The\r\nHigher Order Memeplex: Divisions of Labor\r\nAuthor: COINTELPRO\r\nVICTIM\r\nIntroduction\r\n<\/p>
Have you been assimilated? Are you an autonomous individual acting of\r\nyour own free will, or have you unwittingly become the tool of some larger\r\norganism? Before you reject these questions as absurd, consider the\r\nfollowing. Even if you act of your own free will or, at least, believe\r\nthat you act of your own free will, what if the information that you base your\r\ndecisions upon has been constructed with the intention of causing you to make\r\nvarious predetermined choices? If your reality is not real, but instead is\r\nan illusion created specifically to induce you to behave in a way that benefits\r\nsomething outside of yourself, is there any way that you would know? This\r\npaper will answer the above questions.<\/p>\r\nBrief Introduction to Memeplexes\r\n
As I write this paper, it is the year 2004 and many decades have passed since\r\nthe concept of the meme\r\nwas introduced to the world. Though the concept and the word \"meme\"\r\nwhich denotes it have become known in increasingly wider circles, the concept\r\nand the word remain unknown to most people. Of those that have encountered\r\nit, some fail to see the word \"meme\" as more than jargon. \r\nNevertheless, memes are real and the implication of the meme concept has\r\nprofound implications on human existence. Those ignoring the concept of\r\nthe meme do so at their personal peril. The idea that ignorance of memes\r\nmay present a danger to an individual may seem to be an exaggeration, but after\r\nreading this paper I suspect that you will agree that dismissing memes as benign\r\ncuriosities is unwise.<\/p>\r\n
A good definition for the word meme can be found here:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Definition of Meme:
\r\n
\r\n \/meem\/ [By analogy with \"gene\"] Richard Dawkins's term for an idea considered as a replicator, especially with the connotation that memes parasitise people into propagating them much as viruses do.
\r\n
\r\n Memes can be considered the unit of cultural evolution. Ideas can evolve in a way analogous to biological evolution. Some ideas survive better than others; ideas can mutate through, for example, misunderstandings; and two ideas can recombine to produce a new idea involving elements of each parent idea.
\r\n
\r\n The term is used especially in the phrase \"meme complex\" denoting a group of mutually supporting memes that form an organised belief system, such as a religion. However, \"meme\" is often misused to mean \"meme complex\".
\r\n
\r\n Use of the term connotes acceptance of the idea that in humans (and presumably other tool- and language-using sophonts) cultural evolution by selection of adaptive ideas has become more important than biological evolution by selection of hereditary traits. Hackers find this idea congenial for tolerably obvious reasons.<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n
The entire definition, as shown above, is salient to this paper. We\r\ncould reword it as follows:<\/p>\r\n
(1) A meme is an idea which differs from other ideas in that it includes a\r\nmechanism for replication.<\/p>\r\n
(2) Memes replicate by using human individuals and\/or human societies as a\r\nmeans to propagating copies of themselves.<\/p>\r\n
(3) Memes, in that they are replicators, are similar to genes. Like\r\ngenes, they exist only to copy themselves. Like genes, the may evolve over\r\ntime by mutating and competing with other memes. Memes are concerned only\r\nabout their own reproduction. Anything employed to forwarding the goal of\r\nthe meme (e.g. an individual that believes in the meme as an idea) is\r\ninconsequential to the meme outside of how it contributes to the meme's\r\nreplication.<\/p>\r\n
(4) Meme-complexes,\r\nalso referred to as memeplexes, are collections of memes which symbiotically act\r\nto promote the replication of the individual memes within the collection. \r\nIn a sense, they are a society of memes banded together in order to increase the\r\nprobability of the survival of the members of the collection by using as a means\r\nto replication resources which they collectively organize to benefit the\r\nindividual memes in the collection (the only benefit a meme enjoys is an\r\nincrease in its number of offspring). In this sense, memeplexes are to\r\nmemes as cells are to genes.<\/p>\r\n
This paper is not about memes, it is about memeplexes and how they use\r\nindividuals, institutions, corporations and societies as a means to their\r\nreproduction. The above explanation of the meme is given in order to\r\nprovide the background needed to understand what a memeplex is and to stress\r\nthat memes and memeplexes, though related, are distinct.<\/p>\r\n
