{"id":34280,"date":"2023-11-21T13:04:36","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T21:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34280"},"modified":"2023-11-21T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T21:04:36","slug":"mesmerized-by-memetics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/mesmerized-by-memetics\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesmerized by Memetics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDo what I say and not what I do.\u201d\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 What child has ever taken this to heart by a parent who gives this instruction?\u00a0 We are sorely mistaken if we believe that a child or others will judge us by what we say and not by what we do. What we say and what we do must go together. J.R. Woodard\u2019s book, <\/span>The Scandal of Leadership<\/span><\/i> has had my attention the past few days. This is not Woodard\u2019s sole purpose in writing his book, but his goal is to \u201coffer a more comprehensive missiological understanding of the problem of domineering leadership.\u201d [1]\u00a0 Woodard proposes that healing needs to come in a leader\u2019s life in three areas: identity (who she is), praxis (how she relates) and telo (what she values). In this blog, I will focus on a leader\u2019s identity and how this is developed in infancy as theorized by D.W. Winnicott. I will also discuss how memetics impacts our biology and give a personal example of a mimetic opportunity that I will have with my family.<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding: Infant developmental theory<\/b><\/p>\n

Woodard lays a biblical basis for identity formation by answering these questions: \u201dHow are we to develop our sense of identity? What does Jesus tell us about this?\u00a0 According to memetic theory, our sense of self is developed through \u201cthe other.\u201d What is witnessed from others is captured and internalized, this includes phrases, ideas and traditions. \u201cFor Jesus, the other was an undistorted view of his Father.\u201d [2] Conceptualizing the relationship that Jesus has with the Father is difficult for me to understand without witnessing this relationship with my own eyes. I believe God puts us in families to have a better understanding of how identity forms while in relationships between an infant, mother, and father, thus demonstrating how the Father and Jesus have a relationship with one another. The well-known child development psychologist D.W. Winnicott describes this early relationship: \u201cThe infant and the maternal care together form a unit.\u201d [3] There is no separation between the two. An infant cannot live outside the care it receives. Winnicott describes parental care in three different stages:<\/span><\/p>\n

Satisfactory parental care can be classified roughly into three overlapping stages:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Holding,\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Mother and infant living together. Here the father\u2019s function is not known to the infant.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Father, Mother, and infant, all three living together. The term \u2018holding\u2019 is used here to denote not only the actual physical holding of the infant, but also the total environmental provision prior to the concept of living with. [4]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In this first stage of holding, parental care is where identity begins. A baby does not know who they are apart from their mother. How many times does a mother look into her baby\u2019s face and a beautiful interchange takes place? As Ekman says, \u201cThe face is the key for understanding people\u2019s emotional expression.\u201d [5] This holding environment might also be referred to as a secure base. Safety and security best define this experience for the infant. Eventually an infant grows to differentiate. Winnicott states, \u201cthe infant ego eventually becomes free of the mother\u2019s ego support, so that the infant achieves mental detachment from the mother, that is, differentiation into a separate personal self.\u201d [6]\u00a0 Memetics’ powerful work is wrought in these early days of an infant’s life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Meme, Mirror Neurons, & Ultimate model<\/b><\/p>\n

    This living and being with others is by design. \u201cOur drive to imitate seems to be powerfully present at birth and never declines.\u201d [7] We have a memetic way of being. So how did the term memetic originate? Richard Dawkins was a scientist who was \u201caware of the power of imitation in transmitting mannerisms, practices, ideas, and entire belief systems, and he coined the term \u201cmeme\u201d in his famous book <\/span>The Selfish Gene<\/span><\/i>.\u201d [8]\u00a0 Meme denotes that there is a \u201ctransmitting down the generations.” [9] This ability to imitate is in our biology.\u00a0 Marco Lacoboni in his book <\/span>Mirroring People<\/span><\/i> states that, \u201cMirror neurons are brain cells that seem specialized in understanding our existential condition and our involvement with others. They show that we are not alone but are biologically wired and evolutionarily designed to be deeply interconnected with one another.\u201d [10] But are we completely subject to this involuntary transmission of beliefs, traditions, and patterns of relating?\u00a0 Woodard proposes that we can have an ultimate model in Jesus Christ. \u201cPowers and imitation and desire eschew individualism and speak to the reality that we are relational creatures. Our ultimate model will determine the nature of our incarnational leadership.\u201d [11] As a relational creature, I can relate to Christ and imitate him. This comes in witnessing believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and are looking to God\u2019s Word.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Bringing this concept home<\/b><\/p>\n

    While writing this blog, my family is getting prepared to spend a week at Newport Beach for the Thanksgiving holiday … yes, the Newport’s will be at Newport beach! In our great excitement and anticipation of being together, I have wanted to be intentional in leading by example in order to be memetically engaged with my family. I have chosen to do this by preparing a devotion for one of the mornings. I have asked my sister in law to join me in leading this. My sister-in-law asked me yesterday what my goal was in wanting to have this activity for the whole family. With tears, I shared\u2026I want to be memetic! I am hoping that my example will communicate this message: \u201cThis is what we do as Newport’s. We prioritize the Word of God. This is who we are as Newport’s. We sit with the Word and reflect on what He has to share with us. Together we turn to the Word of God for instruction and encouragement.\u201d The devotion will be on the different seasons in our lives. I hope in the far, far future one of my great grandchildren will be leading their family in a devotion some day. By the power of the Holy Spirit at work through memetics, I believe this will be so.<\/span><\/p>\n

    ____________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [1] J.R. Woodward,<\/span> The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church<\/span><\/i>, Las Vegas: Movements Publishing, 2023; p. xxxiii<\/span><\/p>\n

    [2] Ibid. p.231<\/span><\/p>\n

    [3] D.W. Winnicott,<\/span> The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment<\/span><\/i>, New York: Routledge, 2018; p.39<\/span><\/p>\n

    [4] Ibid. p.46<\/span><\/p>\n

    [5] Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Friesen, <\/span>Unmasking the Face: Guide to Recognizing Emotions From Facial Expressions<\/span><\/i>, Cambridge: Malor Books, 2003, p.7<\/span><\/p>\n

    [6] Ibid. p.41<\/span><\/p>\n

    [7] Marco Iacoboni, <\/span>Mirroring People: The Science of Empathy and How We Connect with Others<\/span><\/i>, New York: Picador, 2009; p.47<\/span><\/p>\n

    [8] Ibid. p.50<\/span><\/p>\n

    [9] Ibid. p.50<\/span><\/p>\n

    [10] Ibid. p.267<\/span><\/p>\n

    [11] Ibid. p.267<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cDo what I say and not what I do.\u201d\u00a0 Ha!\u00a0 What child has ever taken this to heart by a parent who gives this instruction?\u00a0 We are sorely mistaken if we believe that a child or others will judge us by what we say and not by what we do. What we say and what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2846,2933,2932],"class_list":["post-34280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-woodward","tag-memetics","tag-the-scandal-of-leadership","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34280"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34281,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34280\/revisions\/34281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}