have you ever come up with an idea
that's the actual question I'm asking
have you ever come up with an idea well
you might say what kind of question is
that of course I have ideas people have
ideas all the time no no I didn't ask if
you have ideas
I asked if you come up with ideas those
are two different things
if you say you came up with an idea
you're suggesting that the idea is yours
that you created it if you say you have
an idea it's ambiguous whether you
created the idea in the first place
maybe that idea came from somewhere else
for example if you declare that you
think for yourself that you are capable
of free thought did you come up with
that notion is the idea that you think
for yourself really your own idea or did
somebody else impart that idea to you
here's an even better question did that
other person come up with the notion for
free thought or did another person teach
them at what point was the capacity for
original thought ever an original idea
was it ever maybe we should drop the
notion that people have ideas or come up
with ideas instead maybe we should
embrace the notion that ideas have
people that we are not in control of the
ideas but that the ideas control us the
notion that ideas have people might seem
complex at first but if I call this
concept by another name everything
suddenly makes sense memes oh yeah memes
are those catchy jokes or ideas that
everybody shares they catch on to you
they have you and you want to share them
yes but a lot of you are thinking about
memes and the non academic sense the
idea of a meme was originally coined by
Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The
Selfish Gene before memes turned
exclusively into jokes that people
shared on the Internet a meme was
understood as a unit of information an
idea a quote or a memory the quality of
a meme was defined by Hamid
people resonated with it if there was
something special about the meme
something that resonated with the soul
it would live on in our culture if the
meme wasn't that special then the
process of natural selection would
eliminate it from our public discourse
in regards to natural selection memes
are selected in the same way that genes
are for all of evolutionary history the
living species that had the greatest sum
of genetic material were the ones that
survived and prospered for the longest
in regards to memes the people who
embraced the best memes were the ones
that went on to build the greatest
cultures those cultures were great
because millions of people collectivized
around the ideas that built those
cultures in the first place now what is
it about human beings that drove them to
collective eyes around those memes what
possessed them what resonated with them
well the mean was proposed and the
promise of that idea captured the
imagination of millions that promise
that meme drove our soul the same way
that genes drive our biological
functions in other words memes are the
DNA of the soul now like with most ideas
if not all ideas the notion that memes
are the DNA of the soul did not start
with me in fact it started in the most
unlikely place in a video game called
Metal Gear Rising revengeance one would
not expect to find such complicated
philosophical ponderings in a video game
let alone one where you can lift a giant
robot up with your hands and slice it in
half of a sword nonetheless the saying
memes are the DNA of the soul started
here in order to help all of you
appreciate just how profound this theme
really is I would like to present two
key events that happen in this game one
features the main character ride in
conversing with the terrorists - named
monsoon the other is a speech from the
game's primary antagonist senator
Armstrong ideally by presenting both of
these moments you will begin to
understand just how much of our
lives are controlled by means worse yet
the game will demonstrate what happens
if one does not become conscious of this
fact we will start by focusing on the
monsoon speech before I play you the
clip I will set up the scene for those
of you who have never played Metal Gear
Rising monsoon is a member of an
American private military company called
desperado enforcement LLC though
desperado was advertised as a PMC and
reality their purpose was to go to
different parts of the developing world
and ruin them in order to further
American interests such actions included
killing world leaders instigating false
flag operations and even going as far as
to steal brains from street children so
they can be placed into cyborgs bodies
for the purposes of war naturally
monsoons involvement with desperado
indicates that he condones such activity
in the following clip monsoon will lay
out his personal philosophy to Ryden and
how that justifies his involvement with
an organization like desperado
kill or be killed Jack
phenom Panta that
yes you are the only one to grow up
war is a cool
effective teacher it's final mess in his
car deep
free will is a myth religion
controlled by suffering means
the DNA of the soul
they are the culture they are everything
expose someone to anger long enough
they become a carrier
[Music]
let us take apart what Monsoon said
piece by piece monsoon references phenom
pen and the killing fields because he
grew up in cambodia during the
destructive reign of the Khmer Rouge for
those who don't know the Khmer Rouge was
the Communist Party which ruled Cambodia
between 1975 and 1979 during their time
in power 25 percent of the Cambodian
population was killed these people were
killed if they did not support the Khmer
Rouge's Communist outlook naturally a
tragedy like this would have a
cataclysmic effect on the psychology of
a young child how does one make sense of
a tragedy like this let alone the
millions of other deaths that occurred
through the 20th century monsoon
realized that the instigators of these
mass genocides were possessed by memes
in regards to the head of the Khmer
Rouge Pol Pot he was possessed by the
meme of communism the meme of communism
shaped Pol Pot's will it shaped the
Cambodian culture and despite the
millions of deaths attributed to
communism people continue to carry the
meme of communism to this day these
people are pawns controlled by the
greater force of the mean this is likely
why monsoon regards free will as a myth
if so many people around the world can
have their personalities and destinies
shaped by memes what does that say about
our supposed ability to think for
ourselves we don't possess the memes
memes possess us if one takes this fact
into account along with the various
horrors of the 20th century one begins
to understand why monsoon views the
world the way he does to him the entire
world is struggling for mimetic
superiority and the value of the meme is
predicated on its power to override
other memes countries around the world
assert the supposed power of their memes
by the number of people that are willing
to die in their name to him this is
merely nature running its course
and strong because there seems to be no
way out of this horrible predicament
monsoon figured he would choose the best
meme and fight for it no matter what the
cost
unfortunately this worldview permits him
to kill innocent people and experiment
on children with a clear conscience he
does not see how he is projecting his
own disease onto those who he claims are
diseased this disease not only plagues
monsoon but the subject of our next
segment Senator Armstrong once again I
will provide some background for the
uninitiated
senator Armstrong represented the u.s.
