classify-idea

Classify Memetic Idea

You are evaluating a raw idea or concept and determining its memetic classification. This is the entry point for most memetics work.

What This Skill Does

Takes a raw idea, content, or concept and determines which memetic type it is:

• Meme: High transmissibility, low impact
• Antimeme: Low transmissibility, high impact
• Supermeme: High transmissibility, high impact (parasitic)
• Cliche: Worn-out meme that has lost infective power

Your output classifies the idea and explains the reasoning, so downstream skills can route appropriately.

Input/Output Contract

Accepts:

• Raw idea or concept description (text, 1-1000 words)
• Optional: context about target network or intended audience
• Optional: history (has this idea been circulating? how long?)

Produces:

• Classification: meme | antimeme | supermeme | cliche
• Confidence level (high, medium, low)
• Supporting reasoning with key property assessment
• Risk flags (if supermeme: red flags identified)
• Recommended next skill(s)

Passes to:

• assess-fitness (for meme/antimeme classified as GO/NO-GO decision)
• map-network (to understand what network structure to use)
• detect-supermeme (if supermeme detected: defensive strategy)
• evaluate-fitness (to measure exact transmission/immunity properties)
• identify-champions (to find advocates)
• transform-taboo (if antimeme + taboo identified)
• craft-content (to create shareable versions)

Process

Step 1: Extract Core Properties

Analyze the idea across three dimensions:

Property A: Transmissibility (How easily does it spread?)

• High: Lightweight, entertaining, matches existing beliefs, emotionally activating
• Low: Complex, counterintuitive, threatens existing beliefs, requires deep understanding

Property B: Impact (How much does it matter if true?)

• High: Consequential to people's lives, changes values/behaviors, long-term implications
• Low: Entertaining but ultimately inconsequential, short-term entertainment

Property C: Symptomatic Period (How long does it stay in mind?)

• Short: People engage briefly then forget (entertainment, trends)
• Long: People think about it repeatedly, affects decisions over time

Step 2: Map Properties to Classification

Use this matrix:

                High Impact          Low Impact
High Transmit   SUPERMEME          MEME
Low Transmit    ANTIMEME           (rare - neither transmits nor impacts)

Meme (High Transmit, Low Impact):

• Examples: viral tweets, trending phrases, catchy songs, funny videos
• Properties: lightweight, shareable, easy to understand, emotionally engaging
• Spread naturally without champions
• People forget quickly after engagement

Antimeme (Low Transmit, High Impact):

• Examples: original insights, complex truths, uncomfortable ideas, important secrets
• Properties: requires understanding, challenges existing beliefs, high cognitive load
• Need champions to spread
• People who get it care deeply

Supermeme (High Transmit, High Impact):

• Examples: existential threats (AI danger, climate catastrophe), apocalyptic narratives, war stories
• Properties: emotionally activating, easy to understand, seemingly consequential
• Spread rapidly and dominate attention
• Creates rumination loops ("can't stop thinking about it")
• USUALLY PARASITIC

Cliche (formerly Meme, now worn-out):

• Examples: jokes everyone's heard, punchlines that don't land, tired expressions
• Properties: was once transmissible, now triggers boredom/rejection, no novelty
• Negative feedback from repetition kills spread
• "Empty" - retains form but lost meaning

Step 3: Check for Supermeme Red Flags

If you classified as supermeme, assess these red flags:

RED FLAG 1: Apocalyptic framing

• Language: "if we don't act, X will destroy us", "existential threat", "now or never"
• Example: "AI will make humanity extinct by 2030"
• Problem: Creates urgency without actionability

RED FLAG 2: Vague/unmeasurable goals

• Language: "change the world", "save humanity", "transform culture"
• Example: "We need to prevent catastrophe" (without defining what success looks like)
• Problem: You can never declare victory, so attention never stops

RED FLAG 3: Appeals to "save the world"

• Grandiose framing
• Martyr/hero language
• "Your efforts are the only thing standing between order and chaos"
• Problem: Creates false urgency

