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Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme
Virus of the Mind is the first popular book devoted to the science of memetics, a controversial new field that transcends psychology, biology, anthropology, and cognitive science. Memetics is the science of memes, the invisible but very real DNA of human society. In Virus of the Mind, Richard Brodie carefully builds on the work of scientists Richard Dawkins, Douglas Hofst...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
May 15th 2009
by Hay House, Inc.
(first published 1995)
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Going to have to re-read this one, I have some serious gripes with it that I can't quite articulate yet. On the whole it was a good read, some really useful information, but also a few parts that really set off my bullshit detector. Should have taken better notes.
Among the claims this book makes that I found dubious: The author claims that racism is linked to our selfish gene's desire for self replication, but then goes onto claim that the reason we love other mammals is that they sha...more
Among the claims this book makes that I found dubious: The author claims that racism is linked to our selfish gene's desire for self replication, but then goes onto claim that the reason we love other mammals is that they sha...more
The meme is money in the bank for grant oriented sociologists etc. but truth be said, it just quantifies and creates a system for what you already know. Then they want to sell it as something new and by the way, buy their books. Bullshit quantified. Who gets to say which memes are true and which are false?? Which meme is axiomatic? Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness? Now having said all that, I believe that the concept of memes is valid, but what is the value? How does it change anything? Peop...more
ok book about the "meme", coined by Richard Dawkins to describe unit of cultural evolution analogous to gene as unit of biological evolution. Key idea is that a successful meme is an idea that replicates itself from one mind to another. Advice is given on how to inoculate yourself against memes that others (evangelists, advertisers, etc.) may be deliberately spreading in much the same way that an evil hacker spreads computer viruses that take over your hard drive.
It gets in...more
It gets in...more
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A “meme” is a unit of culture which can be transmitted from one mind to another through communication. It was first coined by Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene” in the mid-1970s. Dawkins suggested that an idea (take religion for example) propagates through a culture in much the same way as a virus replicates its genes. In the case of religion, it infects a host, who then passes on the meme through evangelism (as opposed to sneezing on them). This way of looking at things is an intere...more
Virus of the Mind is a mix between Dawkins ideas of the meme, self help, poor philosophy (which can be blamed on Dawkins),and a championship of Zen meditation. So this book was a mixed bag.
I am not a fan of Dawkins ideas about religion. I don't think that man has a clue about what he is talking about. However, I do think his ideas of genetics being used to explain evolution is a clever idea, and applying evolution to the spread of ideas is also an interesting concept. Richard Bro...more
I am not a fan of Dawkins ideas about religion. I don't think that man has a clue about what he is talking about. However, I do think his ideas of genetics being used to explain evolution is a clever idea, and applying evolution to the spread of ideas is also an interesting concept. Richard Bro...more
My mind has been hijacked, and so here I am, vector for Richard Brodie's meme. First hypothesized by Richard Dawkins in the 1970s, "memes" are to the human mind what viruses are to the world of cellular biology--fragmentary gewgaws whose sole "purpose" is to hijack their host and use it to churn out copies of themselves. In brief, the idea behind "memetics" is that these memes and their propensity for replication are the fundamental driving force behind most human b...more
This guy was in Microsoft, got really rich, and quit. But he shouldn't write a book on memetics just because he's rich and bored.
“Психически вируси” владеят света според Ричард Броуди
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/10/blog...
Мемче тук, мемче там, меми навсякъде! Науката меметика, тласък за чието създаване е дал Докинс (да, онзи Докинс!), продължава своето развитие и “Психически вируси” от Ричард Броуди е важна стъпка от нея. Първо да кажем какво е мем, за да няма неясности:
Докинс: Мемът е основна единица на културно предаване, или имитация. Той е единица информация в съзнанието, чието съ...more
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/10/blog...
Мемче тук, мемче там, меми навсякъде! Науката меметика, тласък за чието създаване е дал Докинс (да, онзи Докинс!), продължава своето развитие и “Психически вируси” от Ричард Броуди е важна стъпка от нея. Първо да кажем какво е мем, за да няма неясности:
Докинс: Мемът е основна единица на културно предаване, или имитация. Той е единица информация в съзнанието, чието съ...more
George Thompson
added it
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Any one interested in discovery
Recommended to George by:
Wayne Dyer in a talk on Public TV
I read Virus of the Mind just after finishing The Biology of Belief. Contemplating life at the physical and spiritual level and then reading about the life of DNA and of viruses, and how mind viruses (memes) live and affect us... well, I've got to be more diligent about watch what I am thinking and what is affecting my thinking, and what do I think about all that.
