Chapter 2: The Memetic Model of History

“I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.”
-John Cage

In my estimation, human beings can be divided among three different archetypes, arranged according to how their mind deals with memes, or discrete units of ideas.
First, by far the largest group, the great mass of humanity, exists as the Followers. These individuals are the heart of the social inertia described above. Essentially, their response to new memes is to accept, unless they contradict with the previously existing mental construct. In fact, the only way for a new meme to take its place inside a Follower is for it to be demonstrated in some readily obvious way that their idea is erroneous. In addition, they never produce any new memes of any kind: they are simply a receptacle for ideas. Modern marketing and propaganda is mostly targeted towards this group, playing upon pre-existing biases to adapt an idea for their purposes.
Second are the Maintainers. This casual few are the nodes upon which the Followers surround. They are creative to the extent that they are able to combine previously existing memes to create new ones which are merely extensions of a societal paradigm. The clearest example is in the Western doctor who automatically denies the medicinal remedies of other cultures as “superstitions,” but, who is nonetheless brilliant in developing new cures from Western pharmaceuticals and the like. Furthermore, many of these Maintainers are not even aware that they fulfill this role, as many of them are just the pivotal managers and administrators who just believe they are “doing their job.” But the point is that they perpetuate the currently existing social structure and developing “new” memes which simply correspond to previously existing ones. As to be expected, like the Followers, they respond to new memes by adapting them creatively if they fit their mental context and reject them if they do not.
Finally, the smallest minority are the Creators. These are the tiny minority who produce new memes which are not grounded in any context, although they may be inspired by them. Essentially these are individuals who develop ideas that challenge or completely rework the basic paradigms held by the other two groups. However, it is important to point out that these individuals ideas are not superior in any kind of moral or even pragmatic way, simply different. They encompass everyone from the rabid political conspiracy theorist, to the highest humanitarian leader, to the highest theoretical physicist. On the most part, their response to memes is either to be highly accepting and open minded, judging each meme on its own merits or to accept or restrict on the basis of their own evolving paradigm. The word evolving is important here, since it is precisely what Creators are constantly seeking to do with the paradigm of their own and others.
All this, though, is highly abstract. It is perhaps more easily described in a more concrete format. Consider Galileo and his persecution at the hands of the Catholic Church for propagating his idea of the motion of the celestial bodies. Galileo stood individually as a Creator, someone who was dedicated to creating a new paradigm in the realm of knowledge. On the other side, stood the faceless Maintainers, the various cardinals and leaders of the Catholic Church that imprisoned the scientist for his beliefs. And, in the middle, a sea of Followers, over whose minds a battle took place for supremacy. As is apparent in the long run, Galileo was able to win, corroborated by the evidence of colleagues and leading to the conception of the universe we have now. But at that point in time, the Maintainers were able to sustain the inertia of society in its accepted direction by crushing the few who sought to contend otherwise.
This comments, sadly, upon the historical lives of the Creators. Throughout history, one sees them continually oppressed, destroyed, and ostracized by society as a whole. In most cases, the simple awareness of the Creators by the Maintainer forces is enough to warrant an immediate destruction of the former if they do not immediately conform to the societal paradigm. There are two reasons for this. Most importantly is that social inertia works against the Creators, creating a near impassable barrier against change. The Maintainers have the strategic advantage as far as the battle for minds is concerned, as they represent the currently existing assumptions and biases that are held onto with a strong affinity by the rest of society. Also a significant problem is that the masses are legion and unified in their resistance to change, while the Creators are disorganized and divided between themselves. Furthermore, many of them have come to listen to the majority and become mentally trapped, hating themselves for thinking thoughts which must “obviously” wrong for their oddity and difference. Thus the battle quite often becomes one way, favoring the Maintainers.
But in the rare occurrences where the stronger Creators seize the reins, history is inevitably changed, often in sudden and highly progressive ways. One recalls the reforms of Peter the Great, the conquests of Napoleon, and the work in India by Gandhi. When given the power, they are able to break the resistance of the masses and shape civilization in their own image. Though, by and large, one wonders how many of the Creators have been quietly subdued and defeated over the years such that only a shining, unusual few achieve recognized greatness.
Another continual problem facing the Creators is how quickly their reforms are reversed or destroyed. Even worse, many of the reforms become as stilted and reactionary as the establishment they dismantled. This is caused by the fact that their followers so often fall into the subtle trap of adoring the idea their leader preached, rather than seeking to evolve and advance the paradigm change even further. The simplest place to observe this phenomena is in the progress of musical styles from free creation and a kind of spiritual fervor to rigid analysis and categorization. Essentially, all musical styles, upon their appearance, are expressions of a paradigm change occurring within society itself. To this end, the gaps between Rap, Rock, and Baroque, while acting as representations of racial rights, political unrest, and artistic philosophy, serve equal purposes: to break the agenda of the Maintainers. But a turn occurs as musicians of following generations become less concerned with that spirit of change and constructive growth, obsessed more with the specifics of the things that have occurred and passed. In short, they no longer are inspired, but instead treat the work of the past as gospel, leading, ironically, to the spiritual death of that style. Thus, you see that as musical genres proceed further and further into the past, they trade innovation for rigid “theory” and analysis of what has already been created. The two extremes being, of course, the classical music of centuries past and the modern hip-hop movement. And so, the enduring work of the Creator is stifled by the idolatry of his or her work, evolving slowly into the paradigm which becomes the meme of the Maintainer and Follower.
But what is curious to note that this only occurs when a Creator’s ideas and paradigm are carried on by the same societal impetus that was originally fought against. At least in theory, a community of Creators in which all individuals were aware that what they were constructing was not a single ideology, but a constantly evolving one which recognized change as a driving force and not canonization and mindless worship of a doctrine, would continue to perpetuate its own innovation. In essence, the innovation of such a group of people would build off itself, rather than dying out, with creativity begetting further creativity. While this sort of utopian situation seems unlikely, there are no doubt periods in history in which it has occurred and with conclusive results. The grouping, even the artificial grouping, of many Creators in one location is to create a Renaissance at that area in time. Clearly, given the resources, the energies of one Creator spur others and most often give that group the unique and enhanced ability to change history for better or for worse. One recalls Bletchley Park, the top secret campus of mathematicians, logicians, and engineers during World War 2 who were responsible for breaking German codes and allowing Britain to survive through Nazi attacks. With some irony, it was also the birthplace of the first, rudimentary computers. The Manhattan Project follows closely as a concrete example. Similarly, the court of Louis XIV, which attracted the finest minds of the time, gave rise to a whole new political and philosophical community that inspired intellectuals for a generation. Even the Bolsheviks, in their (not insignificantly) minority number, established an entirely new form of governance over Russia.
With this series of observations, it seems that a thesis is slowly evolving, to not only solve the problems of the modern response to the products of the information age, but to restructure the very way in which society operates as well. In my view, it appears there are three steps: SUBVERT, CONTROL, and DESTROY.