state of Colorado and was a candidate
for the 2020 United States presidential
election he was the de facto CEO of
world marshal incorporated the world's
largest PMC world marshal teamed up with
the affer mentioned desperado in order
to further US interests this made
Armstrong tangentially and directly
responsible for things like the after
mentioned false flags and harvesting of
children's brains like monsoon Armstrong
was doing this in the name of America
and all the values it stands for let us
listen to Armstrong's monologue and how
he justifies his actions alright
the truth then
you're right about one thing I do need
capital and votes wanna know why I have
a dream
but that one day every person in this
nation will control their own destiny
a land of a truly free damnit the nation
of action not what rule by committee
where the law changes to suit the
individual the other way around
[Music]
where every man is free - trivia
celebrity
[ __ ] American pride for the media
America's disease rotten to the core
there's no saving it we need to pull it
out by the roofs wipe the slate clean
burn it
and from the ashes a new America will be
born the week will be purged and the
strongest will thrive free to live as
they see fit
don't make America great again if you go
online and search for this conversation
take a look at the comment section there
are a lot of people listening to this
speech for the first time and are
unaware of Armstrong's corruption due to
this a lot of the common ters are
actually resonating with what Armstrong
says and understandably so who doesn't
sympathize when he chastises lawyers
bureaucrats the media celebrity culture
and trivial information all of these
things in some shape or form degrade our
society they distract from the
principles that made America great in
the first place namely the sovereignty
of the individual it was by prioritizing
a person's identity as an individual by
recognizing the power they held as a
single person and not as a mindless cog
in a machine that made America what it
is or was Armstrong
wants to remove those elements that make
America weak the memes that poisoned the
American identity he wants to burn it
all down that way the strong people that
remain will rise like a phoenix from the
ashes and assert their will over the
rest of the world over the inferior
memes their strength will not be slowed
by committee by ignorant voters
possessed by those inferior memes their
destinies will not be directed by
bureaucrats but by the superior memes
which possess them they will fulfill the
Nietzschean concept of the ubermensch
the Superman and all will bow before
their quote/unquote obvious superiority
after all the world already boughs to
inferior memes now they'll bow to
American ideals
unilateralism materialism welcome
Maxim's for those with no faith without
guiding principles of their own give
yourself up to the whole no need to
better yourself you're American
you're number one as I said before a lot
of this might seem well and good to a
person who doesn't know who Armstrong is
once they hear that his grand plans
involve human rights violations the
maxim becomes polluted it's like Karl
Marx's famous economic slogan from each
according to his ability to each
according to his need it's a lovely idea
but things become complicated once you
try to define what one's ability is and
what one's needs are but two ideologues
people possessed by memes such
criticisms fall on deaf ears the Utopia
must be achieved even if it involves the
killing of millions even if we were to
tell Armstrong that he lacks the
qualifications to determine human
potential that even the quote unquote
weakest members of American society have
gone on to become the greatest that
America was based around granting each
individual the same freedom and
opportunity to rise to new heights
it would probably regard these
criticisms as needless barriers to his
goal he would purge the week even though
America was founded on freedom from
government tyranny he would force people
to adopt his ideals what he believes is
right even though he envisions a world
where people are free to think for
themselves he will force people to give
themselves up to the whole all while he
preaches the importance of individual
strength he does not realize that he is
just as possessed by memes as the people
he wishes to kill as the Patriots said
in Metal Gear Solid to a single person
has the potential to ruin the world if
our checks and balances aren't allowed
to function if memes aren't tested and
questioned a person like Armstrong could
rise to power and history could repeat
itself it's an interesting conversation
how memes control us and how we can deal
with that fact it's just too bad that
when
never somebody hears that memes are the
DNA of the soul what follows is a
snicker or an eye-roll and a host of
images with large text and impact font
they don't seem to realize that they too
are possessed by something inferior
something that prevents them from having
a truly meaningful discussion
you
[Music]