The Revolution: Its Origin and Growth

Although its roots probably reach much farther back, the revolution can be said to have begun in earnest in the early years of the 21st century. Like many revolutions, it probably started so quietly that no one was at first aware of what was happening. Once it reached a critical point, however, it quickly "went viral," as the saying was at that period.

The first manifestation of the movement was--not surprisingly, given the level of technology then extant--in video footage produced by amateurs. Two main groups produced these videos:

• Terrorist groups, notably Al Qaeda and ISIS, published videos, often horrific in nature, whose purpose was to encourage movement members or to document acts of extreme violence, with the aim of creating fear and showing defiance toward enemy regimes such as the old United States of America.
• At the same time, perhaps as an unconscious response to terrorist videos, individuals around the world began publishing optimistic videos in such venues as Facebook, a popular "social networking" application of the time. These videos typically portrayed people performing spontaneous acts of kindness for other people or animals, or giving striking artistic performances.

It is this latter group that was key to the revolution. Motivated by the increasingly violent nature of terrorist videos (and actual acts), a surge of optimist videos appeared in a short time, and the movement quickly evolved into a kind of competition, in which participants vied to show ever more striking instances of positive human behaviors. This competition naturally depended on the actual performance of positive acts. What began as more or less accidental capture of good deeds on video rapidly became an active search for such deeds, and by natural extension, the deliberate performance of good deeds for the purpose of recording them.

Thus, in a short time, kindness and charity became highly desirable behaviors. While at first many people were motivated primarily by a desire for fame or praise, it was not long before the inherent pleasure of altruism became the major stimulus. Under that guiding force, what began as an "internet" phenomenon spread to other areas of life. No longer was it necessary to receive recognition for good deeds; much as an athlete experiences an endorphin thrill, individuals began to experience what we know today as the uprush, and did more good deeds to experience it again.

This phenomenon did not, of course, immediately lead to the disappearance of terrorism, or of negative impulses such as hatred, contempt, or selfishness. Rather, terrorists found their base of adherents gradually eroding away, as more and more individuals were influenced by the example of others to replace the ideology of fundamentalism with positivism. Similarly, individuals who engaged in destructive behaviors found their moral base weakened and were led, almost despite themselves, to embrace the Golden Rule.

It may seem strange, even disconcerting, to think that the philosophy now so central to our planetary cultures had its origin in a meme that could easily have passed away like so many others before and since, and whose existence depended on a passing technology that is all but forgotten today. But after all, it is not so surprising, when we reflect that this meme was a true and unfiltered expression of the noblest aspect of our humanity.  To a global society in desperate need of healing, it was the unexpected medicine from within that allowed humanity to finally cure itself.

September 17 2014