Theideosphere—like thenoosphere (i.e., the realm ofreason)—is themetaphysical 'place' wherethoughts,theories,ideas, andideation are regarded to be created, evaluated, and evolved.
Analogous to thebiosphere (the realm ofbiological evolution), the ideosphere is the realm ofmemetic evolution, where 'memes' take the role ofbiological genes.[1][2] As such, the ideosphere is an entire memeticecology: the collective intelligence of all humans wherein memes live, reproduce, compete, and mutate.[1][3][4]
The health of an ideosphere, in this sense, can be measured by its memetic diversity.[1] Moreover, like the biosphere, it hasecological niches, which serve as environments for groups or audiences.[3] For instance, some entities compete for ecological niches in the ideosphere, such asBuddha,Laozi, thekami ofShinto,Satan,Jesus Christ in Christianity and inother religions, etc.[5]: 851 Another example, an ideosphere is formed around alinguistic system that involves a mixture of cynicism and sentimentality as well as the violent appropriation of the other's word.[6]
Douglas Hofstadter andAaron Lynch are considered to have independently co-invented the termideosphere in the mid-1980s.[2][3][7][8]
The ideosphere is not considered to be a physical place by most people; instead, it is "inside the minds" of all the humans in the world. It is also sometimes believed that theInternet, books, and other media could be considered to be part of the ideosphere—however such media lack the ability to process the thoughts they contain.[citation needed]
According to philosopher Yasuhiko Kimura, the ideosphere is "concentric" in form, as ideas are generated by a few people with others merely perceiving and accepting these ideas from these "external authorities."[9] He advocates an "omnicentric" configuration, wherein all individuals create new ideas and interact as self-authorities. There is the notion that most of humanity remains the consumer instead of producer of ideas.[9] To address this, Kimura proposed the so-called ideospheric transformation, triggered by a synergetic phenomenon produced by the emergence of a sufficient number of authentic and independent thinkers.[3]
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