Understanding

Mature Adult Development

PART I
What is a Meme?
Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist
& Author of “The Selfish Gene.”

A meme is…

"an idea, behaviour or

style that spreads
from person to person
within a culture."
 Memes = Contents
Memes are viral like units of ideas….

They are subject to the laws of

natural selection…
Memes are transmitted through…

• Speech • The internet

• Writing • Mass media
• Gestures • Politics
• Rituals • Art
Means by which Memes replicate…
• Family
• Peer-to-peer
• Social Groups
• Organisations
• Cultures
• Globally
The Patent Wars…
While Apple waged war against
Samsung…
Nokia sued Apple in a battle of epic
proportions…
Kodak claimed Apple violated its
digital imaging patents…
“Imagine a world full of brains, and far more
memes than can possibly find homes. Which
memes are more likely to find a safe home and
get passed on again?”
- Susan Blackmore
Memes can be simple concepts…
Or complex social movements…
The Occupy Movement
A Meme that caught on quickly….
 Memes both interact with
and respond to the environment…
Catchphrases and slogans are memes.
The little black dress is a meme.
In toilets all around the world…
 What is a vMeme?

“As man solves the problems of

existence at a level, new brain
systems may be activated and
when activated, change his
perceptions so as to cause him to
see new problems of existence.”
 What are vMEMES?
• vMemes are levels containers for Ideas
• 8 vMEMES have been defined within SD
• vMemes are vertical waves
• Each vMeme illustrates a different way of thinking
about the world
• Deeper mindsets to which memes attach
• Our life conditions awaken vMemes
• Each vMeme has 2 transition Stages
• Sub-personalities activate for different areas of life
• Enduring memes into Integration vMemes –increasing
our complexity of conception
vMemes on the Spiral
 Main differences
• Memes are ideas and behaviours
• Memes can be easily observed
• Memes can be measured and manipulated

• vMemes are mental framing systems

• vMemes attract or repel memes
• The way a meme is thought about gives clues
as to the vMeme
 Memes & vMEMEs
Memetics adds understanding of how a vMemes
energy grows and spreads

vMEME shows a connection between

1. Ideas carried in Memes
2. Underlying thinking systems, value systems
and worldviews, coping systems, Spiral
colours or levels of psychological existence
 Beige – A-N, 1st Subsistence Level

