An Idea We Can Believe In
Nothing is more powerful as an idea whose time has come. – Victor Hugo
Steemit is an idea that we believe in. It is a big hit with the proponents of small government, Libertarians, Homesteaders and those just looking to make a little money. There are some at the other end of the spectrum and many more somewhere in the middle, all with something to say. Many of us have read the whitepaper and blogs, watched some videos or heard about it from friends. No matter how we were exposed to the idea we have become believers – Steemit could change the world!
There is just one thing you should know before spreading the idea around. Steemit could be a parasite and we are the hosts. Are you sure you want to spread it around? Don’t worry, it may not be all bad, as we will see but some parasites can be especially destructive to their hosts in ways you may not know.
Behavior-Altering Parasites
Parasites are everywhere and they are the masters of mind control.
Behavior-altering parasites are parasites capable of causing changes in the behavior of their hosts by directly affecting the hosts' decision-making and behavior control mechanisms. The acquired or modified behaviors assist in the parasite's transmission, and in the case of parasitoids result in the host's death. -- Wikipedia
- Toxoplasma gondii make rodents fearless toward cats.
- The Emerald Cockroach Wasp performs precise “brain surgery” for its progeny.
- The Horsehair Worm forces insects like crickets to drowned themselves to complete the worms’ lifecycle.
There is no end to these examples and parasitic organisms are the norm rather than the exception, we just don’t seem to be aware of it. What is striking about parasites is the sophisticated tools and strategies they have to achieve their purpose – replication.
Many people think that such complicated mechanisms must be the result of intelligent design. But all that it takes is persistent co-evolution of two or more organisms over time to produce these highly interconnected relationships. It should be noted that the relationship between two species does not have to be detrimental.
Symbiosis
Symbiosis in biology is the close interaction between two different species due to co-evolution. There are three main types of symbiosis:
- Mutualism: both species benefit from the interaction
- Commensalism: one species benefits and the other is not affected
- Parasitism: one species benefits and the other is harmed
The relationship between host and symbiont can be good, bad or benign. Most species are so interconnected with other species they could not live without each other. For example we have a symbiotic relationship with E. coli where we provide the home and they provide vitamin K and prevent bad bacteria from invading our gut. Most of us are aware of these relationships between living organisms but what about a different kind of replicator?
Beliefs Are Replicators
A few months ago I attended a philosophy Meetup where I thought I would have a little fun. In the previous meeting I tried to convince the group that memes really existed only to receive the usual stares of incredulity. This time I asked if anyone would like to play a game. There were about twelve of us but only five would agree. I handed out five sheets of copy paper and said “let’s see who can follow along the best” and on the table I started to fold my paper without saying another word.
When I was done there sat in front of me a version of the paper airplanes I used to make when I was a kid. Admittedly not very impressive but what was impressive even astonishing when you stop to think about it, there were five more paper airplanes on that table. Three were near duplicates of the one I created, the forth not so much and the fifth was truly remarkable in its uniqueness and perhaps most surprisingly, they all flew!
Still not impressed? That’s about what you would have expected? Unless you deconstruct the event it’s easy to miss the truly amazing thing that happened that night. It all started with an idea in my mind that was transferred to five other people without a word being spoken.
Replicating information comes so naturally to us we rarely notice it happening. No other species comes close to replicating information as well as we do and we should not forget that this ability is one of the defining things that makes us human.
The paper airplane “idea” being transmitted from one person to several others is a simple example of non-genetic replication. Beliefs are just ideas that have been accepted as true and can go “viral” under the right circumstances and are then referred to as “memes.”
Beliefs Are Symbionts
I hope I have convinced you that beliefs are non-genetic replicators and being replicators they can improve through the process of natural selection. Our genes are separate from our memes but both are interconnected in a symbiotic relationship with the same principles of mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. The things that we believe are a combination of the beliefs we were exposed to and our experiences but in a very real way we are separate from our beliefs. As we go through life we are exposed to different beliefs and if the conditions are right we can be “infected” by a belief. They are out there in the wild trying to “infect” as many of us as possible. Natural selection at work.
Is Steemit a Fluke?
Assuming you believe Steemit is of mutual benefit to all, your mission is to spread the belief far and wide because that’s what we do when we believe we can help others.
Links you may find interesting:
Dangerous memes | Dan Dennett:
Zombie Snails:
Zombie Parasites:
As always, comments are appreciated.