A memeplex is a symbiotic society of memes. However, I propose that\r\nmemeplex's themselves can be divided into two useful categories: First Order\r\nMemeplexes<\/i> and Higher Order Memeplexes<\/i>.<\/p>\r\n
The first order memeplex is comprised only of memes. The higher order\r\nmemeplex is comprised of other memeplexes. Once again an analogy from\r\nbiology is in order. An organ within a living creature is to a cell as a\r\nsecond order memeplex is to a memeplex. Just as an organ is a group of\r\ncells that act in concert to provide some higher order function to a living\r\ncreature, a second order memeplex is a group of memeplexes that act in concert\r\nto provide some higher order function to a third order memeplex. Thus, the\r\nliving creature is to the organ as the third order memeplex is to the second\r\norder memeplex.<\/p>\r\n
This distinction is not arbitrary. Just as cells provide service to\r\norgans and organs provide service to living creatures with the aim of increasing\r\nthe probability that the living creature will endure long enough to replicate\r\nsuccessfully, thereby replicating the genes that compose the cells of the\r\norganism; the first order memeplexes provide service to the second order\r\nmemeplexes and the second order memeplexes provide services to the third order\r\nmemeplexes with the aim of increasing the probability that the third order\r\nmemeplex will endure long enough to replicate successfully, thereby replicating\r\nthe memes that compose the first order memeplexes of the third order\r\nmemeplex. Just as the living body uses all of its parts and all of the\r\nresources it consumes or manages in an effort to endure long enough to reproduce\r\nits genetic code, the third order memeplex uses all of its lower order\r\nmemeplexes and all of the resources (i.e. humans) it consumes or manages in an\r\neffort to endure long enough to reproduce its memetic code.<\/p>\r\n
The third order memeplex can be thought of as a highly organized and stable\r\nentity which has evolved for the specific purpose of replicating its\r\nmemes. It uses human beings, human societies and human organization as\r\nresources to this end (i.e. replication of its memes). It pursues this\r\ngoal with absolutely no concern for the human beings involved. In fact,\r\nthere is no evidence that any memeplex is conscious. Therefore, human\r\nbeings used merely as resources for memeplexes have surrendered, perhaps\r\nunconsciously, their autonomy and have become resources to the unconscious, soulless\r\nmachine that is the third order memeplex.<\/p>\r\n
An important question we must ask ourselves, given the above, is do we have\r\nany choice? Must we be resources for a memeplex and if we must, can we\r\npick and choose a memeplex that benefits us rather than uses us merely as a\r\nmeans to its own end?<\/p>\r\nThe Anatomy of a Third Order Memeplex (Divisions of Labor)\r\n
There are a potentially infinite number of third order memeplex types. \r\nTherefore, unless we pick a specific third order memeplex (something we will not\r\ndo in this paper), we can only point out the general second order memeplex types\r\nthat are needed to form a successful third order memeplex. Put simply, we\r\nwish to enumerate the most general divisions of labor within a third order\r\nmemeplex.<\/p>\r\n
Since memeplexes replicate, there must be a division of labor concerned with\r\nreplicating the memeplex. Memeplexes, like living creatures, do not\r\nreplicate in a vacuum. They must consume resources and order those\r\nresources in a way that results in one or more copies of the memeplex. \r\nTherefore, there must be a division of labor responsible for obtaining resources\r\nand another division of labor responsible for organizing those resources into\r\none or more copies of the memeplex.<\/p>\r\n
Additionally, since memeplexes are in competition with one another,\r\nmemeplexes must compete with other memeplexes for resources. The struggle\r\nto obtain resources will inevitably lead to conflict between memeplexes. \r\nIn order to obtain resources (i.e. human beings), memeplexes must find ways of\r\nsubverting the free will of human individuals with the aim of redirecting their\r\nlabor to the benefit of the memeplex. This implies that there may be many\r\ndifferent manifestations of a division of labor concerned with obtaining\r\nresources. Reflections upon human societies suggest that war, propaganda,\r\nslavery and employment are good candidates to consider as manifestations of this\r\ndivision of labor.<\/p>\r\n
