Today we will be examining one of the more interesting areas in Memetics, that of Memetic Viruses. Memetic Viruses can be defined as poor solutions to evolutionary problems which contaminate and warp the mind. Many of these poor solutions can be described as good solutions, in certain evolutionary contexts, but as we move towards a more civilised society they become both inappropriate and dangerous.

In previous articles in this series, I first introduced the concept of Memetic Anti-viruses which alter our collective social behaviours to increase survival odds. They reprogram us from wild beasts to modern humans able to, for the most part, live side-by-side in unity.

In this article, we will take a number of examples of Memetic viruses, decompose them a little, explain their mechanics and the chain reaction of events they can trigger.

Let’s begin this with something everyone should be familiar with, the concept of spin. We’ve all seen this, from marketing which pitches products as great, while hiding the responses of those that have complained, to political bullshit designed to deflect criticism and muddy the facts.

Spin is a solution of the mind designed to increase the odds of the adoption of another Memetic Virus. Its an evolutionary technique for injecting Memetic Viruses which exploits the existing poor solutions we hold in our minds. That is, it creates a type of false reality or hallucination.

For example, you can write an article with a left or right wing economic opinion by selectively presenting information which supports a particular position. What we note is that spin is about reducing objectivity. That is, it places the mind into a box of false perception by ensuring that not all the information is accounted for. We have previously described one of the function of Memetics as to share a mental model, as such we can argue this is a type of corruption of that shared model.

In practice, this means you cannot make proper decisions based upon information from spin. Your free will is constrained and expressed incorrectly. A form of mental slavery and, more importantly, a form of brain damage. That is, it creates or reinforces physical wiring patterns in the brain which are junk solutions.

There are many strains of spin, all with the same basic Memetic architecture and goal. Let’s get a very basic taxonomy going. This will be a high level taxonomy and it can be drilled down into to discover every specific variant of the Spin Memetic Virus.

Political Spin – MV-Spin-1

Miltary Spin – MV-Spin-2

Advertising Spin – MV-Spin-3

Religious Spin – MV-Spin-4

Social Spin – MV-Spin-5

Economic Spin – MV-Spin-6

Fog of War – MV-Spin-7

What we will first note is that Spin occurs in the context of a Memetic Virus. Secondly, we note that spin in the poltical arena, can spread to spin in other areas. An example would be political spin about Iran, which leads to military spin about the regime. These are chain reactions of spin carrying a payload for another Memetic Virus, that of conflict.

As you can observe, this is a pretty complex landscape and the decision making process needs visibility on the Memetic viruses which exist at every point in order to come to the correct decision.

As noted earlier, spin places the mind into a box of false perception. This does not necessarily mean that the conclusion is untruthful, just that you are not thinking for yourself in possession of all the facts and able to apply that reasoning elsewhere. Your mental model is corrupt, the engine is damaged. Further, it trains the brain to accept other similar forms of spin which may not be so truthful. It is thus habit forming and one of the pillars in mob mentality.

A corrupt mental model can thus be thought of as a type of clinical cognitive blindness.

Let’s now turn to another area, that of Memetic anti-viruses which hold nations together. This a huge genome which includes everything from Constitutions, the law to general acceptable behaviours. We pick most of this up not by reading books, but rather through mimicry of other humans. The prime source being family, education, work, etc. As such, our mental model which should hold the proof of this, typically does not and this leads the entire nation having different personal views of political positions. That is, each has a unique mental model with varying degrees of accuracy.

From a national security perspective, the big question will be can this genome be altered in such a way as to force the collapse of the state?

The answer is yes. I can inject particular ideas/concepts into the genome which, when executed, exploit cognitive blindness typically by placing emphasis on near-term goals at the expense of long-term stability. That is, I leverage all those little bad solutions in your mind, like greed, power, etc., to lead you into making the wrong decision.

A perfect example of this would be the US policy of dipping into the national debt to lower tax burdens. If managed incorrectly, it has the power to not only to bring the economy down, but the state also.

Other examples may include the pursuit of loop holes to avoid the spirit of laws and Constitutions. This alters the genome and, in turn, expression as it evolves.

I will end this article with a brief discussion on Jeffry Dahmer. This is the world of Memetics at its extreme. How do you feel about this guy? An evil monster that should be put to death?

The truth is much more sad. If you jump to 16:35 in the video, you will come to understand the roots of his particular neurological problem. Early in his life synaptic connections formed around the cutting of dead animals. Over the years, this particular solution spidered out in his mind, weaving a complex cluster of socially dangerous behaviours, impulses and compulsions. It’s pretty much the same story for all killers, bizarre or not. It’s not him, its brain damage.

If you break this out into basic prototypes of behaviours, or Memetic viruses, what you will note is that much of these patterns collectively exist within government and defense.

Certainly, there are rationales to these behaviours, but note that people like Dahmer have their own rationales and its no different.

With these new understanding in Memetics and a complete taxonomy, we will be in a position to trace these viruses and objectively point them out to governments worldwide. In doing so, we can identify the people responsible and get them the help they require. As we progress on this, conflict will become a thing of the past.