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 Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:22 pm
Here is one of my favorite philosophies that will tweak your perspective if you've never heard of it. The Mind Virus. What is it? A mind virus is an idea. That idea can be a a story, a song, a poem, a phrase, a word or ANY product of thought. What's so special abou this? Imagine that an idea really IS a virus. Some are more contagious than others. Some may have good or bad intentions and some have a more potent effect on a person.
A good example? "Mary Had a Little Lamb" Do you know that poem & the song that goes with it? So do I and so does every person I know. That mind virus has such a strong hold on mankind that it will probably never be cured. And if you met someone who didn't know it (say from another country), how long would it take you to teach them? And they would then take that song back to their friends & family and pass the mind virus on.
Some of he worst type of mind virus is advertising & marketing. This is when a company floods the media with advertisements and events to share "their idea" which is often that you should buy their product because it's the best. Sometimes, the advertiser doesn't even need to pay to flood the media with their ad... if the advertising is good enough, people will have to share it with friends and family because it is so cute/funny/sexy/amazing/shocking/etc... I'm sure you've seen these commercials or been to their websites. Thank you for being such a predictable easily led herd. Sadly, I am also one of these docile animals, as much as I struggle to fight against it.
But the worst of all is the terminal mind virus, which is an idea that is so horrifying that someone feels the need to terminate themselves or others and promotes this idea to others around him - primarily through suicide cults.
Lastly...
This very idea of a Mind Virus IS a mind virus. And now that you know it, you have been infected. And maybe you'll feel the need to infect others with this idea, as I was infected many years ago.
Discuss the mind virus or share with us a virus that you're infected with. It won't make it go away, but it will make you feel a little bit better.
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:33 pm
You know, the priest at my church was talking about this once, a long time ago when I still attended mass....
He was naming off a whole list of slogans used by adverts in order to gather in familiarity with audiences. Some include, "Every kiss begins with Kay," "Come see the softer side of Sears," etc. But these jingles and adverts grab your mind for some reason, whether shocking or cute, and then you have the need, through social interaction, to share it with others......
But, interesting perspective I must say...
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:39 pm
ive had this mind virus before, and i know i still have it now. Ill catch myself talking to my friends when i start to talk about somting like, ohhh, a beer commercial. Then it hits me. I was just talking about an advert. The most pointless (in my own opnion) and manipulative thing on this planet. I guess by pasing on the word of this commercial im giving the mind virus to my friends...wow, and endless cycle of viral infections due to what once was a single thought. impressive when you think about it really...
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:06 pm
So... do the viruses ever die? Or fail to spread?
Because there are some things that, sometimes, you just know someone else isn't going to want to hear, or have interest. So... it stops for them... and they aren't effected.
Immagine... everything you say, and everything you read including this and all ideas that stem from it... causes a small chain reaction, and it could potentially spread...
Ack! Help! gonk
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:39 am
Similarly, good ideas benefit from the mind virus as well. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, to be infected.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 2:21 pm
True... it's not always a bad thing. Education is a good mind virus... although you might not always be learning the correct answers... and then you will spread a mutation of the original virus. sweatdrop
I don't think a mind virus ever dies, as it is always within the memories of the people who were first infected. But I think the transmission of the virus from one person to another can die... so that nobody is inclined to talk about it or share it with people anymore. I think this happens a lot with conspiracy theories whether they are fact or fiction... and with great tragedies. For instance, during the first Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait... there was another significant crime against humanity occurring in East Timor. Thousands of people were being slaughtered in a blatant act of genocide. But... there is no money in East Timor, so there was little media coverage on it and since it was such a gruesome thing, not many people wanted to talk about it... as it only makes you mad that nothing was being done by the UN or any nation b/c the country was "not important enough" apparently.
Same thing might be said for any old historical event that may only be captured in history books for people to be infected by. But if the event was never written down and it was not passed down through generations, then the virus is dead.
And religion is one of the biggest mind virii of them all!! Parents FORCE their kids to be fully infected by it, and within many religions the leaders encourage people to get out and spread the virus to others. Jahova Witnesses go door-to-door to spread it, even! And if a person had never though about the possibility of there being a higher power, because they had been free of this virus for so long, they are suddenly overtaken by the virus and may show severe symptoms of being infected. I'm sure you've known people who suddenly became religious seemingly overnight.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 4:37 pm
I read an aricle once about 'The mental virus of anti-semitism'. The author talked about anti-semitism throughout history and philosophized about why it has infected so many people, and how it started.