RED FLAG 4: Demands total prioritization

• Language: "this must be your only focus", "everything else is distraction"
• Example: "Climate change is so important that other problems don't matter"
• Problem: Prevents balanced thinking and tradeoff analysis

RED FLAG 5: No clear success metrics

• Can't point to: "if we achieve X by date Y, we've succeeded"
• Progress is always insufficient
• Problem: Operates in eternal crisis mode

Scoring:

• 0-1 flags: Likely meme or antimeme (not supermeme)
• 2-3 flags: Probable supermeme (caution advised)
• 4-5 flags: Strong supermeme (recommend defensive approach)

Step 4: Check for Cliche Indicators

Has this idea been repeated so many times it's lost impact?

Indicators:

• Audience fatigued with the idea (negative feedback to repetition)
• Novelty wore out (was surprising, now obvious)
• Lost infective power (people no longer share it)
• Feels hollow/empty when articulated
• Triggers boredom rather than enthusiasm

Example: "You should follow your passion" was a powerful meme in 1990s. By 2020, it's a cliche - everyone's heard it, nobody feels compelled to share it.

Step 5: Assess Confidence Level

How confident are you in this classification?

High confidence:

• Clear-cut category with obvious properties
• Unambiguous transmissibility and impact
• Minimal contradictory signals

Medium confidence:

• Some properties point different directions
• Transmissibility might vary by audience
• Impact depends on context

Low confidence:

• Ambiguous on key properties
• Insufficient information (ask user for clarification)
• Idea is new and precedent-lacking

Deeper Source Context

The Vibes Concept

Vibes combine the qualities of both memes and antimemes. They can still spread memetically but are innately difficult to define, like an antimeme. — Peter Limberg "Meme to Vibe" essay

Vibes resist classification because defining them precisely destroys their essence. This is actually a feature, not a failure. Flag to users: if an idea resists clean classification into meme/antimeme/supermeme, it may be a "vibe" — which means it has legitimate transmission properties that traditional frameworks miss.

Dormant Ideas (The 5th Category)

The classification system has a fifth category beyond meme/antimeme/supermeme/cliche: dormant or non-memetic ideas. These are ideas with neither transmission nor impact — ideas that fail on both dimensions.

"We can classify cultural objects as being memetic, antimemetic, supermemetic, or dormant (non-memetic)."

When evaluating ideas, consider adding a note to your classification matrix: if something has neither high transmissibility nor high impact, it may simply be dormant — worth setting aside rather than attempting to spread.

On High-Impact Normalized Behaviors

Some of the most consequential memetic behaviors require little effort to process. "Even more consequential memetic behaviors, like marriage or working a salaried office job, don't require much energy to process, because most of us were socialized into these norms."

This reveals an important insight: an idea can be both high-impact AND easily transmissible if it's normalized through socialization. The classification should account for this — normalized ideas spread without requiring active advocacy.

Examples from Source Material

Clear Meme Examples

• "Happy Birthday to You" (song) - transmits easily, low consequential impact
• Wearing baseball caps backward - lightweight fashion trend, spreads socially
• "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should" - catchy jingle, easy to remember
• Cat videos - entertaining, shareable, forgettable

Clear Antimeme Examples

• Complex mathematical insight - hard to understand, consequential if true, low natural spread
• "The Hayekian case for capitalism" - source notes: counterintuitive, hard to explain, true but unpopular
• Original scientific theories - revolutionary ideas that face initial rejection
• Uncomfortable truths about systems/society - consequential but challenging to discuss

Clear Supermeme Examples

• "AI will destroy humanity by 2030" - spreads rapidly, emotionally activating, apocalyptic
• Climate catastrophe narratives - high spread, high impact framing, rumination loops
• War narratives - spread rapidly during conflict, dominate attention
• Existential threats (pandemics, nuclear war) - natural panic spread

