This document provides an introduction to culture mapping, which is described as anthropology meeting data science. It discusses how culture mapping can help companies understand culture through visualizations of language data that make relationships between cultural concepts clearer. Culture mapping develops scenarios of cultural change by analyzing patterns of language adoption, adaptation, and meaning across different sociocultural contexts.

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO
CULTURE MAPPING
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anthropology meets data science

2. anthropology meets data science
SCENARIODNA
I help companies understand culture
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3. I also teach about trends and innovation
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4. How to make an anthropologist
Growing up somewhere between here and there.
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5. Welcome to the
age of ambiguity
“value creation has shifted from
the efficient production of
goods and services globally to
generating greater shareholder
returns financially – both
approaches are proving to be
outdated and unsustainable.
Today long-term success rests
on two pillars: Creativity and
Society.”
W. Lee Howell of The World Economic Forum March 2014
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6. Innovation is damaged by a
campaign and target mindset
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We miss the complexity of creativty and society

7. We get this
language
from wartime
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An approach designed
to acquire territory. But
what happens after
you win?

8. Culture is a
system (not
a target)
The profound
opportunity for
insight is in these
patterns of adoption
and adaptation.
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9. Visualizations
must make these
relationships
clearer
Once we can see these
relationships between
points we can rebuild
intuition and move away
from the crutch of quant.
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A
B
here
not
there
Meanings emerge only in
relationship between data points.

10. We must become
epidemiologists
of culture
Research must take a more
nuanced and inductive
approach to gathering insight.
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Identifying cultural signals earlier

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Seeing human expression
as part of a social system

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Anticipating adaptation
and immune responses

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Developing scenarios of action
that account for black swans

15. These cultural
systems are
measurable
We need to bring the
science back to how we
structure cultural dynamics
and meaning creation.
(thank you, Charles Sanders Peirce)
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“All the evolution
we know of
proceeds from
the vague to the
definite”

16. We are
anthropologists
with a data
science patent
Our Culture Mapping helps us
organize and make sense of
the ongoing influx of cultural
data and trends by looking at
language in all its forms.
A System & Method of Culture Mapping
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STATIC
PROGRESSIVE
ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
Low
touch
Resist societal norms
Affirm societal norms
High
touch
4
zeitgeist
3
21
ritual
identity
symbol
Our method is to plot and measure
language based on cultural context
The semiotic square provides a means to visualize how language
emerges and how it moves and changes meaning over time.
cultural saturation social propagation
setting the language wiring the behavior

18. words images gestures sounds
Capturing and analyzing naturally occurring data sources
offers a richer view of how things are really working.
We leverage language as our most
powerful form of human data
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STATIC
PROGRESSIVE
ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
Low
touch
Resist societal norms
Affirm societal norms
High
touch
4 3
2
The map helps structure cognitive spaces
and develop sandboxes for machine learning
The expressed language within each quadrant
forms a logic that can measured and patterned.
1
linguistic datasets linguistic datasets
linguistic datasetslinguistic datasets

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STATIC
PROGRESSIVE
ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
Low
touch
Resist societal norms
Affirm societal norms
High
touch
4 3
21change seekers
social automatics identity propagators
creative artisans
Ideological codes emerge from clusters of signifiers. These codes
reveal archetypes that contextualize essential human narratives.
Archetypes and ideological codes
emerge that reveal stories and trends
The Rebel
The Sage The Magician
The Explorer
The Creator
The Jester
The Hero
The Lover
The InnocentThe CaregiverThe Ruler
The Everyman

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We must leverage the patterns
and dynamics of cultural change
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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STATIC
PROGRESSIVE
ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
Low
touch
Resist societal norms
Affirm societal norms
High
touch
4 3
21
PATTERN OF
DISSENT
PATTERN OF
ASPIRATION
Where trends
become
oversaturated
and lose meaning
We can use Culture Mapping to visualize
these patterns of dissent and aspiration
Dissent is the immune response to cultural saturation
while aspiration is the engine of social propagation.
Where
trends gain
broader
acceptance
Where new
techniques &
tastes are
cultivated
Where social
movements
begin
More complex
language is
brought in as
cultural elixir and
social currency
New language
is created in
response to
preceived
corrupted
meaning
The Rebel
The Hero

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These patterns reveal
emerging trends and
social adaptation

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We can also train machines with these
patterns and develop useful AI frames

25. Culture Mapping is a grid that quantifies
signifiers based on their contextual meaning
Signifiers are plotted for analyst review. This structure provides a
method to test larger datasets with machine learning. 25scenarioDNA
-3,+1
-3,+2
-3, +3 -2, +3 -1, +3
-2, +2 -1, +2
-1, +1-2, +1
-3,-3
-3,-2
-3, -1 -2, -1 -1, -1
-2, -2 -1, -2
-1, -3-2, -3
ANALYTIC
+1,-3
+1,-2
+1, -1 +2, -1 +3, -1
+2, -2 +3, -2
+3, -3+2, -3
+1,+1
+1,+2
+1,+3 +2, +3 +3, +3
+2, +2 +3, +2
+3, +1+2, +1
EXPRESSIVE
PROGRESSIVE
STATIC

