The Meme - A tool for change

Memes guide cultural evolution in a similar way to how genes guide biological evolution. Sue Blackmore, from the University of West England puts it this way:

“Memes are ideas, habits, skills, gestures stories, songs, anything we pass from person to person by imitation, we copy them. Just as genes are copied inside all the cells of our bodies and passed on in reproduction, memes are copied by our brains and our behaviour and are passed from person to person. . . . Just as the competition between genes shapes all of biological evolution, so it is the competition between memes that shape our minds and our cultures. So it is absolutely essential to understanding human nature that we take account of memes."

It follows that if we can share the meme "More Fun, Less Stuff" into the popular mind, it will help human culture evolve away from our materialistic expansion mode and toward a world where humans can celebrate living while integrating within the cycles of nature.

The Sue Blackmore quote is from an interesting video on the evolution of the human brain shortly after the 47 minute mark.