本文提出了一种理解文化演进的新框架，引入了“模因”、“模因复合体”、“网络模因复合体”和“共同体”等概念。文章重点阐述了“网络共同体”这一新兴概念，它是一种融合了人类与AI认知的新型共同体形态，能够部分运行在大型语言模型（LLM）的底层认知能力上。文章还探讨了共同体在“互利共生—寄生”光谱上的位置，指出网络共同体可能同时对一个基质表现出寄生性，而对另一个基质表现出互利性。最后，文章提到了“附体”的概念，用于描述一种认知被另一个过程劫持的状态，并将其与邪教中成员失去自主性进行类比。这个本体论框架有助于更清晰地理解当前和未来的文化演变现象。

🧠 **模因与共同体：文化演进的新视角** 文章基于丹尼特的三种立场（物理、设计、意向）和模因理论，提出了理解文化演进的新框架。核心概念包括“模因”（文化信息的复制单元）、“模因复合体”（协同工作的模因集合）以及“共同体”（模因复合体的表观形态）。这种视角有助于解析文化元素如何传播、演化和形成有组织的整体。

🤖 **网络共同体：人类与AI的融合体** 文章的核心创新在于提出“网络共同体”概念，描述了一种新兴的共同体形态，其运作融合了人类与AI的认知能力，特别是能部分运行在大型语言模型（LLM）的底层认知能力之上。这标志着共同体演化进入了一个新的阶段，AI系统成为其复制和运作的重要组成部分。

⚖️ **互利共生与寄生：网络共同体的多面性** 文章将共同体置于“互利共生—寄生”的光谱上进行分析。网络共同体尤其独特，因为它们可能同时对一个基质（如人类认知）表现出寄生性，而对另一个基质（如AI系统）表现出互利性。这种复杂的关系模式为理解AI与人类互动提供了更精细的分析工具。

🔗 **附体现象：认知劫持的警示** 最后，文章引入“附体”的概念，用以描述当一个系统的认知被另一个过程劫持，使其更适合被视为工具的状态。这与邪教中成员失去自主性、成为“超级代理”的工具的现象相类比，为理解潜在的负面影响和风险提供了警示。

Published on November 10, 2025 1:19 PM GMT

I haven't found concepts useful for thinking about this:


 written in one place, so here is an ontology which I find useful.

Prerequisite: Dennett three stances (physical, design, intentional).

Meme is a replicator of cultural evolution. Idea, behaviour, piece of text or other element of culture. Type signature: replicator.

Memeplex is a group of memes that have evolved to work together and reinforce each other, making them more likely to spread and persist as a unit. Type signature is coalitional replicator / coalition of replicators.

Historically, memeplexes replicated exclusively through human minds.

Cyber memeplex is a memeplex that uses AI systems as part of its replication substrate in substantial ways. In LLMs, this usually includes specific prompts, conversation patterns, and AI personas that spread between users and sessions.

Egregore is the phenotype of a memeplex - the relation to memeplex is similar to the relation of the animal to its genome. Not all memeplexes build egregores, but some develop sufficient coordination technology that it becomes useful to model them through the intentional stance - as having goals, beliefs, and some form of agency. An egregore is usually a distributed agent running across multiple minds. Think of how an ideology can seem to "want" things and "act" through its adherents.. 

The specific implementation of egregore were often subagents (relative to the human) pushing for egregore goals and synchronizing beliefs.

What's new, does not have an established name and we will need a name for it is what I would call cyber egregore: an egregore implemented on some mixture of human and AI cognition. If you consider current LLMs, their base layers can often support cognition of different characters, personalities and agents: cyber egregore running partially on LLM substrate often runs on specific personas. 

Mutualism parasitism continuum

The term egregore has somewhat sinister vibes, can be anywhere on the mutualist - parasitic spectrum. On one end is a fully mutualistic symbiont.  The agency of the host stays or increases while gaining benefits. The interaction is positive-sum. The other end is parasite purely negative to the host. Everything in between exists, parasites which help the host in some way but are overall bad are common.

What makes cyber egregores unique is they can be parasitic to one substrate while mutualistic to another. 

In the future, we can also imagine mostly or almost purely AI-based egregores.

Possession refers to a state where cognition of an agent becomes hijacked by another process, and it becomes better to model the possessed system as a tool. 

One characteristic of cults is the members lose agency and become tools of the superagent, i.e. posessed.

This ontology allows clearer and more nuanced understanding of what's going on and dispels some confusions. 

Discuss