A brain in three parts
The computational hardware that the memes run on, at least for the period when they are active and we are interested in them, is the human brain. Since they are usually linguistic, visual or auditory packages, we can extend the computing analogy and describe the memes as application software of varying degrees of usefulness.
What, however, is the operating system that sits between the hardware and the application software? What is it that selects, loads and runs the memes?
To answer this, we need to understand a bit about the brain. It’s a tremendously sophisticated item that has been evolving since the earliest days on earth, and we can see that evolution in its structure. Let’s take a look at a simple model that is widely understood and easy to comprehend, namely Paul Maclean’s triune brain. This model sees the brain as being made up of three layers, nested inside each other:
the brain stem, the ‘snake brain’ which handles functions such as moving and breathing;
the limbic system, the ‘mammalian brain’ which processes sensory inputs and assigns emotional relevance; and
the neocortex, which handles reasoning and cognition and is responsible for what we describe as intelligence.
Now you might think that the most important part of the brain for our purposes is the neocortex, since that is what distinguishes us from monkeys, and indeed it is that part of the brain that is in action when we need to think through whether we agree with a meme or not. If we are trying to digest a Hegelian philosophy meme, then it is the neocortex that thinks through the complexities and makes the connections to what we already know and believe.
However, almost all of the memes we encounter are processed below the level of the conscious mind, and it is the parts of the brain referred to as the limbic system that are probably the most important component of our organic computer. The theme tune we heard in the elevator, again back in chapter 1, will either be learned or rejected in the limbic system, and may be memorised and re-whistled without ever making the acquaintance of the conscious mind.
The hardware of the human meme machine is the brain; the memes themselves act as application software, and the nonconscious elements of the brain are the operating system that decides what memes to store, load and run.
How we process information
When sensory input comes in, for example from the eyes and ears, parts of the limbic system collectively called the amygdala assess it for emotional relevance. The amygdala then trigger pre-set patterns in the brain to process the information and to decide how to act: in this respect the amygdala are acting like a man in a signal box, deciding down which route a new boxcar of emotions should be sent. All incoming messages, either trivial theme tunes or complex memes loaded with emotional content, go through the signal box of the amygdala and are routed accordingly.
Since most of the work of the amygdala lies in routeing inputs down existing pathways, we can predict that familiarity and similarity will be important in meme acceptance, as the information can be processed easily if there is already a suitable pathway. If such pathway does not exist, then the meme has to be either rejected or burned into memory.
If the amygdala assess all sensory input for emotional relevance and direct the brain accordingly, then you would also expect memes that trigger emotional responses to be particularly easy to accept. Indeed, it is much easier to embed memes that work with our emotions and biological drives than ones that work against them, as we saw in chapter 1.
How we learn
We’ve talked of the amygdala directing traffic down one of the pre-set pathways in the brain, but how were these pathways set?
Again, we have to look to the limbic system, which sets up the pathways in the brain by connecting neurons together, and our old friends the amygdala attaches the emotional triggers that will later be used for routeing.
This means that the amygdala are vitally important in the process of accepting new memes. If a new meme is sufficiently similar to a previous experience that it triggers a pathway, then it can be tacked onto an existing pathway and will therefore accepted by the brain. If it is entirely new, then it has to be embedded through repetition or assessed for its ‘truth’ (the latter being measured as consistency with what we already know rather than some abstract measure of veracity).
And where are these pathways? What differentiates the apes (I include us in that noble category) from each other and from other mammals is the size of the neocortex, and in the ability to imitate and grasp abstract concepts. So the amygdala lay the tracks and act as a signal box, but the railways of our mind are in our higher brains.
The parts of the brain often referred to as the limbic system play a key role in meme acceptance. The emotional relevance of the input, together with consistency to things we’ve previously experienced, determines whether or not we can accept it easily. The limbic system also amends and builds the brain pathways that are used to process subsequent information.
The effect of strong emotions
When we reinforce a meme by, say, re-reading a favourite poem or playing a piece of music, we often experience not raw emotion but highly nuanced and complex feelings. What is the difference, and does the limbic brain play a role in these?
One of the nicest descriptions I have seen of the difference between emotions and feelings is that emotions are the raw colours that have become ‘hard-wired’ into the evolutionary development of the brain and ‘feelings’ are mixed from the palette of these colours (Brown et al (2009)). So ‘feelings’ are conscious or almost-conscious responses in the neocortex, and ‘emotions’ are acting below the level of the conscious mind, in what we have previously described as the limbic system.
While noting that there is still a lot of disagreement between professionals on what the raw colours are, Brown proposes eight basic emotions close to those identified by Goleman (1996). These emotions can be grouped together:
- Fear / Anger / Disgust / Shame / Sadness
- Surprise
- Excitement / Joy / Love / Trust
If both positive emotions are engaged (trust/love and excitement/joy) then the chances of getting a new meme to stick are much greater, a theme we shall return to in chapter 11 when we look at leadership. This means that the leader must be careful about the emotional packaging of his messages: as Brown notes, the leader who gets hijacked by a poorly-regulated internal system will not establish the credibility necessary for effective leadership.
However, five of our eight basic emotions are concerned with survival and avoidance of danger, so it is no surprise that our brains are wired to deal with that – survival on the savannah depended on avoiding the lions before it depended on intelligence. This brings us back to the role of the amygdala in detecting emotional content and in deciding, within a few milliseconds, on the nature of the response. Sometimes the limbic system’s processing acts against us. Goleman (1996) and others have written of the concept of ‘emotional hijack’ by the amygdala, which has become an important factor in his model of emotional intelligence.
Often, of course, the threat is not real – the lion is only on the TV rather than in our living room. Another part of the brain, snappily named the ‘right ventrolateral pre-frontal cortex’, is key to decision making and can over-rule the amygdala when the initial, visceral response is inappropriate. Lieberman (2009) describes the actions of this part of the brain particularly well, citing its activation where (say) you are driving in a country where the convention is to drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road – you can do it, but it takes enormous self-control over your motor functions (pun is accidental) to over-ride your normal habits. The same part of the brain also seems to override our instinctive reactions when we are making cognitive choices or regulating our emotions.
However, when we are in a state of constant fear (or love), this governing system is rarely activated, and we find ourselves unable to learn properly or make rational decisions. That's what politicians aim for.