The

Sustainability

Meme

Presentation at denkstatt by

Balazs Laszlo Karafiath, PhD

Cultural Alchemist

Culture2 Inc. San Francisco, CA

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

My story of awakening:

Declining to work for

The Coca-Cola Corporation

WELCOME TO YOUR JOURNEY

My story of awakening:

Declining to work for

The Coca-Cola Corporation

WELCOME TO YOUR JOURNEY

Welcome to the World

Of

Corporate Capitalism

• Wheel within wheel

• Cog in the machine picture

8

WE MUST FACE OUR SHADOWS

• Fewer than one in five people trust

business or government leaders to tell the

truth when confronted with a difficult issue

- Edelman (2013)

Test

Our startup’s Green Room is a platform

for an ongoing conversation with NGOs,

suppliers and others who want to share

ideas and partner with us in helping

people live better around the world.

Test

The Walmart Green Room is a platform

for an ongoing conversation with NGOs,

suppliers and others who want to share

ideas and partner with us in helping

people live better around the world.

A GREAT BATTLE OF IDEAS

Dr. Joanna Boehnert, Director of EcoLabs

Entrenched interests have been fighting back ...and

winning for a long time!

Robert J. Brulle, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

MASSIVE INVESTMENTS IN STATUS

QUO

Billions spent in dark money networks to confuse and stall

action. This is the map of the web of the PR efforts.

consciousness

culture

splash

surfshape

MEMES GENERATE CULTURE.

THEY CREATE CULTURAL WAVES

MEMES ARE PARTICLES OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

THEY GENERATE THE FLOW OF THOUGHTS & IDEAS.

16

Ideas

Thoughts

Theories

Beliefs

Behaviors

Gossips ViewsTechnologies

Movements

Occupy

TeaParty

Climate 350

Ancient gods

Hermes

Zeus

Apollo

Icons HeroesSherlock Holmes

Pac-Man

Batman

Brands

CULTURE DESIGN

20

„Freedom

torches”

“The

Business

of Doubt”

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

I LOVE GATORADE –PLEASE DON’T POISON ME

• They are not influenced by ads.

• They are influenced by their friends and bloggers on social media.

• Authenticity is more important for them than content.

• They are loyal to Brands.

• They want to help and they want to make a difference.

• They want to know the story!

HERE COMES GEN-Y

THE SUCCESS OF A BUSINESS SHOULD

BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF MORE THAN

JUST ITS FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

87%

NEVER WITHOUT MY MOBILE

89%

POSTS IN SOCIAL MEDIA DAILY

76%

THEY SPEND THEIR MONEY ON

EXPERIENCES, NOT THINGS*

78%

*EXCLUDING THEIR MOBILE OF COURSE

ACTIVE YOUTUBE USER

80%

NUMBER OF HOURS PER DAY

THEY SPEND GENERATING UGC

5

THE BRAND IS NOT WHAT THE

COMPANY SAY ABOUT IT

IT IS WHAT THE

GEN-Y SAY ABOUT

IT

They are cultural designers.

They are into spreading

memes. One billion of them.

And they create their own world by creating their own culture.

They can change what is possible.

1,000,000,000

• People have no direct

experience with climate

change.

• Despite the draughts and

tornadoes climate change

is not an object they can

touch to confirm that it is

real.

• And so it only lives in the

minds of people as a meme

– a very threatening meme!

INTRODUCING: THE CLIMATEMEME

If you think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath while counting your money.

Friends don’t let friends date climate change deniers…

“I’m definitely going to change this year.” -- Climate

Happy to agree that climate change exists. Not sure if reality exists though.

WE COLLECTED 5000+ MEMES FROM TWITTER AND HARVESTED DURING

MEMEHUNTER HACKATHONS IN SAN FRANCISCO AND SEATTLE.

Global warming = the result of the sun trying to give the earth a hug.

Global warming is increasing UM NO!!!! We cannot control the weather

The most effective green house gas is not carbon dioxide, but water vapor. The trend of co2 in the atmosphere is following the rise in temperature, not the other way around.If climate scientists find any evidence of

global warming then their funding throughout eternity will be assured.

It would be great if assault rifles could shoot climate change…

The Doha climate conference made more hot air than global warming

Remember when a Tornado was just a Tornado and not a commercial for global warming?

One of the main weapons of the power elite is climate change. People are supposed to be panicked…

If we all just got real, as a culture, then we would fix it…

Don’t believe in climate change, rap fans? Tell that to Vanilla Slush, Water Cube, and LL Warm J. Adjust your

spine, adjust your attitude.

• Some people have been

“infected” with ClimateMemes.

• Their minds then tried to fight it

off by either actively denying the

meme’s existence – or striving

to rid the world of it

• Both of these groups represent

a small percentage of the larger

society.

• The majority of society have not

been infected.

CLIMATEMEMES ARE A SMALL

MINORITY

CLIMATEMEMES ARE NOT SPREADING

They only create anxiety.

• Are we out of harmony

with nature?

• Is it going to kill off

everyone we ever

loved?

• Does this mean there’s

something wrong with

us?

• Do we have the

power of gods to shape

the planet in such

profound ways?

• Five dimensions were found that explain 63% of the

variance among the memes.

• These are the drivers of the perception of climate

change:

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF CLIMATEMEME

17%

15%12%

11%

8%

HarmonyDisharmony — Harmony

SurvivalExtinction — Survival

CooperationDisintegration — Unity

MomentumStall — Advance

ElitismPopulist — Vanguard

CHALLENGES TO CORE

BELIEFS

ARCHETYPES: FOUNDATIONS OF MEMES

archetypes

memes

quotes

thoughts

CLIMATEMEMES ARCHETYPE REACH

CLIMATEMEMES ARCHETYPE REACH

archetypes reached & activated: hero, outlaw, warrior, activist, explorer, adventurer, pioneer

CLIMATEMEMES ARCHETYPE REACH

archetypes not

reached/activated:

innocents,

everyman,

citizen…

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN FRAMED!

Was viewed as environmental issue, should

be core business strategy

Understood as technical problem, but

should be cultural norms

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN FRAMED!

Was thought of as green products, but

should be new industries

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN FRAMED!

Misconceived as outside of economy, but

should be foundation for economy

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN FRAMED!

Considered to be a market segment, but

should be full-blown brand identity

SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN FRAMED!

So What’s Next?

AND YET -- REAL PROGRESS!

Transcends “green”

framing… goes into health,

family, the future instead.

TIPPING POINTS IN

CULTURE

To see meme spreading, we look at

dynamic patterns of evolution,

selection, emergence:

NOW WE NEED TO LOOK CLOSER...

...SEE EMERGING PATTERNS.

LOOK FOR THE

DIFFERENCE

• A good meme is one that spreads.

• A good meme is always about change.

• Change wants attention.

That was then and this is now.

• A good story is always about change

culture design is

gardening

memes spread

in networks

The Big Brain

full of mirror neurons

memes spread with imitation

95% of consumer behavior is imitation

Success = culture change.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Balazs Laszlo Karafiath, PhD

DrKarafiath@gmail.com