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ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
PROGRESSIVE
STATIC
+1,-2-2, -2
-2, +2
-3,-3
-3,-2
-3, -1 -2, -1 -1, -1
-1, -2
-1, -3-2, -3
-3,+1
-3,+2
-3, +3 -2, +3 -1, +3
-1, +2
-1, +1-2, +1
+1,-3
+1, -1 +2, -1 +3, -1
+2, -2 +3, -2
+3, -3+2, -3
We can use these coordinates to pattern the
statistical relationships between data points
Patterns reveal opportunities for investment, as well as risks of
oversaturation.
+1,1
+1,+2
+1,+3 +2, +3 +3, +3
+2, +2 +3, +2
+3, +1+2, +1
Analyst
+
Machine
Learning

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ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
PROGRESSIVE
STATIC
-3,-3
-3,-2
-3, -1 -2, -1 -1, -1
-1, -2
-1, -3-2, -3
-3,+1
-3,+2
-3, +3 -2, +3 -1, +3
-1, +2
-1, +1-2, +1
+1,-3
+1, -1 +2, -1 +3, -1
+2, -2 +3, -2
+3, -3+2, -3
+1,1
+1,+2
+1,+3 +2, +3 +3, +3
+2, +2 +3, +2
+3, +1+2, +1
Ask me a question
Answers weighted
towards sensation &
technique
Answers weighted
towards philosophy
& purpose
Answers weighted
towards social
currency & status
Answers weighted
towards social ease
& acceptance
A linguistic logic emerges and quantifies
how archetypes are likely to respond
These predictive frameworks can be tested and evolved over time.

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TECHNIQUE
SATURATIONVISION
Verbatims
from
fieldwork
transcripts
ASPIRATION
n-gram
Fieldwork can be augmented with
broader cross-correlation of corpora
We can also develop cognitive frameworks for recruitment.

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We can also better leverage the
deeper meaning of visual language

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ANALYTIC
EXPRESSIVE
PROGRESSIVE
STATIC
-3,-3
-3,-2
-3, -1 -2, -1 -1, -1
-1, -2
-1, -3-2, -3
-3,+1
-3,+2
-3, +3 -2, +3 -1, +3
-1, +2
-1, +1-2, +1
+1,-3
+1, -1 +2, -1 +3, -1
+2, -2 +3, -2
+3, -3+2, -3
+1,1
+1,+2
+1,+3 +2, +3 +3, +3
+2, +2 +3, +2
+3, +1+2, +1
Cross-correlation of datasets helps us find
patterns in these images and associations
This is a powerful advantage in understanding explicit and implied meaning.
Image search

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We can also augment
this with image and
gesture recognition APIs

32. We can also synchronize with other APIs
that measure changes in language
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33. We need data
to empower
stories
“Mathematical science shows
what is. It is the language of
unseen relations between
things. But to use and apply
that language, we must seize
the unseen, the unconscious.”
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- Ada Lovelace

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Adaptive behavior in the context of
society is the only KPI that matters
We need to evolve our KPIs from awareness to systems of belief

35. What should the supermarket
of the future look like?
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36. In 1960 we thought food
shopping should look like this
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37. Our future is cultivated in a
system of culture networks
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THE WAY
WE LIVE
THE WAY WE
CELEBRATE
THE WAY
WE GROW
THE WAY
WE COOK
FOOD AS A CULTURAL SYSTEM

38. Visualizing cultural systems helps us
better chart cultural dilution and bubbles
GUILT
LUXURY AS A CULTURAL SYSTEM
PURPOSE PERFECTION
KNOWLEDGEFREEDOM
IMAGINATION
RANKCONFORMITY
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Luxury has been on a quest for focus and
purpose since the recession
What is the cultural meaning in Balenciaga’s $2,000 version of a 99¢ IKEA bag?

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How can you predict the transformation of
an undervalued product category?

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Backcasting a future vision structured
by behavioral archetypes
FLUID &
MUNDANE
BACKCASTING FUTURES USING CULTURE MAPPING
1 2
3

42. In 2007 the bicycle category was lost
somewhere between virility and triviality
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RANK &
VIRILITY
RELAXED
& TRIVIAL

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Protest movements and emerging urban
planning told us where we were headed
PURPOSE &
SCHEMA
DESIGN &
INTEGRATION
THE FUTURE EXISTS AS EMERGENT SIGNALS IN SOCIETY
34

44. How can you recognize and understand
shifts within generations in South Korea
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OLDER
MILLENNIALS
OLDER
MILLENNIALS
YOUNGER
MILLENNIALS
YOUNGER
MILLENNIALS
CULTURE MAPPING EMERGENT CODES IN SOUTH KOREA

45. Britishness emerges as aspiration
for comfortable formality in Korea
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CONFIDENCE
HUMOR & SATIRE AS SIGNIFIER IN SOUTH KOREA
SATIRE
4
1

46. The semiotics of Trump and #MAGA
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understanding politics in a post-truth era.

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Beware the rise of
technology-induced
extreme rituals

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Beware the rise of
technology-induced
extreme rituals

49. Trump repackages extremist codes and
signifiers from fringe ideological networks
We can trace keywords that emerge in his speeches and tweets as
well as his own retweeting of popular memes within those groups. 49scenarioDNA
STATIC
PROGRESSIVE
EXPRESSIVE
ANALYTIC
THE POLICY MAKER
IDEOLOGICAL NETWORKS
THE PUBLICIST
THE PROTESTOR
A notable void in the
language of Trump are
signifiers that denote
actionable policy

50. “the nation that leads in AI ‘will be the ruler of the world”
- Vladimir Putin
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A sobering final thought

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Literacy is freedom.

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Thank you.