A powerful meme

The easiest and most peaceful way to change the world order is to infect the political systems at all levels with digital direct democracy.

The sentence above might be a powerful meme. Richard Dawkins and Douglas Hofstadter launched the concept of Memetics in the ’80s. They think that ideas are a kind of virtual genes that they call memes. Memes transmit from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena. The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word for something imitated. Dawkins and Hofstadter regard memes as culturally equivalent to genes, in that they self-replicate and respond to selective pressures.

Memes – i.e. rumors, gossip, and hot news – are like viruses. Under the right circumstances, they spread very fast. Some viruses are very harmful, but there are also good viruses preventing us from sickness and decease. The meme above is a peaceful and purposive attempt to protect The Open Society against Its Enemies by making the political systems more open and transparent.