Sep 26, 2007 ... The Coming Confluences: Meme Wars. Dr. Dick Dalton, Lincoln University.
Coulter Science Center Room 138. 10:45 am – 12:00 noon ...
Symposium on the Environment: Prospects for Sustainability Westminster College Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Coming Confluences: Meme Wars Dr. Dick Dalton, Lincoln University Coulter Science Center Room 138 10:45 am – 12:00 noon
The Coming Confluences • • • • • •
Peak Oil: the end of cheap oil and natural gas Climate Change: the end of cheap water Hopi 4th World Ends: 5th World Begins Mayan Calendar: 2012 shift in consciousness Aquarian Age: shift in values Quetzalcoatl, Jesus, al-Mahdi, the Messiahs
Outline for “Meme Wars” • • • • • •
Why Memes Paradigm Shifts Deep Value Trend Analysis Spiral Dynamics: Value Meme Codes Reasons for Hope: Rise in Consciousness
In the beginning was the MEME, and the MEME was with God, and the MEME was God.
And the MEME conceived in the minds of humans who IT used to take over everything in their world.
Memetics The study of memes (rhymes with dreams) and their social and cultural effects. “As Richard Dawkins has shown, systems of self-replicating ideas or memes can quickly accumulate their own agenda and behaviours.” Kevin Kelly, Out of Control (1994)
Memes are words, ideas, images, products of thought, bits of cultural information that propagate from mind to mind through social intercourse.
Memes cluster into paradigms, mythologies, religions, value meme codes, languages, dreams, etc.
“Thus, our personal vision of reality is likely to be influenced concurrently by a human paradigm, a Western civilization paradigm, an American paradigm, a particular religious paradigm, a community (subculture) paradigm, an age-specific paradigm, and so on.” The Spirit and Science of Holistic Health by Robison and Carrier
Paradigms • Are common, functional ‘pairs of glasses’ • If too strongly held, they lead to “paradigm paralysis”
Humans are causing rapid global warming. The world will soon run out of cheap oil. We are winning in Iraq. 2012 will bring a new age of consciousness. Crop Circles are important messages to us sent from another dimension. Most people are sleeping through a great (r)evolution/shift.
What brings about a Paradigm Shift? • • • • • •
Life conditions? (e.g. hurricane, war) Smart Advertising? (e.g. iphone, war) Convenience? (e.g. cell phones, cheap oil) Openness? (e.g. curiosity, wonder) Education? (e.g. facts, critical thinking) Reality? (e.g. science, experience)
Deep Value Trend Analysis Dr. L. Robert Keck in Sacred Eyes and Sacred Quest
Deep-value research examines “the deepest, most fundamental, and causal values that shape mainstream human cultures.” Human history is divided into 3 Epochs.
1. Childhood (30,000-10,000 years ago)
People Valued – – – – – –
a closeness with nature a sense of unity cooperation with all living things physical development nonviolence the female in relationships and worship
In the beginning was LIFE, and LIFE was with God, and LIFE was God.
2. Adolescence (10,000 years ago to now):
People Valued and Now Value – – – – – –
separation from and control over nature mental development hierarchies of power politics of fear violence patriarchy (the domestication of women)
“Patriarchal cultures value the ‘masculine’ traits of aggression, competition, and rationality over feminine nurturing, cooperation, and intuition, often, in fact, devaluing the latter. Therefore, such societies are ruled by men through an elaborate hierarchy based on physical, political, and economic power. Religious institutions are governed by another male hierarchy, with both hierarchies answering to an all-powerful male god.” The Spirit and Science of Holistic Health
In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God, and the WORD was God.
3. Maturity (now in its early stages):
People Value – “re-membering” our connection to nature – unity, balance, and interdependence – equality of the masculine and feminine within societies and within ourselves – thinking, speaking, and acting with Love – Spiritual development
Signs of Epoch 3 • • • • • • •
More democracies Civil Rights: Gandhi, MLK and non-violence Feminist Movement Environmentalist Movement Television as a ‘Right Brain’ stimulator Connecting with Native cultures Books, plays, and music pointing to a New Age
What brings about a shift in values? • • • • • • •
Population changes? 1-2 Groupings of people in towns? 1-2 Introduction of a written alphabet? 1-2 A visitation from another dimension? 2-3 Climate change? The end of cheap oil? Memes reach a critical mass?
1140: The Great Peacemaker ( ) ‘from the north’ influenced five warring Indian Nations to form a peaceful democracy, the Iroquois League. Women picked chiefs and council members and owned all the land. They were to warn their chosen leaders “to ever live in love, peace and harmony.” Iroquois Constitution 1893: “Swami Vivekananda was the first Hindu monk from India ever to visit America... The unknown wandering monk… suddenly became famous after his first day's brief address before the Parliament of Religions at the Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair) in 1893.” www.ramakrishna.org
In the beginning was LOVE, and LOVE was with God, and LOVE was God.