It's a book that explains how our thoughts become thoughts in our minds and how they spread to others.
Per...more
It's a book that explains how our thoughts become thoughts in our minds and how they spread to others.
Per...more
Oh this is a bad book.
He does say in the introduction '...even reading these words might make you angry...'. This was true for the following 200 pages. I don't normally finish things I don't like. But as it was short I guess I wanted to get to the end to see if my anger was justified.
I could go on about what's wrong with it, but I'll just describe the formula for each chapter.
1. Make a general statement about a big idea.
2. Expound on it in 'ordinary'...more
He does say in the introduction '...even reading these words might make you angry...'. This was true for the following 200 pages. I don't normally finish things I don't like. But as it was short I guess I wanted to get to the end to see if my anger was justified.
I could go on about what's wrong with it, but I'll just describe the formula for each chapter.
1. Make a general statement about a big idea.
2. Expound on it in 'ordinary'...more
English starts here
Don't you wonder why people would love, with all their hearts, to tie bombs to their bodies and explode themselves away (presumably to Heaven, I'd rather think to Hell), taking other people away with them? That's the problem with memes: these things so 'abstract' fill your mind and mine, telling us what to do, in some aspects probably defining ourselves (if we are what we think and we do).
Some points are still probably debatable (and yes! Debate about it! ...more
Don't you wonder why people would love, with all their hearts, to tie bombs to their bodies and explode themselves away (presumably to Heaven, I'd rather think to Hell), taking other people away with them? That's the problem with memes: these things so 'abstract' fill your mind and mine, telling us what to do, in some aspects probably defining ourselves (if we are what we think and we do).
Some points are still probably debatable (and yes! Debate about it! ...more
Pretty awful writing here. Also, a very big book for a very small idea. Every social thought = a 'good' (not qualitative) meme. If something is pervasive through society (i.e. American Idol contestants, or a politician folly) it is a 'good' meme (again, 'good' is not qualitative).
Essentially, this is the idea of the book. Common sense will tell you that we are programmed with social, cultural, religious, traditional memes. The important thing is to be aware of them.
Meh.
Essentially, this is the idea of the book. Common sense will tell you that we are programmed with social, cultural, religious, traditional memes. The important thing is to be aware of them.
Meh.
A great read, and certainly makes you think about where your own 'ideas' and beliefs actually come from - who planted those, and do they really serve you? It's made me have a really good close look at the basics like, why do I eat this, why do I live life according to this particular routine? Has given me great license to "de-bug"!! And I'm with them on the TV - greatest virus spreader of all time. Certainly worth reading if you have kids, so you can be more aware of how and where ...more
the message is clear here, make you more aware to your mind, from the fact that not every idea/meme out there is good for your own life. and because not everyone realize this fact that their mind is becoming the war field in this information age, i think that's what make this book become worth to read. just beware in my opinion, not all of the book's material (oh, meme) is must be taken, that's the first lesson you got from this book itself isn't it?
This is a good book for people who want to understand memes and memetics better, but want it to be easily understandable. It was a little repetitive and slow for my taste, but managed to hold my interest all the way through. Good for the average, intellectually curious type. The author is fond of using italics and boxes for emphasis, and has packaged his meta-memetics as the more sensational sounding "virus of the mind" in order to spread his memes more effectively -- I actually dislik...more
An ex-colleague of mine mentioned this book in a reference to how attending a course together might lead to some form of (ahem) brainwashing. And since I hadn't heard of this book before (never mind that it'd spent 52 weeks on the Amazon.com hot list), I thought I would give it a shot. Turned out to be quite an insightful read about how memes (ideas/concepts) affect our lives more deeply/often than we would imagine!
I regard most of these books
as extended essays
and as such deserve a lower rating
since much or all of the material is filler
but if you are not aware
of the definition and the concept
of the meme
this is a good place to start
The overall premise
is you can't avoid their influence
but you can learn to spot them
when they're thrown at you
and you can learn to pick and choose
as extended essays
and as such deserve a lower rating
since much or all of the material is filler
but if you are not aware
of the definition and the concept
of the meme
this is a good place to start
The overall premise
is you can't avoid their influence
but you can learn to spot them
when they're thrown at you
and you can learn to pick and choose
view 1 comment
This is a very interesting book about how we are influenced & how we influence others! I found myself agreeing w/the author a lot, as the things he mentioned about a lot of different topics, made me think! I found this book to be very understandable. I wasn't sure, @ 1st, if it would be a little "too" scientific & "over my head", but I definitely got what Brodie was saying.
