Genes and Memes 

Genes are sequences of information used to make proteins and carry out most of the work in our bodies. Memes are units of culture that carry information about our hopes, feelings, beliefs and actions as individuals and groups. Understanding both can help us live consciously and meaningfully. 

Most of us have read books whose stories or ideas 

  become a part of us, 

    and we carry them inside ourselves 

      through most of our lives. 

About 20 years ago, I read one of those books, 

  and it has affected the way I see the world 

    ever since. 

The book was _The Meme Machine_ 

  by Susan Blackmore. 

It was especially interesting to me. 

The book describes the meme as a tool 

  that can be used to help us understand 

    the society in which we live. 

Our culture shapes us, and we also help to shape it. 

Memes and meme theory 

  can help us understand 

    both our society and our culture. 

In college, I had a double major 

  in sociology (as well as music), 

    so the concept of the meme 

      has long fascinated me as a way to analyze 

        the development 

          of human societies and cultures. 

I get the question fairly often, 

  "What is a meme?" 

    so I hope today to address the question 

      and help us all see the idea of memes 

        as a way to understand the sharing of ideas. 

Genes are well known and understood as sources 

  of important information about organisms,

    both plants and animals. 

The information from genes 

  is passed from generation to generation 

    to provide information about a species 

      and its characteristics. 

Individual creatures are formed at least in part 

  by the genes they inherit from their ancestors. 

We ourselves are part of the genetic process, 

  also known as heredity, 

    both in terms of giving and receiving genes. 

The color of your skin, your hair, and your eyes, 

  for example, is a result of the genes 

    you have inherited. 

In much the same way, 

  memes are units of culture, 

    expressions of ideas, 

      and they help form and reflect 

        societies, cultures, and their development. 

There have been memes 

  as long as there have been human societies, 

    but they are being supercharged in our time. 

There have also long been supermemes. 

The oldest and most obvious supermeme is religion. 

Hymns and songs are among the most ancient 

  forms of memes, and they reinforce a sense 

    of belonging to a given supermeme or religion. 

Doctrines are also memes of religions, 

  but doctrines are generally 

    not as much fun as hymns.  

In our own UU tradition, 

  each of our Seven Principles is a meme, 

    as are the six sources of our faith. 

I hope you are getting a feel for something 

  that I consider important: 

    that a meme is a tool 

      for understanding the formation 

        of society and culture

          in much the same way that a gene is a tool 

            for understanding the formation 

              of animals and plants. 

Supermemes are ways 

  of spreading many memes at the same time. 

Conspiracy theories are scarier kinds of supermemes

  than religions, even though some religions 

    are and can be scary enough. 

Whether there are any real alien invaders or not, 

  UFO culture is a supermeme. 

A conspiracy theory that deserves to be obscure 

  but is becoming famous lately 

    is Q-Anon. 

It's an obvious example of a super meme. 

Some of the memes that it spreads are so ridiculous 

  that it's difficult to imagine 

    that anybody could actually believe them. 

And yet... 

  Q-Anon is in the process 

    of entering the mainstream. 

By the way, 

  we provide energy to memes 

    by speaking of them in specific terms. 

It's hard to refute some of the crazy ones 

  without listing some of their more ridiculous ideas, 

    but refuting them 

      without describing them in detail 

        is a tightrope we are having to learn to walk. 

In that light, I feel a need to mention a meme 

  currently being spread by Q-Anon. 

To me, one of the most positive things 

  President Trump said about his and Melania's 

    contracting COVID-19 was, 

      "We'll get through this together." 

Well, Q-Anon followers 

  broke down the word, together, 

    to mean, "to get her," 

      that is, to get Hillary Clinton. 

I don't know any details about 

  the meaning of that, 

    and I don't want to know more than I have to. 

Maybe that's my small way of walking the tightrope: 

  showing how crazy the memes can get 

    without spreading them further. 

In any case, 

  memes are ways of sharing ideas, 

    but we don't have to share them. 

They are ways of spreading culture, 

  but we don't have to accept the culture

    they are spreading. 

Just as genes are not the last word 

  about the life and development of an organism, 

    so memes are not the last word 

      about the development of a society. 

Experience and choice are also powerful factors 

  in determining what we are like 

    as individuals and as societies. 

The combined effects of many choices 

  help determine the direction of a society. 

Hence there is a measure of individual responsibility 

  in any society's direction and development. 

The choice to say and do nothing 

  is still a choice. 

The age old controversy of nature versus nurture 

  applies to both genes and memes, 

    in equal measure, it seems to me. 

The gene is the first word 

  about the nature of an organism. 

It is not the final word. 

There is a necessary balance 

  between genetics and experience. 

Memes are like that, too. 

In the life of an individual, 

  they can be part of nurture, 

    but they are more like the first word, not the last, 

      in the life of a society. 

In the society of the U.S. today, social media

  provides platforms, prime launching pads 

    for memes of many kinds. 

Facebook is probably the premier platform, 

  especially for many mature adults (like me). 

Instagram is more popular with the young.

Supermemes have (and long have had) influence 

  over public opinion and so also over elections. 

Today the conspiracy theory of Q-Anon 

  will have some influence on the coming election 

    since some candidates 

      have expressed their support for it. 

Religions have influenced politics 

  in many times and places. 

In the Eastern Roman Empire, 

  the Emperor was considered also 

    the leader of the church.

In the Western Roman Empire, 

  the pope was also the head of a State, 

    sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, 

      until today it is a few square blocks (121 acres) 

        within the City of Rome, the Vatican. 

Especially today, 

  some political parties are becoming supermemes. 

Like religions 

  some of them are demanding loyalty 

    from their followers. 

In the middle of a fraught election season, 

  we can use the understanding of memes 

    to make sense of many things 

      that would otherwise be nonsense. 

There are some things 

  that we won't be able to make sense of, 

    but our own ability to retain some degree of sanity 

      could be helped 

        by increasing our level of understanding. 

If you visit social media platforms like Facebook, 

  if you watch news programming on television, 

    you are being exposed to many memes. 

Some of those are planted by supermemes 

  or other interested parties 

    in order to promote their own points of view. 

There is still such a thing as truth, 

  and it is still possible to verify truth vs. falsehood. 

Search engines like google and bing 

  are tools to find the source of a meme. 

Sometimes that is hidden. 

Sometimes it is easy to find. 

In any case, substantiation is easier today 

  than it was 

    when we had to use library card catalogs 

      to find most information about sources of ideas. 

Chaos is the goal of bad actors. 

Information is the antidote. 

Memes can be good or bad, 

  but they are not so by their nature. 

You can even create your own. 

Find an answer to an idea or meme 

  that you discover is false. 

Share it. 

Become part of the solution. 

I believe we can make courtesy and truth telling 

  fashionable again. 

Even that simple statement 

  could become a meme or two: 

Just say, "Treat each other with courtesy." 

or, "Tell the truth! It might not even hurt too much." 

A drop of water may not seem like much in an ocean, 

  but the ocean itself is made up of many drops. 

You and I are not alone. 

We have each other, 

  even if we have to learn 

    to share our relationships online. 

You and I can be a part of the giant turnaround 

  we all need. 

If it begins with the present election, 

  we may even be able to create good memories 

    to keep with us from this year of 2020. 

Amen. 

So let it be.