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I try to avoid mind viruses, or ideas that can hijack your decisions and thought process and take over. Think of a mind virus as a sort of dangerous meme that u

I try to avoid mind viruses, or ideas that can hijack your decisions and thought process and take over. Think of a mind virus as a sort of dangerous meme that underpins everything you do. This is why first principles and making decisions based on sound foundations is better, absent of some sort of virulent dogma.

jjbinx007 5y ago
Viruses. Virii isn't the plural of virus. There's a YouTube channel (1) called Street Epistemology which has a guy interview members of the public and ask them if they have a belief they hold to be true such as "the supernatural exists" or "climate change is real" or "x is better than y". He then asks them to estimate how certain they are that it's true. Then they talk. The interviewer asks a question and makes notes, then tries to summarise the reply. He questions how they know what they think they know and at the end he asks them to again say how confident they are that what they said is true. It's fascinating to see people actually talk about and discuss what are usually unsaid thoughts and it shows some glaring biases logical fallacies. (1) https://youtube.com/c/AnthonyMagnabosco210 https://youtube.com/c/AnthonyMagnabosco210
- legrande 5y ago
  > Virii isn't the plural of virus. Thanks for correcting me. I will refrain from ever using virii again! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus
  - digitalsushi 5y ago
    I knew what you meant. I feel like we almost have our own culture, sometimes. Weird.
- WhompingWindows 5y ago
  I may be wrong, but "Mind Virii" could be using the genitive or possessive form of Virus, like "Mind of a Virus" or "Virus's Mind".
jklinger410 5y ago
Glad to hear you aren't the only person thinking of the mind virus idea! Exactly what you said. Once you accept one toxic thought, it tends to branch out into other decisions. Unfortunately there are many, many memes out there ready to cause an infection. These things can be fatal.
OnACoffeeBreak 5y ago
Sci-fi novel "Lexicon" by Max Barry explores the idea of words used for persuasion to the extent of actually hacking the brain via spoken word to take control of the subject's thoughts and actions.
- jkmcf 5y ago
  This is what the Sophists were accused of by the Stoics and others. Source: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-032-trees-bending-to-the-torrent https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-032-trees...
- FinanceAnon 5y ago
  I thought about something similar in the context of "dangerous" AI. In a hypothetical scenario where super-smart AI got control of the internet and all the devices, would it be able to start controlling people?

jjbinx007 5y ago

Viruses. Virii isn't the plural of virus. There's a YouTube channel (1) called Street Epistemology which has a guy interview members of the public and ask them if they have a belief they hold to be true such as "the supernatural exists" or "climate change is real" or "x is better than y". He then asks them to estimate how certain they are that it's true. Then they talk. The interviewer asks a question and makes notes, then tries to summarise the reply. He questions how they know what they think they know and at the end he asks them to again say how confident they are that what they said is true. It's fascinating to see people actually talk about and discuss what are usually unsaid thoughts and it shows some glaring biases logical fallacies. (1) https://youtube.com/c/AnthonyMagnabosco210 https://youtube.com/c/AnthonyMagnabosco210

legrande 5y ago
> Virii isn't the plural of virus. Thanks for correcting me. I will refrain from ever using virii again! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_of_virus
- digitalsushi 5y ago
  I knew what you meant. I feel like we almost have our own culture, sometimes. Weird.
WhompingWindows 5y ago
I may be wrong, but "Mind Virii" could be using the genitive or possessive form of Virus, like "Mind of a Virus" or "Virus's Mind".

jklinger410 5y ago

Glad to hear you aren't the only person thinking of the mind virus idea! Exactly what you said. Once you accept one toxic thought, it tends to branch out into other decisions. Unfortunately there are many, many memes out there ready to cause an infection. These things can be fatal.

OnACoffeeBreak 5y ago

Sci-fi novel "Lexicon" by Max Barry explores the idea of words used for persuasion to the extent of actually hacking the brain via spoken word to take control of the subject's thoughts and actions.

jkmcf 5y ago
This is what the Sophists were accused of by the Stoics and others. Source: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-032-trees-bending-to-the-torrent https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-032-trees...
FinanceAnon 5y ago
I thought about something similar in the context of "dangerous" AI. In a hypothetical scenario where super-smart AI got control of the internet and all the devices, would it be able to start controlling people?