Great introduction to the meme, the thoughts that we believe, sometimes without basis. The information in this book helped me, although this is not necessarily a self-help book, by giving me more information about my thoughts. It helped give me the push I needed to examine things I have believed all my life, and helped give me basis to look more objectively at these thoughts.
JANGAN DIBACA!!! BERBAHAYA!!! hahaha...
Buku ini adalah virus of the mind itu sendiri... buku ini adalah MEME... buku ini adalah METAMEME... dan apa itu MEME?
Saya anjurkan untuk cari sendiri dalam buku ini :)
Dijamin tidak akan rugi...
Buku ini akan memberi kita sudut pandang yang baru terhadap dunia... :)
Buku ini adalah virus of the mind itu sendiri... buku ini adalah MEME... buku ini adalah METAMEME... dan apa itu MEME?
Saya anjurkan untuk cari sendiri dalam buku ini :)
Dijamin tidak akan rugi...
Buku ini akan memberi kita sudut pandang yang baru terhadap dunia... :)
Everything manulative trick he warns readers to look out for and resist is exactly the tricks he uses to convince the reader to accept and promote his odd-ball theory. And, simply because I resist the truth of his claims, that in of itself proves that his theory must be true according to him.
The writing style was excellent and the level was perfect for someone interested in Memetics. The author came from the world outside of science (although he was in information science, but IT is anything but a science) and so uses real world examples with a great sense of sarcasms to make this a book that you want to continue reading instead of wanting to plow through it to learn.
I realized we think we are unique and our thoughts and actions are our own and never been thought or exp...more
I realized we think we are unique and our thoughts and actions are our own and never been thought or exp...more
This was an intelligent book. Unfortunately, I did not feel that it brought any new "memes" to the table. I got bored reading information that was not at all new, even though the author presented it in an entertaining manner. I would have better spent my time washing my hair.
An excellent, easy to read introduction to the science of memes. How words, ideas and beliefs are transmitted, why they ascend to dominance or decline into obscurity, and how they ultimately are woven into the very fabric of society and of ourselves.
memetika= konsep tentang konsep, semua yang kita tau hanyalah konsep, semua yang dipahami bersama juga konsep, semua hukum yang harus ditaati juga konsep..
meme bisa juga berarti akal budi, dan bertempat dia akal budi.
meme itu konsep, kita mengajukan sesuatu konsep kemudian meme menyebar, dan diadopsi akal budi manusia.
dan meme akan mudah diterima jika disampaikan secara tepat, dan secara zoologi kita mudah menerima sesuatu dengan kecenderungan warisan purba: berante...more
meme bisa juga berarti akal budi, dan bertempat dia akal budi.
meme itu konsep, kita mengajukan sesuatu konsep kemudian meme menyebar, dan diadopsi akal budi manusia.
dan meme akan mudah diterima jika disampaikan secara tepat, dan secara zoologi kita mudah menerima sesuatu dengan kecenderungan warisan purba: berante...more
Memes - we all have them, infecting others with the ones we have. Makes me realize all the memes that control my behavior. So the choice becomes what memes control you and what memes are you spreading? Fascinating!
Just when you think you know what you are doing, it seems the mind is running the show and you have front seats to what ever itwants to do. Very interesting read for sure. Also, anwsers alot of questions too.
kenyataannya segala sesuatu berawal atas meme2...dan ga abis pikir si penulis begitu detil menganalisa akan sebab akibat atas prilaku manusia di kehidupan...sex,fear, food, and survive...mmmmm....
Very interesting stuff. I beleive that we do have programmed beleifs that really affect the way we think and react. This was also an easy read which makes it very easy to understand.
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Richard Brodie is best known as the original author of Microsoft Word. His self-help book, Getting Past OK, is an international bestseller. His groundbreaking book on memes, Virus of the Mind, spent 52 weeks on the Amazon.com Hot 100 and is used as a text in many college courses. An accomplished speaker, Richard has appeared on dozens of television and radio shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show...more
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![Vivetics: Motion for Life [With DVD]](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176443919m/626780.jpg "Vivetics: Motion for Life [With DVD]")
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