Contagious Concepts
Here is an interesting analogy to consider. Viruses are a lot like thoughts.
A virus is a tiny bit of material. It is not alive. It can not reproduce. But when a virus enters a suitable living host cell – the normal functioning of the cell will produce copies of the virus.
Thoughts are tiny patterns of information (probably non-physical). They are not alive and they can not reproduce. But when they infect a living mind – that mind will make copies of the thought.
Thoughts, like viruses, can alter the normal functioning of the host, sometimes with detrimental, even fatal consequences. Repetitive thoughts of resentment or fears can be like that. Racism is a particularly bad virus.
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Thoughts, like viruses, can be spread from one infected host to an unlimited number of non-infected potential hosts. The mechanism is the same. The infected host makes copies of the initial virus then disseminates the new copies. In the case of thoughts, this is done by speech or via the written word. My thoughts are infecting your mind right now.
The fact that host are living has an interesting consequence – the structure of the virus will mutate. Both viruses and thoughts evolve as they move from host to host.
I don’t know what all this means. But I think the analogy is so elegant that something profound is implied by it. I just don’t know what it is.