SUBVERT: The Creators, being few in number and at a disadvantage of power, use their creative abilities and paradigm seeking tendencies to subvert the routes and central processing systems through which the Maintainers are able to continue the currently existing social and ideological structure. In working together secretly in small units or individually, they will be able to slowly climb to the heights of power and influence with their true agenda shrouded by a facade of existing societal dogmas. No centralization will take place on this stage, as many units will be rooted out immediately by those few individual Maintainers who are able to gain awareness of our larger motives.

CONTROL: At this point, Creators have ascended to the commanding heights or have subverted the system from behind the scenes to the extent in which the Maintainers are at a disadvantage to perpetuate a reactionary social structure. Encountering one another, the smaller Creator organizations begin to merge their forces. At this point, it is doubtless that a select few will be aware of the Creator’s growing collusion and organization. But by this phase, the belief and behavior of the massed Followers will be under the writ and management of a elite, international community of Creators. Slowly, all the citizens of the world come under the influence of this group of individuals: the Umbrella.

DESTROY: Finally, it will be impossible to ignore the obstacles that the continuing existence of the Maintainers prove to creating social progress and harmony. They are eliminated or otherwise turned into puppets for the service of the tending by a secret elite of Creators, the Umbrella, who continually develop and evolve the paradigm of society towards development. At this point, it will not be surprising if an underground war breaks out between the two groups for control. The essential element, however, is silence. Without it, to keep the Followers complicit as Maintainer resistance is weakened and finally removed is impossible. Once this is complete, the Creators have fulfilled their proper place, guiding society with enlightened management: spreading the advantages of the new era while avoiding the pitfalls of pettiness and creative sterility.