And LOVE was kindled in the hearts of humans who used IT to heal everything in their world.
Compassionate
Angry, Violent, Vengeful
Loving Merciful
Spiral Dynamics An Introduction Materials based upon the work of
Dr. Don Beck www.spiraldynamics.net and Dr. Clare W. Graves’ Emergent, Cyclical, Double-Helix Model of Adult Biopsychosocial Systems Development
Spiral Dynamics • Developmental/emergence model
Wholeview
• Describes codes in people, cultures • Works at the individual, organizational and geo-political nation-state levels
FlexFlow
3
HumanBond StriveDrive TruthForce
• Provides a new way of framing and understanding the forces of human interactions and behavior
PowerGods
2
KinSpirits SurvivalSense
1
Spiral Dynamics • 8 basic waves / stages / “vMemes” observed • Product of interaction between external conditions of existence and internal complex adaptive systems • Open-ended – still evolving
Wholeview FlexFlow
3
HumanBond StriveDrive TruthForce PowerGods
2
KinSpirits SurvivalSense
1
Alternating Types
Self Expressive
“I”
Wholeview FlexFlow HumanBond StriveDrive TruthForce PowerGods KinSpirits SurvivalSense
Self Sacrificing
“We”
HumanBond StriveDrive
TruthForce PowerGods
2 KinSpirits SurvivalSense
1
Wholeview FlexFlow
3
According to Dr. Beck, some of the factors or characteristics that get people to move up or down the Spiral of value meme codes are: Changes in Life Conditions (e.g. hurricane, getting fired) Personal Goals not met (e.g. no job or feeling stuck) Coping Systems break down (e.g. lose health insurance) Exposure of feelings in action (e.g. civil disobedience)
Every move up or down the Spiral of vMemes is an attempt to solve a problem. Unfortunately, the new value solutions at first condemn people that have adopted other values.
Conflict on the Spiral Stage/ Wave
Political Form
Deepest motivation and "bottom line" justification for aggressive behavior
HumanBond
Value Communities
StriveDrive
Corporate States
to advance economic spheres of influence, or access to raw materials and markets.
TruthForce
Ancient Nations
to protect borders, homelands, hearth, preserve way of life, defend "holy" cause.
PowerGods
Feudal Empires
to dominate, gain the spoils, and earn the right to rape, pillage, and plunder.
KinSpirits
Ethnic Tribes
to protect the myths, ancestral traditions, rights of kinship, and sacred places.
SurvivalSense
Survival Clans
to keep a place in the survival niche, as in the movie The Quest for Fire
to punish those who commit "crimes against humanity" and protect the victims.
Cross Section of World Population 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
WholeView FlexFlow HumanBond StriveDrive TruthForce PowerGods KinSpirits SurvivalSense World
Population Comparison 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
WholeView FlexFlow HumanBond StriveDrive TruthForce PowerGods KinSpirits SurvivalSense
World
US
Distribution of Power and Population by Value System 50.00% 45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%
SurvivalSense KinSpirits PowerGods TruthForce StriveDrive HumanBond FlexFlow WholeView
US Power
World
“In the 1960s, the Peabody Coal Company was given a concession to mine coal on Hopi land. They were also awarded the right to use water from the aquifer under Black Mesa to slurry the coal down a pipeline, built by the Enron Corporation. This operation extracts 1.3 billion gallons of pure drinking water annually from the aquifer that sustains Hopi life…it will be almost completely depleted by 2011.” 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck
The Prime Directive • Promote health throughout the entire spiral. • Develop meshworks, strategies to integrate, align, and synergize efforts of all stakeholders. • Search for the master code that generates adaptive intelligences.
8th ANNUAL SDi TRAINING WEEK Boulder, Colorado, USA October 22-28, 2007 SPIRALS OVER THE ROCKIES Dr. Don Beck and The Spiral Dynamics Group warmly invite you to participate in our 8th annual week of dynamic engagement in Boulder. If you think there is potential large-scale trouble looming ahead, whether in your personal or family life, for your company or career, or politically, ecologically, economically, locally or globally, then this year’s Boulder SDi learning opportunity is for you. If you’re unsure about what lies ahead and want to learn how to anticipate and prepare for major threats and upsets, then you need to come to Boulder this year.
Enter William McDonough and Michael Braungart Every design starts with this hopeful ambition to love all of the children, of all species, for all time.
