Memetic engineering

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Memetic engineering, also meme engineering,

memes
.

  • The process of developing memes, through meme-splicing and memetic synthesis, with the intent of altering the behavior of others in society or humanity.
  • The process of creating and developing theories or
    cultures
    , their ways of thinking and the evolution of their minds.
  • The process of modifying human beliefs, thought patterns, etc.

In contrast, gutation is a term developed by Erik Buitenhuis and is:

  • The process of altering the behaviour of oneself, with the intent of developing new memes.

Definition

According to the theory of Memes coined by Richard Dawkins, evolution depends not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmission—in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution: the effect a meme has on society is based on the application of the meme after understanding the qualities essential to the meme. According to the theory, memetic engineering is, simply put, the analysis of an individual or individuals' behavior, the selection of specific memes and the distribution or propagation of those memes with the intent of altering the behavior of others. A memetic engineer doesn't particularly have to consciously make the decision to alter another individuals behavior. It can happen unconsciously when specific behavior is observed, transmitted and then replicated within the observer. Memes themselves are neither good nor bad. For example, "racism" is an ideology that is made up of several memes. When a meme is introduced, those concepts begin to take on their own process of evolution based on the person who adopts the ideology, internalizes it, and reintroduces it into society causing it to spread like a virus.

According to the above theory, typical memetic engineers include scientists, engineers, industrial designers, ad-men, artists, publicists, political activists, and religious missionaries.

Dawkins agrees that much of

memeplexes
with very odd or difficult traits.

Origins of memetic engineering

Memetic Engineering developed from diverse influences, including cutting-edge

Foundation Trilogy (New York: Bantam Books, 1991), George Gurdjieff's artificial mythology Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson (New York: Penguin USA, 1999); Neal Stephenson's novels Snow Crash (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1993) and The Diamond Age (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1996); and Robert W. Chambers' unearthly The King in Yellow (Buccaneer Books, 1996) tome, which influenced seminal horror author H. P. Lovecraft.[2]

Applied memetic engineering

Memetic engineering as a social science lends examples of itself in multiple areas and disciplines. It is currently being examined and researched by the

geostrategist, and Richard J. Pech's "Inhibiting Imitative Terrorism Through Memetic Engineering".[citation needed
]

Other examples of applied memetic engineering are present but not exclusive to the

athletes, and other entertainers would more likely better serve this definition. This is because of their ability to create products, phrases and ideas that disseminate the population triggering a response within the brain causing a cultural phenomena.[citation needed
]

empirical means of advancing the science of memetics. Memetic game theory, attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations; where an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others, based on past experiences, emotional behavior and learned behavior. It also offers a scientific approach to analyzing social interactions.[citation needed
]

Examples

An example of an engineered meme is

Nazis the thread is no longer useful."[3]

egos and the means for achieving this is replicated via the shooting meme. To re-engineer such a meme and its ability to infest susceptible minds, all information concerning such violence must be portrayed in an unappealing manner. For example, no one wants to be associated with acts of cowardice. By strongly suggesting that such violence is cowardly and the work of disturbed minds, it has less appeal for replication. In this manner the shooting meme has been re-engineered by removing its attraction, and therefore removing its ability to replicate.[4]

Taiwan

The Taiwanese government has installed memetic engineering teams in each government department which can respond within 60 minutes to disinformation efforts using a “humor over rumor” approach. These teams are used to counter Chinese political warfare efforts as well as domestic disinformation.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Blanchette, Jude; Livingston, Scott; Glaser, Bonnie S.; Kennedy, Scott. "Protecting Democracy in an Age of Disinformation" (PDF). csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. ^ Alex Burns: Memetic Engineering Archived 2006-05-27 at the Wayback Machine (2001)
  3. Wired
    .
  4. S2CID 145537202
    .

External links
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