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ABC's avatar
Sep 6Edited

While I largely agree with your reasoning regarding the formation and spread of beliefs, I wonder if you might be arguing against a straw man. I'm not suggesting that the mind virus concept is always used in good faith, or that it's particularly useful, but I do think there's more truth to it than you acknowledge.

First, if we accept that memes exist, they don't contradict your more nuanced understanding of belief formation and propagation. Rather, they offer a complementary explanation based on evolutionary theory. Memetic theory proposes that memes, like genes, undergo a process of natural selection in which the most adaptive, appealing, or easily replicated ideas thrive and spread. Those that do not go extinct. Importantly, memetic theory doesn't tell us WHICH traits are most adaptive, only THAT they are selected like genes. This is where your social-motivational theory comes in. The memes that are most adaptive and appealing are those that align with the social motivations and functions you describe.

Second, while one could argue that "mind viruses" are just a rebranding of memes, Gad Saad highlights why certain memes are more resistant to rational critique than others. He suggests that some ideologies have stronger "epistemological immune systems" against rational scrutiny, promoting dogmatic thinking in which beliefs are accepted as absolute truths and become self-reinforcing. This doesn't contradict your theory; it complements it. Your theory explains what motivates people to engage with certain ideas, while Saad's framework addresses why some ideas are more resistant to reasoning.

Finally, the hijacking of these concepts by figures like Elon Musk for their own purposes, whether consciously or not, actually supports both your theory and memetic theory. The anti-woke narrative, for example, is a highly adaptive meme and arguably a mind virus in itself, much like other ideologies that dominate discourse. Similarly, your own ideas can be considered memes in an evolutionary sense—appealing and persuasive to certain individuals not only because of their intellectual merit, but also because they fulfill certain social functions and motivations. However, your theory does not qualify as a mind virus because it does not constitute an ideology that shuts down rational discourse.

I would be very grateful if you could tell me what you think, where and if I'm wrong, and how I can improve my argument as I try to improve my writing. Also, I would like to ask how best to refer to your theory? What do you think is the most accurate way to label it?

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Arturo Macias's avatar

But as long as “imitation of high status individuals” is a human epistemic mechanism, you have self reinforcing dynamics, and “contagion” is a reasonable word.

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