• Survival Instinctive, not conscious mind

• Self Expressing
• Emerged approx 100,000 years ago
• Thinking is automatic; structures loose bands
• Basic Instinct; Do what you must to stay alive.
• Where seen; New born infant, senile elderly
mentally ill, starving masses, bad drug trips
• No future thinking, planning. Driven by senses.
 Purple – B-O, 2nd Subsistence Level
• Magical Safety - Tribes, Magic, Arts Sprits
• Self Sacrificing
• First emerged approx 50,000 years ago
• Thinking is animalistic; structures are tribal; the processes
are circular
• Basic Theme; Keep the spirits happy and the tribes nest
warm and safe
• Where seen; Belief in Voodoo curses, blood oaths, ancient
grudges, chanting, good luck charms, family rituals,
mystical ethical beliefs & superstitions. Third world settings,
gangs and athletic teams
• Arises during times of uncertainty, emotional & full of
symbols
 Red - C- P, 3rd Subsistence Level
• Impulsive Power; Warlords, conquest, discovery
• First emerged approx 10,000 years ago
• Thinking is egocentric; structures are empires, process
exploitative
• Basic Theme; Be what you are and do what you want,
regardless
• Where seen; The terrible twos, rebellious youth,
frontier mentalities, feudal kingdoms, James Bond
villains, epic heros, soldiers of fortune, wild rock stars,
Street gangs.
• Expect others to be tough like me, whatever you need
to do do without guilt. Respect and reputation matter
more than life. Haves & have nots.
 Blue D-Q, 4th Subsistence Level
• Purposeful, Trust, Self Sacrificing
• Thinking is absolutistic, structures are pyramidal, the
processes are authoritarian
• Basic Theme; Life has meaning, direction and purpose
with pre-determined outcomes.
• Life events determined by an all powerful external
power or order. My country right or wrong.
• Where seen; Puritan America, Confucian China,
Hassidic Judaism, codes of Chivalry & honour,
charitable good deeds, Salvation Army, religious
fundamentalism, Scouts, Patriotism
• Redemption, Sacrifice now for salvation
 Orange, E-R, 5th Subsistence Level
• Achievist, Strive – Mobility, individualism, economics, Autonomy &
independence
• First emerged approx 1000 years ago
• Thinking is objective/rational, structures are delegative; processes
strategic.
• Basic Theme; Act in your won self interest by playing the game to
win. The world is as we know it from direct experience.
• Where seen; The Enlightenment, Wall street, emerging middle
classes, colonialism, Infomercials, The coal War, Fashion &
Cosmetics
• I want to achieve and win and get somewhere in my life. The world
is full of opportunities for those willing to seize them.
• People are motivated by achievement of material rewards,
competition improves productivity and growth through opposition,
Success is here and now.
 Green, F-S, 6th Subsistence Level
• Communitarian, Humanistic
• Self Sacrificing
• First emerged approx 150 years ago – Human rights, liberty,
collectivism
• Thinking is relativistic, structures are egalitarian, processes
consensual
• Basic Theme; Seek peace within the inner self and explore, with
others the caring dimensions of community
• The world is known subjectively
• Sensitivity supersedes cold rationality, emphais on relationships,
human bonding, ecology, networking. Strives to grasp depths of
others experience.
• Where seen; John Lennon's music, Rogerian counseling, liberation
theology, Doctors without Boarders, Canadian Health Care,
GreenPeace, deep ecology, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Company
• Equality, Togetherness, interdependency, community, acceptance.
Social responsibility
End of first Tier consciousness…. Doing

MOMENTOUS LEAP TO SECOND

TIER… BEING
 Yellow A’-N’ 7th Subsistence Level
• Integrative, Systematic
• First emerged approx 50 years ago, complexity, chaos,
interconnections
• Thinking is systemic, structures are interactive, processes are
integrative
• Basic theme; Live fully and responsibly and as what you are and
learn to become. The world is not necessarily as we know it.
• Able to accept paradox and hold contradictions
• Where seen; Carl Sagan’s Astronomy, Peter Senges organizations,
chaos theory, eco-industrial parks, Fred Alan Wolf’s new Physics,
Deepak Chopra’s Ageless Body
• Learning and understanding motivate people, not payoffs and
punishments, people have different competencies and capacities,
flexible working, remote working
 Turquoise, B’-O’ 8th Subsistence Level
• Holistic Global, Globalism, eco consciousness
• First Emerged 30 years ago
• Holistic thinking, structures are global, processes are
flowing and ecological
• Basic Theme; Experience the wholeness of existence
through mind spirit.
• Recognition of diverse perspectives, minimalist, focus on
good of all living beings
• Where seen; McLuhans Global Village, Gandhi’s ideas of
pluralistic harmony, Ken Wilber, James Lovelock’s Gaia
hypothesis, Pierre Teihard de Chardin’s ‘Noosphere
• Work must be meaningful for overall health of all life
• Experiencing feelings and information together enhances
both.
 Values & Value Systems
Value Value System

• The beliefs and • A bio-psycho-social

ethical frames that system that frames
set priorities and life priorities,
express moralities worldview and
perspectives on
reality
 MEMES
Links & Resources
Susan Blackmore
Ted Talk - Memes & “temes”
• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/susan_blackmore_on_memes_
and_temes.html
• http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Chapters/cosmos2008.htm
• Blackmore,S.J. (1999) The Meme Machine, Oxford, Oxford
University Press.
Dan Dennett
Ted Talk - Dangerous Memes
• http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_m
emes.html
Other
http://www.memecentral.com/