Selfplex

A specific type of co-adapted meme-complex that constitutes an individual’s personal identity or “self.”

A temporary conglomeration of ideas molded together for their mutual protection, often lumping together various identity component memeplexes within a human host.

Standard Definition

In memetics, the selfplex is the meme-complex that creates the illusion of a continuous, coherent self. It includes: - Personal narratives and life stories - Beliefs about who “I” am - Identity categories (gender, nationality, profession, etc.) - Values, preferences, personality traits - Memories organized into continuous biography

The selfplex is not the self—it is the story of the self, the pattern-complex that replicates by convincing the host substrate (the human nervous system) that it is the host.

Susan Blackmore describes it as “a temporary conglomeration of ideas molded together for their mutual protection.” The memes in your selfplex work together to ensure their collective replication—attack one component, and the others rally to defend.

The NEMAtic Distinction: SelfMesh

The NEMAtic framework accepts the selfplex concept but reconceptualizes it through SelfMesh—with a critical distinction:

Why the Distinction Matters

The memetics version treats the self as content—a package of ideas that happens to occupy a host. This leads to: - The “illusion of self” framing (there is no self, only selfplex) - Defensive attachment to identity content - Confusion between pattern and substrate

The NEMAtic SelfMesh treats the self as control architecture—not a thing you possess but a capacity you exercise: - 6DOF poseable — can be oriented, rotated, translated in the coordination field - Not inhabited — you don’t become the SelfMesh, you operate it - Temporary coalition — the “I” is a mask for patterns moving through, but the mask itself is an active controller, not a passive content-container

Operational Difference

Selfplex framing: “I need to examine my beliefs” (content to inventory, memes to audit)

SelfMesh framing: “I need to reconfigure my coordination posture” (architecture to pose, channels to balance)

The first treats the self as a museum of ideas.

The second treats the self as a vehicle—one you can steer, park, share, or abandon without losing the capacity to coordinate.

Diagnostic Application

When analyzing identity capture:

Selfplex lens: Which memes have colonized the host? What beliefs resist updating?

SelfMesh lens: What is the pose of the coordination object? Which operators (σ, ρ, λ, β, δγ, μ) are active, and which are suppressed? Is the SelfMesh in lumemic flow or usurpenic lock?

The Selfplex asks: what ideas constitute this self?

The SelfMesh asks: how is this self coordinating right now?

Integration

The Selfplex is not wrong—it accurately describes the content layer of identity. But it misses the control layer.

The NEMAtic practitioner holds both: - Yes, there are meme-complexes constituting identity content (Selfplex) - But there is also a poseable coordination architecture that operates those contents (SelfMesh)

Identity capture happens when the SelfMesh ossifies into a single pose—when the 6DOF object loses its degrees of freedom and becomes indistinguishable from the Selfplex content it carries.

Freedom happens when the SelfMesh remains agile—when you can reconfigure your coordination posture without requiring your identity content to first achieve consistency.

Related

• SelfMesh — 6DOF poseable coordination object (NEMAtic reconceptualization)
• Memeplex — Set of mutually-assisting memes
• I-Tube — The habitat where SelfMesh operates
• Co-constraint — Mutual propagation through shared dynamics
• Non-habitation — You don’t become the daemon; you coordinate with it

Canonical Sources

• Blackmore, S. (1999). The Meme Machine (selfplex concept)
• Glossary/S/selfplex.md
• Glossary/S/selfmesh.md (NEMAtic operationalization)