Hyperspace

Imagine looking down on earth and seeing all these building blocks waiting to be assembled.  Most people on earth don’t recognize these building blocks for the future, just lying around.  However, from up above you can see the building blocks and the people navigating around them, as if they were obstacles.  Memes look like jargon to keep insiders in and outsiders out.  A proliferation of protocols and standards is complicating what was once a simple world.   Opposing viewpoints look like gridlock instead of synergy.

The people on earth just keep going further and further out of the way to avoid these obstacles.  Life just keeps getting harder, as a growing number of building blocks continue to clutter the landscape.

What if—operating from hyperspace, above the earth—you could manipulate these massive obstacles with ease, as if moving them around with a giant crane? What if you knew exactly what you were building on earth, even though the inhabitants of earth were still unaware of this future that you were building?

What if you could describe this future that you are building to all the inhabitants of earth? What if this future was so fantastic that everybody wanted to be a part of it, as long as it came with certain guaranties? What if you could tell them what you were building, step by step, so that they could live inside this structure, as you are building it?

If you could…, then you would have America 2029!

Building Block #1: Memes

The concept of a meme—“an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture” (Merriam-Webster, 2012; in other words, something that “goes viral”)—has been around since 1976, coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins (Dawkins, 1989, p. 192).  Not surprisingly, the concept of memes has gone viral, with students everywhere passing pictorial memes from the popular meme websites.  At the moment, though, everybody sending and receiving memes has no idea of their true power.

Pictures with text are an ideal form for a meme, although single-word and short-phrase concept titles also work well, like evolution, the Green Movement, diversity, and so on.  Just saying one of these phrases—in a positive way—lets you belong to a vast global movement.

Memes are driving forces in society.  Richard Dawkins created the term to explain sociological evolution.  To date, however, I don’t believe that anyone has tried to engineer social forces using memes—until now.

• What if memes could be used as a universal communicator throughout the world?
• Even within a nation, jargon creates language barriers.  A common meme-based vocabulary of words, phrases, and images, however, could break down those barriers.
• Memes let you think across disciplines.  You don’t have to understand the underlying engine for an idea to refer to it.  You can talk about the Green Movement without even understanding its major components and ideals.  For example, you can speak about getting the Green Movement and advocates of diversity together to create a new global Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.  Memes let you think “big picture.”

Let us consider how memes might work as a social engineering force.

The ubiquitous smiley face has become overused (that’s a hazard of something that goes viral), yet most people still translate the image as “Have a nice day!”  Of course it also connotes happiness.  For that matter, emoticons and icons everywhere become universally recognized.

Consider the following statement:

If people around the world could agree to a simple formula like this, it would go viral, and millions of people could work together, independent of their mother nations, and their respective laws.  Naturally, the words would be translated by a translator into respective languages.  Once someone learns this meme, however, they can recognize it on a website regardless of the language.  What’s more, people of different languages can then carry on a simple dialog to agree (or disagree) on other principles based on other memes.

Consider the ramifications for the workplace.  Executives, industry experts, technology experts, trainers and mentors, administrative staff, salespeople, and more will be able to converse freely in memes.  Memes will serve as mantras to unite, while keeping core values front and center.

Do you see how memes will accelerate thinking and communication? If not, fasten your seatbelt.  If you thought ideas and events were happening too fast already, get ready for the meme-driven world.

Do you like this idea? Why not tell others about America 2029? The website is America2029.com.  Let’s see if the America 2029 logo can go viral!

References

Dawkins, Richard (1989). The Selfish Gene (2 ed.).  Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Merriam-Webster (2012).  Meme.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  Chicago, IL: Britannica Online.  Retrieved 10 October 2012 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme