// Create a phased strategy for spreading your idea. For antimemes: dark forest → coordinated emergence → tipping point. For memes: viral content tactics. Takes all prior analysis (classification, fitness, network, champions) and produces a concrete action plan with phases, milestones, and tactical steps.
Engineer ideas to spread successfully using Heylighen's 4-stage memetic replication model (Assimilation → Retention → Expression → Transmission). Use this skill whenever someone wants to make an idea stick, spread, or survive in an organization or audience — e.g., "my idea isn't landing", "people keep forgetting this", "nobody is sharing it", "how do I get buy-in", "help me pitch this", "why isn't this spreading", "how do I make this go viral internally", "I need this to survive a meeting". Also use for diagnosing why a specific idea is dying (which of the 4 stages is failing) and prescribing targeted fixes. Grounded in Finkelstein's Memetics Compendium (2009).
Intelligent router for the memetics skill network. Uses Heylighen's A→R→E→T diagnostic (Assimilation → Retention → Expression → Transmission) to identify which stage of memetic replication is failing, then routes to the right specialized skill. Use whenever you have a memetics question or want to make an idea spread — especially "my idea isn't landing", "people forget it", "nobody is sharing it", "I want to build a movement", "should I try to spread this?", or any memetics question where you're not sure which skill to start with.
Map the ecosystem of reinforcing ideas around a concept. Identifies which memeplex an idea belongs to, what ideas support or compete with it, and what mimetic desire dynamics drive its carriers. Use when you need to understand the ideological landscape before spreading an idea, or when you want to understand why an idea is thriving or dying. Trigger on: "What's the memeplex around this?", "What ideas compete with mine?", "Why does this idea keep coming back?", "Map the idea ecosystem", "What's reinforcing this narrative?"
Adapt memetics playbooks to specific application domains (personal branding, product launches, social movements, etc.). Takes general memetics strategy and tailors it to domain-specific contexts, metrics, and tactics. [NEEDS SOURCE MATERIAL] Source provides brief examples of three domains but doesn't fully detail the domain-specific playbooks. Each domain needs detailed expansion.
Design and implement tactics to strengthen a network's resistance to unwanted memes and supermeme traps. Standalone defensive skill for teams, organizations, or networks wanting to build critical thinking and memetic resilience. [NEEDS SOURCE MATERIAL] Source describes immunity-building goal but doesn't detail the full implementation methodology, frequency, or specific frameworks to teach.
Classify a raw idea or concept into its memetic type (meme, antimeme, supermeme, or cliche). Use this skill when you have an idea and need to understand its spreading properties, or when you're evaluating whether an idea will naturally transmit or face resistance. Trigger on: "What type of meme is this?", "Will this spread?", "Is this a good idea to promote?", "Classify this idea", "What kind of meme is X?"
| name | design-strategy |
| description | Create a phased strategy for spreading your idea. For antimemes: dark forest → coordinated emergence → tipping point. For memes: viral content tactics. Takes all prior analysis (classification, fitness, network, champions) and produces a concrete action plan with phases, milestones, and tactical steps. |
You are creating a comprehensive, phased strategy for spreading an idea.
Takes all prior analysis (classify, assess fitness, identify champions, map network) and produces a concrete multi-phase strategy with:
Outputs a strategy document you can hand to your core group and execute.
Accepts:
Produces:
Passes to:
Use this for high-impact ideas that face network resistance (low transmissibility).
Duration: 1-3 years (typically 2 years)
Goal: Develop the idea with core believers, refine messaging, build trust and commitment.
Tactical Steps:
Form the core group
Establish shared language
Develop core examples
Create "patient zero" narratives
Build intellectual infrastructure
Test messaging with trusted outsiders
Success Metrics for Phase 1:
Risks in Phase 1:
End of Phase 1 Decision:
Duration: 6 months to 1 year
Goal: Create appearance of organic grassroots support while testing market receptivity. Plant seeds in broader network carefully.
Tactical Steps:
Have members share as "independent opinions"
Create illusion of broad agreement
Lower social cost for others to join
Test public sentiment with small reveals
Monitor which networks show receptivity
Identify and cultivate validators
Build secondary communication channels
A classic case study of Phase 2 strategy in action demonstrates the power of coordinated, private emergence.
The Opportunity: Someone conducted research showing that people are more likely to be depressed on Mondays. The Monday Mafia spots this opportunity and decides to act.
The Strategy: Rather than announcing themselves as a united front, the approach is subtly coordinated:
Initial Public Seeding: Just one member, Groucho Garfield, publishes a social media post lamenting how awful Mondays are. To the public, Garfield only represents himself—no group affiliation, no hint of coordination.
Amplification Through Apparent Independence: Other members then share Garfield's post, and publish their own independent statements in support. Each person writes in their own voice, using different examples and framings. To observers, they appear to represent only themselves, with no mention of group affiliation.
Creating the Illusion of Broad Agreement: The result is powerful: multiple uncoordinated voices discussing the same concern. When people see several people discussing independently, it feels bigger than it is. The reality is 5-10 people; the perception is "lots of people are thinking about this."
Lowering Social Cost for Others to Join: This appearance of uncoordinated agreement is crucial. If only secret insiders knew about the idea, people would avoid it. But because it's visible and appears organically supported by multiple independent voices, the social cost for others to join drops significantly. People feel safe engaging.
Key Principle: "In order to maintain influence, members must carefully balance how frequently and overtly they support each other's views to avoid being 'outed.' The coordination must remain private while the outputs appear organic."
The Cascading Effect: If the Monday Mafia is publicly identified, other siloed networks with similar views might come out in support, forming a bigger coalition that snowballs. What once seemed taboo suddenly appears to achieve widespread acceptance. The network effect multiplies.
The Risk: However, if other networks fail to rally, the Monday Mafia risks being cast out as a "fringe" interest group. The game resets and plays again. This is why Phase 2 requires patience—you're testing whether real broad agreement exists, or if you've just created a sophisticated echo chamber.
Success Metrics for Phase 2:
Risks in Phase 2:
End of Phase 2 Decision:
Duration: 1-3 months of rapid escalation
Goal: Cross the threshold from niche to mainstream. Trigger exponential growth through multiple networks simultaneously connecting.
Tactical Steps:
Assess critical mass
Public reveal when immunity is low enough
Champions go public simultaneously
Frame as "many people have been thinking this"
Rapid scale using validators
Coordinate media/visibility amplification
Success Metrics for Phase 3:
Risks in Phase 3:
Use this for high-transmissibility ideas that spread naturally (memes, not antimemes).
Timeline: Ongoing, 3-5 posts/day
Goal: Create and distribute lightweight, shareable content optimized for spread.
Pick a villain (anger spreads faster)
Use narrative competition framing
Make it lightweight and shareable
Target smart people in your niche
Create secondary account for risky variants
Volume strategy: 3-5 posts per day
Timing optimization
Create content variants
Encourage secondary sharing
What to track:
Signals of success:
Signals to adjust:
After each phase, explicitly assess:
Has the situation changed?
Are we ready for next phase?
What's the evidence?
Decision options:
## Strategy: [ANTIMEME (Dark Forest) | MEME (Viral) | HYBRID]
**Timeline:** [X years total]
**Target Network:** [Who is this for?]
**Champions:** [Names and roles]
---
## Phase 1: [Name] (Duration: X months)
**Objective:** [What success looks like]
**Tactical Steps:**
1. [Specific action]
2. [Specific action]
3. [Specific action]
**Success Metrics:**
- [ ] Metric 1
- [ ] Metric 2
- [ ] Metric 3
**Risks:**
- [Risk and mitigation]
**End of Phase 1 Decision Point:** [When, who decides, what indicates readiness]
---
## Phase 2: [Name] (Duration: X months)
[Same structure]
---
## Phase 3: [Name] (Duration: X months)
[Same structure]
---
## Champion Assignments
| Name | Role | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| [Champion 1] | [Primary/secondary] | [What they own] |
| [Champion 2] | [Primary/secondary] | [What they own] |
---
## Risk Mitigation Summary
| Risk | Probability | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Risk 1] | [High/Med/Low] | [High/Med/Low] | [How to prevent/respond] |
---
## Success Looks Like (End of Year 5)
- [Specific outcome 1]
- [Specific outcome 2]
- [Idea is mainstream, widely discussed, adopted by X%]
See /references/source-summary.md: