Mind Infections, Part 2: How Do They Work?
Understanding the pull of ideas
A mind infection is an idea that uses you as a carrier to propagate itself. It is not beneficial to you but it will take credit for as many good things as possible. It will alter your perception and your interpretation. It will entangle itself with other ideas you have and take them as its own.
You probably have someone in mind, real or fictitious, who has this idea that acts like glasses through which they see the world. They might behave like everyone else, while hinting here and there how they interpret what they have seen or heard. They might yell out loud what they think. Talking to them might feel like throwing water up a waterfall. Maybe they follow a script and do not address your questions. Are they completely under its bidding or do they still retain most of their free will?
Lets call that person Cameron. A weird hypothesis was introduced to Cameron by a friend. They call it “The Idea”. Cameron searched about The Idea on the internet. Many people believe it and there are TONS of articles about it.
Think of the story of how it took over Cameron’s mind. How did it happen? Cameron could have been born submerged by it and forced into it. But that’s not what happened in this case. The Idea did not infect Cameron before adulthood. So what did happen?
It behaved like a computer virus. A seed got through the security then it started scanning. It slowly deactivated the immune response then it changed the perception. Cameron learned how to interpret things that previously seemed weird. They now make much more sense! The Idea then gave Cameron a reason to search for more. “If you understand The Idea, you’ll be rewarded” it promised. So Cameron started to look deeper into it and found a community that wanted to share The Idea.
When Cameron was receptive to The Idea, others slowly started to expose the deeper secrets — teachings that would have previously been laughable. Cameron was now ready. It has an enemy, “The Theory”. It is endorsed by the most evil and secretive people on earth. Followers of The Theory could be anyone so Cameron had to beware and expose people. Cameron’s old friends were now starting to worry but everything they did was interpreted as an attempt from The Theory. Knowing so many secrets, Cameron was now a liability. Would Cameron’s friend be a problem? Maybe it is time to reconsider who Cameron can see and talk to.
Behavior control was followed by information, though, and emotion control. Not all information was following The Idea’s teaching. Some thoughts might be dangerous to have. Some thoughts were so deeply held by Cameron that they could not be removed. Those deeply held values were now part of The Idea. Part of Cameron’s culture and moral system were interpreted as originating from The Idea. What about The Theory? They could not possibly have these values since it comes from The Idea. They definitely faked it.
After a while, Cameron started using irritants that would annoy everyone but the Ideists and Rory. Rory is very patient with Cameron’s ideas. They grew closer and started sleeping together. One day the Ideists learned of the relation and accused Cameron of hiding the relation, betraying them because of their growing lust. Cameron felt very guilty and stopped seeing Rory.
Now, Cameron is wed to Quinn. They had a child together raised in a Ideaist family, school and community. When someone questions The Idea, they are frowned upon. Their kid might never even know that not being an Ideaist is an option. The Idea would be part of the culture associated with morality, art and knowledge.
This is a mix of stories collected from religious, ex-cultists and ex-religious people. Few stories would be as extreme. Most will only include some of the indoctrination tactics. Did you notice any of your ideas using one of these tactics to stay anchored in your head? How would you treat those ideas? How would you quarantine ideas?
