What is it about?

This article sets out a paradigm whereby the metaphoric notion of a mind virus may be studied. Put simply, a mind virus would be a belief system that is felt to be essential to the individual's sense of self, and, in so doing, appropriates the resources of that individual. Possible mind virus contagion is examined in suicides, suicide cults, terrorism and religion.

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Why is it important?

People sometimes sacrifice themselves for reasons other than altruism. This article explores a mechanism whereby that process can be understood.

Perspectives

I have mapped the selves of individuals in units of culture called "memes," and such selves are vital to workings of "mind." While the mental universe is not perfectly analogous to the physical, it struck me that a belief system (understood as interlocking units of culture) that used the individual for its own replication irrespective of the cost to the individual would be acting somewhat like a virus. This article develops the metaphor in ways that had not been previously explored.

Lloyd Robertson

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This page is a summary of: The infected self: Revisiting the metaphor of the mind virus, Theory & Psychology, March 2017, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0959354317696601.
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