The tools of data analysis and visualization have penetrated deep into the world of online communication, traversing the space between formal scientific study data (1), to neatly encapsulated social theory (2) to a familiar format for making jokes about our culture (3).

1. Raw data:

2. Conceptual tool:

3. Joke framework:

There are many definitions of ‘meme’. In this case, I’ll discuss ‘meme’ not as the image or the joke but the cultural pattern used to compress complex ideas into a simple communicative snapshot.

Someone’s frame of reference is made up of their experiences and the stories they tell about them. It is the private source material that motivates their beliefs about and perceptions of the world.

People interpret the world differently. The ability to effectively communicate and coordinate action depends on people’s ability to translate across different frames of reference.

If we’re going to plan and act collectively, we need ways of holding in view and recursively inspecting the value systems of those involved. Myers-Briggs Type and Enneagram do at least the first of those two but they don’t allow people to dynamically dial in or out detail, adapting to the languages of narrow sub-niches and evolving with culture.