"Finches have a diversity of beaks that are aptly constructed to take advantage of a variety of food types" so writ Charles Darwin as he watched the Galapagos Finches, one warm summer evening over 150 years ago. Big D started a new theory of life that has since become the mantra of thousands and thousands, and the Origin of Species has become the biological Bible of millions of evolutionary followers.
The book Origin of the Species is not full of idea-stickiness! It is quite the opposite! It is a complex and tedious mix of science-mania. It is the T-Rex of wordiness. I read it in university undergrad and my brain hurt reading it. I picked it up again the other day and I went for the Advil Liquid-Gels after chapter 1.
But luckily for you, the reader, I have combed the Origin of Species with a fine tooth animal comb. I condense it for you, saving you the terrible agony (and perhaps a bottle of Advil) of flipping through the pages.
Here is the simple central tenant: Genes make us who we are. There are many genes in each organism of a species. Some are the same between individuals, many are different. It is the different genes that make us unique. The environments we live in, weather, land, how many episodes of Twilight you watch, influence whether we live or die. Those that live, over time pass on the favourable genes that permit them survival (so called survival of the fittest). Natural selection. A hidden, invisible, lifeless force. Depending on the environment, each species looks different because they adapt to the unique home-land conditions. This is why a Deep Sea Angler Fish looks like a set of jaws with teeth, and a pelagic Tuna has a body built for speed. The theory is known Adaptation through Natural Selection. It, however, doesn't explain why George Bush Jr. lasted two politic terms.
Adaptation is the genie in the bottle of life. A persistence of life over time.
Can an idea be persistent? Can it last over time? Can it adapt and build resiliency but still maintain the essentials of its premise?
Well, yes. Yes it can.
Take the idea of God. Yes, big G God, Christian God, the old white bearded man in the sky. Beyond what you believe, regardless of your theism, the idea of God persists. The idea of God is eternal. Not too long ago I read Robert Wright's book The Evolution of God. Great book. Scholarly and modern all at the same time. Oddly enough, it made me think about ideas in a new way. Wright's premise is that the idea of God changed over centuries as the social, political and economic conditions of Israel and its neighbours changed. The early Israel God was vengeful, jealous, and vindictive in a time when Israel was beginning to promote "a one true God" in a polytheistic society. It as also in a time when Israel was under extreme oppression having been ruled by Assyrians, Persians and Romans for centuries. God needed to be vengeful to satisfy Israels thirst for revenge. Slowly though the Israel God became less vengeful and more caring. A God of mercy. A God that chose to spare lives rather than abolish whole communities in floods and fire. Eventually the Israel God became a universal God, a God for everyone. The new idea of God culminated from Israel's emancipation. Then came Christ and a whole new conception of God emerged, one of love. Universal love. A God for everyone, everywhere - inside Israel and outside Israel. It didn't matter where you lived. Jesus redefined God to walk the streets with the poor and share meals with tax collectors and prostitutes. Paul later defined Christianity by claiming that faith alone was enough for God and that the Jewish concept of God no longer applied, that of faith and total obedience in law. Through Jesus and Paul, God became the universal loving God Christians believe in today. A new God for a new and changing world.
Any idea can last if it is flexible enough to change with the changing times. Ideas that last have adaptive traits last. Period. They blend with the culture of the day, but they can change to match the culture of tomorrow. So how can you apply this thinking as you create ideas, and market them? How can you make an idea eternal?
1. Awareness: Always be aware (or beware) of the current social, economic and political context you operate in. Look at how it has changed in the past, and understand what selective pressures may cause it to change in the near future. Barack Obama's political campaign in 2012 will have a lot of the same messages as 2008 but they will be framed very different. Take the idea of war. Compare the messages from Winston Churchill, George Bush Jr., and Obama (08 and 12) and look at how they are a reflection of the context they governed/govern in. Very different. But the idea of war persists (as does the practice).
2. Mitigate Selective Pressures: Recognize the key selective pressures that may change, cripple, or put an idea to death. What environmental conditions are risky to an idea? How can you mitigate or deflect some of the pressures?
3. Construct a Diversity of Traits: Ideas that will last a long time should have a diversity of "traits". Branding agencies that pigeon hole a product into one, or two key product principles, set the product up for eventual death. Products with a diversity of traits will survive longer. A Coca-Cola anyone? Initially sold as a health product in the early 1900's. Now sold as "taste better than the real thing" when we all know how unhealthy it is!
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