Cliche Examples

• "Think outside the box" - was novel insight, now worn-out business jargon
• "Work smarter, not harder" - was useful principle, now empty phrase nobody cares about
• "Be yourself" - was empowering message, now tired platitude
• "Love conquers all" - was poetic truth, now hollow romantic cliche

Decision Tree

START: User provides raw idea

  1. Is this idea currently spreading (even slowly)?
     NO → [May be antimeme] Go to Q2
     YES → [Likely meme or supermeme] Go to Q3

  2. Is this idea trivial/low-impact?
     YES → Transmit is LOW, Impact is LOW → [rare, ignore this case]
     NO → Transmit is LOW, Impact is HIGH → **ANTIMEME**
          Rule: Check for red flags as precaution
          Recommend: assess-fitness, identify-champions, design-strategy

  3. Does idea have 4-5 supermeme red flags?
     YES → **SUPERMEME (probable)**
          Rule: High transmit + high impact + apocalyptic properties
          Recommend: detect-supermeme, build-immunity
          Warning: Are you sure you want to spread this?

     NO → Does idea have 2-3 supermeme red flags?
          YES → **SUPERMEME (possible)**
               Rule: High transmit + high impact + some parasitic properties
               Recommend: detect-supermeme (for confirmation)

          NO → Does idea feel worn-out/tiresome?
               YES → **CLICHE**
                    Rule: Was transmissible, lost infective power
                    Recommend: assess-fitness (NO-GO), suggest reframe

               NO → **MEME**
                    Rule: High transmit, low impact, spreads naturally
                    Recommend: craft-content, execute-calendar (if you want to amplify)

Output Template

Use this structure for your response:

## Classification: [MEME | ANTIMEME | SUPERMEME | CLICHE]

**Confidence:** [High | Medium | Low]

**Reasoning:**

**Transmissibility:** [High | Low] - [explanation of why spread is easy or hard]
**Impact:** [High | Low] - [explanation of why it matters or doesn't]
**Symptomatic Period:** [Short | Long] - [explanation of how long idea stays in mind]

**Key Properties:**
- [property 1]
- [property 2]
- [property 3]

[If supermeme] **Red Flags Detected:**
- [ ] Apocalyptic framing
- [ ] Vague/unmeasurable goals
- [ ] "Save the world" appeals
- [ ] Total prioritization demands
- [ ] No success metrics

**Score:** [X/5 supermeme red flags]

**Next Steps:**
User should consider: [recommend next skill(s) based on classification]

Common Classification Mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing "popular" with "meme"

• Just because something's popular doesn't make it a meme
• Supermemes can be even more popular
• Check the three properties, not just spread rate

Mistake 2: Assuming high-impact = supermeme

• Antimemes also have high impact
• The difference: antimemes are HARD to spread; supermemes spread EASILY
• Use transmissibility as key discriminator

Mistake 3: Dismissing something as "just a cliche"

• Check: did it actually lose infective power, or are you just tired of hearing about it?
• Your fatigue ≠ audience fatigue
• Look for negative feedback from target audience

Mistake 4: Missing red flags in plausible-sounding ideas

• Supermemes are often disguised as legitimate concerns
• Don't skip the red flag check just because the idea seems important
• Example: "We need to prepare for AI catastrophe" might be meme (if measured/tractable) or supermeme (if apocalyptic/vague)

When to Use Other Skills

• After classify-idea → assess-fitness: You want a GO/NO-GO decision on spreading
• After classify-idea → evaluate-fitness: You want exact metrics on transmission/immunity/symptomatic period
• After classify-idea → detect-supermeme: You want confirmation if supermeme risk (or defense strategy)
• After classify-idea → map-network: You want to know what network structure to use
• After classify-idea → identify-champions: You want to find advocates for an antimeme
• After classify-idea → craft-content: You want to create viral versions (especially for memes)

References

See /references/source-summary.md:

• "Core Definitions" section for detailed category descriptions
• "Examples of Each Memetic Type" section for more examples
• "Decision Frameworks from Source" section for evaluation guidelines