Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme

Virus of the Mind is nothing short of extraordinary! What you'll learn from Richard Brodie's book is how and why words, concepts, ideas and beliefs are transmitted, become dominant and get woven into the very fabric of our personal lives and our cultures. Indeed, Virus of the Mind is a wonderfully insightful book that should be read by everyone wishing to make better sense of the world around them--not only of global events, but also of their own life patterns. I am the president of a software development company, an attorney, a student of psychology and linguistics for 15 years and the information I learned in this book was truly ground breaking. In my opinion, this is one of the 10 most important books that is available to read today. Get it and read it!

Richard Brodie's, Virus of the Mind, presents what has proven to me the most practical use of the idea of memes. He presents plenty of good scientific background to set up the concept for those still unfamiliar with the meme meme. Although he does not actually inaugurate a true scientific field of memetics, he uses the concept of memes very skillfully to raise our consciousness and look at everyday things in our culture in a whole new light. In this respect I think he accomplishes far more than many of the unsatisfying attempts to make memetics a full fledged science. It is a bit early to expect such grand successful collective science, but it is not too early to raise our consciousness as individuals about some of these ideas, and Richard Brodie does a fantastic job in that undertaking. Unlike some in the self-development field, Richard Brodie does not insult the intelligence of more educated readers. He doesn't hide the ball, act mysterious in his presentation, cop out to supernaturalism, or try to claim false or highly questionable scientific support. I have found it easy to disagree with him on some points and still get a lot out of his work. He has certainly given a lot of serious thought to the nuances, pitfalls, and strongpoints of our modern culture and that shows through in this book. He is a guy trying to figure things out just like all of us, and he shares his thoughts in a non-offensive highly accessible way. I think you will find his book a joy to read, and find many useful insights as we individually try to navigate the quickly evolving cultural environment we find ourselves in today.

This is an incredible book! It's a fascinating subject which offers a new perspective into the way we think and the propagation of ideas. Regardless of reality, if we are convinced that an idea is true, our behavior reflects that belief. We are only able to change our behavior and control our own destiny by understanding why we believe and how others convince us. I've never read anything else that gave me such a clear vision of the power in ideas - not to mention advertising!Richard Brodie has a conversational style of writing that I particularly enjoy. I've always been frustrated by authors who find it necessary to weigh down their writing with a lot of dry and heavy prose. Richard does a great job of explaining some fairly complex and little known ideas in clear, simple language. Science doesn't have to be boring. Apparently, when an author loves his subject, it can even be a lot of fun. That's the case with this book.The author doesn't try to pretend that he invented the idea of the meme. We are taken along on his quest for enlightenment about this mysterious concept. Once we gain a general understanding of the meme, he supplies further information into its character. We learn how it can be used against us, and how we can use the meme to our own advantage as well.This book opened my eyes to the concept of a very influential method of communication. It's a fascinating topic written in a style that is fun, easy, and quick to read. It gets my top rating as a must read. Don't wait. This is a technique you won't want to be the last to know!

This book is a ground-breaker. Yeah, okay it's written at a fairly simple level, but that's one of the reasons it's so effective! In recent years, a series called [Whatever] For Dummies has become wildly popular (along with another, [Whatever] for the Complete Idiot). Of course, these books are for neither "dummies" nor "idiots", but rather for the common guy/gal, the "average Joe", the lay person who wants to get the gist of a topic, a working knowledge, without having to wade through a bunch of complicated extraneous matter to get to the heart of the subject, and get a grasp of it, a good working knowledge that will be USEFUL. And this is exactly what Richard Brodie has done. _Virus of the Mind_ could be retitled "Memetics for Dummies" and probably sell tons more books (cuz hey, the 'for Dummies' buzzword is a pretty successful meme, eh?). I've read several reviews here where 'intellectuals' were slamming the book, cuz maybe it's "not technically correct" about some aspects (in their opinions) of memetics, or it's "written at a high school level", or it uses "cute cartoons" to get some points across. Hey, that's what makes it accessible to so many more people than some of the "loftier tomes". This book is what will (has?) spread the Memetics mind virus throughout the "masses", like a cold spreading through a crowded room!! Hurrah for Richard Brodie.