Introduction To MindViruses

Listen to the article by watching the YouTube Video instead!

The brain is made up of millions of interconnecting neurons, some of which fire together to form thoughts. Some of those neurons are found in the limbic system, an almond shaped area of the brain situated on the midline of the brain. It is in this area that emotions are generated and stored. It is also in this area that memories are stored, and where the limbic system’s functions are connected with the cortex.

A meme is a mental virus that is passed from one brain to another by way of neurons. These neurons are the brain’s communication system, and they are the means by which the mind’s information is transferred. That is to say, that memes carry the thoughts, feelings and memories that are stored not only in the brain but the entire global consciousness.

Memes can be good, or they can be bad. Memes can be creative, or they can be destructive. They can be beneficial, or they can be harmful.

Memes can be seen as ideas or as emotions.

An idea is a thought engraved in the brain's memory. It is the information that the mind holds onto and passes on to others.

And an emotion is a feeling that is stored in the brain. It is the mind’s way of expressing itself.

Memes are the means by which the mind communicates with itself.

Let’s take a step back and see what a meme is and how we use it to shape our culture.

The word meme is derived from the word memory. A meme, like memory, is a cultural concept. A meme is a unit of culture.

A culture consists of a set of shared ideas, attitudes and behaviours. We all possess these ideas, attitudes and behaviours and it is the way we act out our culture that shapes the culture we live in.

Every culture is made up of memes.

It is a complex and fascinating phenomenon that most people have never considered before.

In the words of George Orwell, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.”

For most people, they have not thought about the idea that they are actually part of a culture. The way we behave is shaped by the ideas we have, the attitudes we have and the behaviours we have adopted as part of our culture. We don’t even think about this.

It just happens.

We don’t think about the fact that we are part of a culture. We just behave the way we want to behave. We just adopt the attitudes and behaviours of the people around us. And it is a bit of a mystery why we behave the way we do.

If you are a child you might have a lot of questions about why your parents act in certain ways. You might wonder why they don’t act the way you want them to act. The answer is that they have a culture of their own and the way they act is part of that culture. We can all remember our parents telling us what was right and what was wrong. We could all remember when we first began to act in ways that were contrary to the way our parents wanted us to act.

When we grow up, we start to question why we act the way we do.

A meme is therefore a unit of information that is capable of being ‘imitated’ by other individuals.

The transmission of information through imitation is a well-known mechanism of learning, and is known as ‘social learning’.

The human mind is capable of acquiring knowledge through social learning, and the process of acquiring knowledge is generally referred to as ‘learning’.

"If you are unfamiliar with the topic, I would suggest reading "How the Mind Works" by Steven Pinker.

How the Mind Works, is a readable and engaging introduction to the mind, including the brain. It explains how the brain evolved to create consciousness and how it continues to evolve and adapt. It also explains how language and cognition developed, and why they did so.

Pinker begins with a brief history of the evolution of the brain. He describes how brain evolution is largely a story of random mutations, natural selection, and genetic drift. He then turns to language, describing the evolution of language and how language and cognition are intimately related.

Pinker then provides a broad overview of the brain, including the limbic system, the prefrontal cortex, and the default mode network. He then turns to human psychology, describing the mind in its many forms, including consciousness, emotions, and morality.

This is a well-written and accessible book, which will be useful for anyone interested in understanding the mind.

Low key, pick yourself a copy of this book! Link in the description...

Culture jamming, psyops, and meme magic...

For most of us, information comes to us through the media, either through our social circles or through our access to the mainstream. In today's post-truth era, information is not easily found. We have to sift through the fact-distorted media for the truth.

Psychological operations (or Psyops) are part of a broader set of operations conducted by governments and other groups to influence political, economic, social and military activities. They are mainly employed to achieve specific political goals. For example, they may be used to influence the public’s perception of foreign policy, or to improve the image of a certain person or group of people in the public eye.

Today, it is well believed that groups such as the C.I.A. play games on the public to influence culture within it's own country. The mass spreed of misinformation where one side leverages their memes against the other memes in the digital playground.

The Media is a powerful tool in the political arena. In the past it has been used to create propaganda to sway public opinion and get people to believe in a specific view point. However, the advent of the internet has changed the landscape of politics. The internet has provided an unprecedented source of information to the public. This new source of information is influencing culture in a way that was never before seen.

The way we can fight back against their propaganda and memetic mind viruses is by creating more art, creating and living our own truth, by reality hacking! Yes, we can hack reality by just understanding the power of memes. Memes are more than just a funny image, they are ideas. Create and share to the world.

And it starts with you!