I find the concept interesting and slightly amusing, but one of the most accurate descriptions of thought I have ever read. Thoughts are indeed viruses, and often they can be the most deadly and destructive viruses people can share. The thing is, mind viruses are passed on willingly, while medical viruses are passed on involuntarily.
That fact makes them even more interesting. Sometimes, a mind virus has to be passed on, and cannot be withheld by the infected. The question is, is the 'communicability' of the mind virus the fault of the virus's structure, or the infected? Both?
Politics is a quick and effective way to sperad mind viruses, more so even than advertising, simply because politicians can make laws and propose laws which in turn set off chains of mind viruses spread and created by the society.
The beauty of the domino effect.
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Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:20 pm
mind virus or fad... a mind virus is just an idea like anything else and the people trying to fit in trying to find social niches promote some of the silliest things... religion and everything it's just a passing trend... everyone used to be butist being a hippie was the way to be, jioning the army was what you did... chivalry everything these are idea's the good ones last a while sometimes it's the bad one's it's the one's people support the most. it's the spread of idea's, the whole everyone that is connected that is makeing it harder for such fads to go away because by the time they leave someone is bringing them back again...
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 4:46 am
I think peer pressure and conformity does play a huge part of it. Seeing how people start acting like each other after hanging around for so long can be a cause of self security. Problems like these is what divides our society into groups which we call stereotypes.
I am a christian, more from the Protestant domination and I do share the word of God around, usually in person, but never so much that people feel utterly uncomfortable around me. Though I have seen people go under changes through converting to christianity, usually quite good. Trying to do it over the internet is usually just a waste of time, but i do discuss biblical issues and such.
Here is one of the biggest "mind viruses" I have come across.
Jesus Christ is the only being ever alive to actually convince people that he is God, and even when he was "dead," (or as I prefer, gone back to heaven) and no longer on Earth. This is also done by sharing the information with other people about the aspects of Christianity.
You can see that around a lot of the world that this is quite true especially in Western country's, who ironically also probably have the biggest population of Aethiests, as well as Christianity dominating as the most followed religion.
I'm sure most people here will understand what I am ranting on about, so I won't go into any particular detail unless requested, but please don't turn the thread into something revolving around any particular religion.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2005 6:21 am
A 'mind virus' is another name for a meme.Wikipedia ... Dawkins introduced the term after writing that evolution depended not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmission—in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplifies another self-replicating unit, and most importantly, one which he thought would prove useful in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution. The smiley exemplifies what some might consider a visual meme. Anyone who has seen a smiley can copy, reproduce, or modify it and then show it to others. Enlarge The smiley exemplifies what some might consider a visual meme. Anyone who has seen a smiley can copy, reproduce, or modify it and then show it to others. ... Though memeticists do not generally agree on a specific definition, one can roughly define 'meme' as any piece of information transferable from one mind to another. Examples might include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods. Memes supposedly have, as their fundamental property, evolution via natural selection in a way very similar to Charles Darwin's ideas concerning biological evolution, on the premise that replication, mutation, survival and competition influence them. For example, while one idea may become extinct, others will survive, spread and mutate—for better or worse—through modification. Note an important fact, however: not only the memes most beneficial to their hosts will necessarily survive; rather, memes supposedly spread best by functioning as the most effective replicators, which allows for the possibility that successful memes might prove detrimental to their hosts. ... Evolutionary pressures may include the following: 1. Experience: If a meme does not correlate with an individual's experience, then that individual has a reduced likelihood of remembering that meme 2. Happiness: If a meme makes people feel happier then they have a greater likelihood of remembering it 3. Fear: If a meme constitutes a threat then people may become frightened into believing it. The memes "if you do not do this you will burn in hell..." and "...do this and you will go to heaven" provide common examples 4. Censorship: If an organisation destroys any retention systems containing a particular meme or otherwise controls the usage of said meme, then that meme is put at a selective disadvantage. (Note that "Censorship is wrong" is a meme. It is interesting to speculate that this meme may have prospered by increasing the wealth of those nations that enforced it, thus increasing the influence of that meme itself.) 