mind virus

Noun

mind virus (plural mind viruses)

1. A concept, belief, or message that propagates through a population by, analogized to the spread of a biological virus; a self-replicating idea or notion that spreads between individuals, typically by exploiting psychological incentives such as fear, hope, or social pressure.
   • Dawkins deserves credit for looking at traditional materials from a novel perspective. But the discovery of memes and particularly of the St. Jude mind virus was new only to biologists.2003, Bill Ellis, Aliens, Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, page 80
   • I am tired of the mind viruses that are crippling people living in the western world — especially in my own nation. Sadly, Australia is becoming known as a nation of whingers.2011, Pat Mesiti, The $1 Million Reason to Change Your Mind

   Synonyms:

   brain virus

2. A type of virus, or virus-like entity, that targets the brain, disrupting it or causing it to think in a specific way.
   • ‘I had to kill Palmoon,’ I told him. ‘He killed Wandour and Lavault. Flayr told me, before he died, about the mind virus. I got a touch of it — it must have driven Palmoon mad.’ ‘There was no mind virus. The toy planted that idea itself, to keep you confused. ‘But Flayr told me.’ ‘He was probably...1974, Brian M. Stableford, In the Kingdom of the Beasts, London: Quartet Books, page 94