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“Colonizing Memes”: “Smart Memes” by Another Name?
by Jon Brooks

Are there such “things” as “Colonizing Memes”, powerful attractors of other “memes”?

If so, are there a variety of “Colonizing Memes”, each interacting with life forces and conditions—times, places, and other existential circumstances—that could disturb, disrupt and displace extant meme colonies, manifesting other forms of “Colonizing Memes” to which the dispersed chaotic “memes” then attach themselves?

The seminal research of Dr. Clare Graves (www.claregraves.com), amplified and explained by one of his closest students and friends, Chris Cowan, co-founder of Spiral Dynamics (along with Don Beck), (www.spiraldynamics.org) suggests that the answer is yes.

Human ecology--all of ecology--is, as Rainforest Action Network’s (and co-founder of the Smart Meme Project) Ilyse Hogue has described “In Defense of Cacophony” (www.alternet.org), a dynamic and “symbiotic” relationship.

Furthermore, according to the Gravesian-Spiral Dynamics point of view, human ecology is an evolving spiral-like pattern oscillating between “me” and “we” themes, the “Colonizing Memes’” polarities. Some “Colonizing Memes” have “tipping points” leaning towards expressions of individuality and some have “tipping points” leaning towards expressions of communality. These expressions can be identified all over the globe (by those trained to do so) as context-sensitive realities living within individuals, organizations, and societies.

If “Colonizing Memes” evolve as existential conditions change, what might this suggest for eco-activism? The three informative essays discussing activism published on the “Smart Meme” (www.smartmeme.com) site wisely caution that understanding is a crucial step before proceeding to the phasing stages of strategies and tactics.

Identifying “Colonizing Memes” (called “V-MEMES” [“values memes”] in Gravesian-Spiral Dynamics) may be an important element of the crucial understanding step in the planning process for eco-activists prior to initiating a call to action.

If all “Colonizing Memes” (“V-MEMES”) have the potential to manifest as healthy or unhealthy “tipping point” archetypes, how can painfully dysfunctional extremes be modulated and balanced so that healthy “me” and “we” holism does not devolve into predatory “me” or “we” antagonism?

For example, since nature abhors a vacuum, if the predatory (from the perspective of eco-activists and, now, reformed cybernaut, Bill Joy) multinational corporate expression of “Colonizing Memes” (described by Joy as the “Singular” most significant threat to evolutionary humanity) can be abated, what will emerge afterward? To use the thoughtful words of Ms. Hogue, “WHAT COMES NEXT?”

The recent disruption in Iraq, set in motion by multinational corporate interests, demonstrates that deep within the seeming order of a “Colonizing Meme” lives the potential for dynamic, even chaotic, change leading, potentially, to the displacement of one “Colonizing Meme” with another (or many others).

Will a democratic form of “Colonizing Memes” emerge in Iraq , a separatist-ethnic form, a predatory multinational power-over form, some heretofore-unknown “Colonizing Meme” form, or all, or part, of the above? How all of this is assessed and influenced depends upon one’s own perspective and one’s ability to appreciate the dynamic ecology of “Colonizing Memes”.

By combining the concept of “Colonizing Memes” (Gravesian-Spiral Dynamic’s “V-MEMES”) with the concept of the Smart Meme Project’s “Smart Memes”, activists will have access to powerful and practical analytic perspectives that may be utilized prior to reaching for their strategic and tactical toolkits.

“Colonizing Memes”, “V-MEMES”, “Smart Memes”: “A rose by any other name . . .?

NOTE: The new term “Colonizing Memes” serves a dual function for understanding and applying the concept of attractor memes in real-world situations—it describes what they are and what they do. To-date, Gravesian-Spiral Dynamics has identified eight “Colonizing Memes” (V-MEMES), with more yet to come as the dynamics—forces and forms—of evolution continue to shape the future of individuals, organizations and societies.