetics
community. A useful starting point for the memetic engineering
newbie."
- Journal of Memetics
- "Academically peer reviewed journal edited by author
Aaron Lynch, and managed by academic Hans Speel. Substantive
data on current mathematical models, social forecasting,
applications, and consciousness research.Often highly technical,
but very relevant to the specialist. Frequently
featuresimportant papers from the major academic researchers in
the field."
- The World of Richard Dawkins
- "Massive, unofficial site regarding the work of
zoologist Richard Dawkins,who coined the concept of memes.
Features quotes, bibliography, scientificpapers, videos,
lectures, and a huge collection of links. You could explorethis
site for months."
- William H. Calvin
- "Calvin's site features scientific notes and lectures
on a wide variety of subjects, including cutting edge
consciousness research and memetics. The reviews are
entertaining, the annotated bibliography simply
massive."
- Church of the Virus
- "A memetically engineered atheistic religion and
neo-cybernetic philosophy. Includes a huge reading list,
valuable memes to add to your conceptual toolkit, Glenn Grant's
landmark 'Memetic Lexicon', and Virian Virtues and Sins. Founder
David McFadzean also runs an invaluable mailing list. A very
influential site."
- Principia Cybernetica
- "Links 'ground-zero' for industrial/cyber-culture and
memetics. Excellent introductory point to memetics resources on
the web. Developed by Belgium's Dr. Francis Heylighen and his
international team, this 'Universal Knowledge System for
Cybernetics and Systems Science' also covers genes, evolution,
the global brain, epistemology, metaphysics, and other cutting
edges of conceptual and cultural development."
- Viruses of the Mind
- "Landmark essay on memetics, cultural evolution,
computer viruses, and how aberrant belief systems infect
previously rational minds by Richard Dawkins. A MUST read for
the memetics engineer."
- Douglas Rushkoff
- "Rushkoff is one of the most insightful and intuitive
U.S. based media theorists, and heir to the legacy of Timothy
Leary. He traced the'memetic drift' from 1960s counter-culture
to 1990s cyberculture in the landmarkbook 'Cyberia', and
dissected memetic engineering and culture jamming in the
incredible 'Media Virus' and 'Children of Chaos' texts. Unlike
other theorists, Rushkoff remains aloof and somewhat critical of
the digerati's hyper-reality, whilst maintaining a sense of
humor. His site continues to offer fresh perspectives on
cultural trends and the impact of rave and designer drug
cultures, featuring book excerpts, essays, and details of his
constant lecture tours."
- World Future
Society
- "A non-profit educational and scientific organization
founded in 1966, which publishes a diverse collection of books,
research papers, journals, and magazines about future trends,
scenarios, and alternatives occurring in contemporary society.
Includes loads of eye-opening educational and reference
materials, and links to WFS chapters and consultants worldwide.
Mandatory site for any memetics engineer looking to influence
the future trajectory path of contemporary culture."
- Extropy
Institute
- "An organization co-founded by the brilliant
philosopher Max More to propagate Extropian memes, including
those of nanotechnology, dynamicoptimism, self transformation,
memetic engineering and spontaneous order. Extropian thought is
one of the most influential philosophical and para-political
systems to have evolved out of cyberculture."
- Memetics Publications on the Web
- "Valuable 'environmental scan' of the Internet for
memetics publications and related scientific data. Many links to
scientific papers and commentaries by leading memetics-oriented
scientists (some not found elsewhere), and to the major memetics
sites on the World Wide Web. Well worth checking
out."
- Jack
Sarfatti's PCRG
- "Sarfatti is a controversial physicist ("I'm in
the meme business") whose theories on retro-causality have
influenced the cultural meme pool via films like 'T2: Judgement
Day', '12 Monkeys', and the 'Back To TheFuture' trilogy. Apart
from a wealth of material on quantum physics and paranormal
research, the value in this site for the memetic engineer is in
descriptions of his 'VALIS' like experiences, and the 'Destiny
Matrix' missives that describe his contact and dialogue with
'New Age' cultural luminaries, intelligence agents, and leading
corporate/industrial figures. A casebook of memetic engineering
in operation."
- Escape Velocity
- "Slightly dated (1996) but still excellent companion
site to 'Escape Velocity', the landmark book by cyberculture
theorist Mark Dery. This site is just what it says it is: an
online extension of the book, linking to areas of interest. An
insightful 'environmental scan' for the memetic
engineer."
- Hans Cees Speel's Memetics Page
- "Speel is a leading memetics academic researcher, and
his site features peer reviewed papers, journal publications,
case-studies, and notes on memetics, evolution, and complexity
research. He also co-founded the 'Journal of Memetics -
Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission.' Valuable
material for the serious researcher."
- The Lucifer Principle
- "The site for Howard Bloom's book 'The Lucifer
Principle', featuring book excerpts, reviews, and commentaries.
Bloom has conducted award-winning biochemistry research, written
positioning papers for political candidates, and conducted
anti-censorship campaigns. An expert in mass human behaviour,
and candidate for one of the most intriguing memetic engineers
of our time."
- MEMESIS Symposium
- "An electronics symposium featuring leading cultural
analysts and figures created for the 'Ars Electronica Festival
1996' that examines memetics and its influence on cyber-culture,
media studies, political science, and many other areas. Often
intriguing and controversial insights not found
elsewhere."
- Brain Tennis Debate
- "Witty, uncompromising, and interesting debate between
memeticist Aaron Lynch and social critic Richard Barbrook. Very
intriguing comments and perceptions regarding the meta-meme of
memetics."
- David Benahum's MEME Newsletter
- "Created by author David Solomon Benahum, this site
contains published articles, raw transcripts of interviews with
cultural luminaries, and archives of his popular bi-weekly
newsletter on memetics."
- Transhumanist Memes Page
- "Part of the massive 'Transhumanist' cultural site,
with a huge range oflinks and reviews regarding memetics. The
sections on 'individual memes' is particularly
noteworthy."
- The C
Memetic Nexus
- "The C Memetic Nexus. "You WILL propagate the
C-Memetic Complex, won't you? Unclassifiable, unique,
one-of-a-kind site." "
- The Meme
Factory
- "Software company that has a page on memes, and links
to various scientific essays and quotes."
- Institute of Memetic Engineering
- "An interesting project in its formative stages, useful
particularly for its description of key Internet mailing lists.
Has attracted private criticism from some memetics-oriented
academics for being potentially misrepresentative of the field.
Great idea with future potential if followed through
with."
- Memetics Visual Dictionary
- "An interesting experiment harnessing memetics,
linguistics, mathematical, and communications theories to
develop a dictionary system capable of evolving towards
intelligible meanings."
- UK Memes
Central
- "Links to various newsgroups and memetics sites on the
World Wide Web. Also includes valuable academic work and
references by Susan Blackmore."
- Agner Fog
- "Home-page for scientist Agner Fog, whose electronic
book 'Cultural Selection' is an underground favorite in the
memetics field."
- Gary Cziko
- "Cziko is Professor of Department of Educational
Psychology, College of Education, University of Illinois. The
'Selection Theory' Bibliography has useful information and
links."
- Greg's Memetics Page
- "Collection of memetics papers and thoughts, including
quotes from Douglas Hofstadter, and Jose Ortega Y Gassett's
seminal paper 'The Revolt of the Masses', which The C Memetic
Nexus "You WILL propagate the C-Memetic Complex, won't
you? Unclassifiable, unique, one-of-a-kind site."
|