5. Economics: If people or organisations with economic influence exhibit a particular meme, then the meme has a greater likelihood of benefitting from a greater audience. If a meme tends to increase the riches of an individual holding it, then that meme is likely to spread because of imitation. Such memes might include "Hard work is good" and "Put number one first." 6. Distinction: If the meme enables hearers to recognize tellers (as leaders, intelligent people, insightful, etc.), then the meme has a greater chance of spreading. The erstwhile receivers will want to become themselves tellers of the same meme (or an evolved/mutated version). Thus élite knowledge can provide a promotion to élite status. ... [Links] Viral-meme: Language as a Virus"Memes; the New Replicators" by Richard DawkinsJournal of MemeticsThe Wikipedia Article
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:28 pm
ochimaru Lastly... This very idea of a Mind Virus IS a mind virus. And now that you know it, you have been infected. And maybe you'll feel the need to infect others with this idea, as I was infected many years ago. Discuss the mind virus or share with us a virus that you're infected with. It won't make it go away, but it will make you feel a little bit better. No offense, man...but you suck for doing this to me. sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:10 pm
Apparently, I am mostly immune to mind viruses... due to the fact that slogans are not sticky to me. I attribute this to my insistance that I am a primal being... A caveman, if you will.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 8:19 pm
Cougar Draven ochimaru Lastly... This very idea of a Mind Virus IS a mind virus. And now that you know it, you have been infected. And maybe you'll feel the need to infect others with this idea, as I was infected many years ago. Discuss the mind virus or share with us a virus that you're infected with. It won't make it go away, but it will make you feel a little bit better. No offense, man...but you suck for doing this to me. sweatdrop Hey... at least this isn't a destructive virus. Or a worm virus. There are a lot of horrible, sick, twisted and addicting ideas that people have come up with & I wish I had never learned. And sometimes those horrible ideas mutate within someone's brain and they have to reinfect the populace. That is one reason that crime/detective type shows piss me off. The writers sit around and think up the most devious, twisted a** s**t they can think of which not only gives people the idea, but may give some psycho enough notion that they'll go do it. Or they'll watch the show, see where the criminal went wrong, and mutate the idea to something even more devious. It's also a reason the media needs to learn to shut the hell up. I love how during the anthrax scare they came up with 100 different ways that terrorists could distribute anthrax - how defenseless we are against it - and what exact places and times it would have the most devastating effect. And they do this for EVERYTHING. Like the media totally promotes crime. That's it... I'm gonna have to start a new topic on that one alone... Sorry to infect you with more of my virii. It can't be helped. I have a burning need to infect others with my thoughts.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:21 am
Can it be said that anything you've seen, read, looked at and thought worth remembering in order to pass it on qualifies as a mind virus if it does, then, catch on?
Can it be said, even, that anything you've passed on qualifies as a mind virus, regardless of the lack or presence of longevity of the strain?
Is language a mind-virus?
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:33 pm
Don't know if it exactly counts...
To me, I thought of this topic at the mention, kudos stepdad, that the Chernobyl Sarcophagus could collapse at any moment... and thus, it is stuck in my mind, surfacing to fathom the idea that an appocalypse could occur as a result, wiping out humanity for sure. sweatdrop
I began to think of this topic, because it most definently "infected" me, and now, it spreads to infect those that read this.
How it effects the individual, though, is not transfered. Consider:
I heard it, and just wanted to know the actual chances with additional information that the Sarcophagus has been in this condition for years. 40 tons of radioactive dust... spreading over the world?
Conflicts with another thing that I read (easily found, since Chernobyl and Sarcophagus doesn't actually pop up with much), stating that it takes more than one would think of plutonium to actually be fatal, and also the fact that the dust would dissapate into the air, and be washed by the water. (Note also that inhailing a particle would most likely result, according to what I think I read... with the particle being easily exhailed.)
Note... drinking plutonium is less fatal than breathing it. The digestive track is more reseliant to the radioactivity than the lungs. sweatdrop
Of course... that's just what I remember, and my interpretation. I could be seriously off.
It's no concern to me though. Part of my belief is if death comes... it comes. If I couldn't possibly stop it, then it's just something that was supposed to happen, such and such blah blah. sweatdrop
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