Memeplexes must be able to exploit the resources obtained by means of the\r\naforementioned divisions of labor and direct those resources towards\r\nreplication. Therefore, there must be a reproductive division of labor\r\nwithin the third order memeplex. Obvious candidates within human society\r\ncome to mind: teachers, writers, actors, politicians, etc.<\/p>\r\n
Memeplexes face another challenge to survival - infection. Since\r\nmemeplexes are complexes of memes, they must protect themselves from the\r\ninvasion of foreign memes intent upon subversion. Foreign memes may evolve\r\nfor the purpose of hijacking a memeplex in an effort to direct it to self\r\ndestruction or to the service of another memeplex. Since the danger of\r\nmemetic infection is high when other competing memeplexes are present, the\r\nmemeplex will need to deploy a division of labor which used human beings as\r\nmindless drones aimed at destroying any foreign meme that invades the\r\nmemeplex. These mindless human drones can be thought of as the memetic\r\nanalog to the anti-body. In fact, they are identical in purpose to the\r\nanti-body: to fight off infection. Since they are identical, we will\r\nmerely borrow the term \"anti-body\" to describe this division of\r\nlabor. Candidates within human society abound which may form examples of\r\nmindless anti-bodies (e.g. The Protest Warriors, The ADL, KOBEHQ, The Free\r\nRepublic, Ditto-Heads, etc.).<\/p>\r\n
The anti-body is not the only defense against infection. There are\r\nother mechanism that can be deployed by memeplexes to fight off infection. \r\nThe most obvious is censorship. Memeplexes may avoid the need to deploy\r\nanti-bodies by deploying censors as a substitute, the goal being to prevent\r\ninfection by preventing competing memes from entering the resource space (the\r\nset of potential and actual human resources) of the memeplex. Another\r\ndefense against infection is to actively seek out and destroy all competing\r\nmemes. This is an advanced technique unlikely to evolve on its own. \r\nIn the biological world, natural viruses occur as means to replicating the\r\ngenetic code of the virus. Humans can engineer viruses to accomplish some\r\nother goal (e.g. destroying the human resources of a memeplex competing with\r\ntheir won). However, even engineered viruses exist for themselves and will\r\nevolve to their own end (self replication and advantage over competing viruses\r\nand defense against viruses). Therefore, once they are released, they no\r\nlonger act exclusively in the interest of their creators. The same is true\r\nfor memetically engineered memes. They may begin by destroying their\r\ntarget but they will evolve towards their own end (self replication). An\r\nexample of such a meme within human society is the \"Nazism is\r\nsocialism\" meme that has been spread by the human resources of Bush's\r\nneo-fascist memeplex. The purpose of this meme is to convince potential\r\nresources to shun socialism by deceiving them into believing that socialism is a\r\nform of fascism. Interestingly, this was Hitler's intent as well when he\r\ninvented the term, thus another similarity between the Bush neo-fascists and the\r\nNazis has been found.<\/p>\r\nConsidering the above, we arrive at the following most general divisions of\r\nlabor within the third order memeplex:\r\n
Conclusion<\/p>\r\n
This paper narrowly focuses on the divisions of labor within third order\r\nmemeplexes. It demonstrates that all successful third order memeplexes\r\n(e.g. ideologies) must employ at least four divisions of labor (Replication,\r\nResource Organization, Slavery and Self Defense). For each division of\r\nlabor, we have identified candidates within human society for each. For\r\nthose of us concerned about free will and individual autonomy, the above\r\nanalysis calls for a answer to the following questions:<\/p>\r\n
All of the above will be addressed in future papers.<\/p>\r\n
Copyright © 2004, Stephen DeVoy, All rights reserved. \r\nPermission granted for non-profit republication in journals and magazines\r\n(online and offline). Notwithstanding the above, permission to copy is\r\ndenied to any magazine or journal supporting George Bush.<\/p>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Have you been assimilated? Are you an autonomous individual acting of your own free will, or have you unwittingly become the tool of some larger organism? Before you reject these questions as absurd, consider the following. Even if you act of your own free will or, at least, believe that you act of your own free will, what if the information that you base your decisions upon has been constructed with the intention of causing you to make various predetermined choices? ","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/09\/116837.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}