What is a memetic disease and how do they operate throughout our minds and cultures?

Question

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Without reference to other sources I will give my own understanding of this complex subject.

Disease in my understanding is that which disrupts and reorganizes the structure of an organism, often to its short term detriment and just as often to the long term benefit of its immune functions and organs of detoxification and elimination.

Memetic complexes are can be likened to microbes, bacteria and viruses which when out of balance can cause disease in an organism, but which otherwise co-exist in ways which are vital for the efficient functioning of it.  These influences are reletively independent of any individual organism and use their hosts to replicate and their hosts behaviors to transform themselves from one state to another.

So it seems that there is a symbiotic relationship between memeplexes and human minds/cultural constructs which can become unbalanced, causing disease-like symptoms, which may have short term detrimental and possible long-term beneficial effects.

Whilst it is inadvisable to allow extreme inbalance of microbes to organism ratios to take the organism beyond its capacity to continue to function, we can allow a certain amount of time and take particular remedial actions to alleviate acute distress whilst building the strength to resist future onsets of the same imbalance. In this way we co-evolve with out diseases.

Like wise the imbalance of sanity compromising memes needs to be addressed effectively in order that human culture can develop its cognitive immune system and develop the strength to resist future onsets of the same imbalance. In this way we co-evolve with memetic diseases.

K.P. Roadkill · Answer

The socio-political phenomenon of nationalism, like psychological narcissism, is entirely natural, ubiquitous, and can even be advantageous, but it is ultimately a form of political immaturity and a cause of delusiveness, violence, and an inability to adapt effectively to the world.

A nationalistic society, like a narcissistic individual, plays out a falsified and idealized version of itself, or rather of the “nation,” the people with whom it identifies. Whatever is meant by “the nation,” this is never something that is based in empirical reality, but instead is always an ideal drawn from myth and imagination and fed by shame, fear, resentment and other highly reactive emotions. Like the falsified ego to which the narcissist sacrifices reality, the nationalist lives in service of this fictive ideal at the expense of reality.

The cost can be tremendous, for this idealization entails repression of all that contradicts the ideal (—all cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities) as well as aggression in the face of anything that would challenge it. What’s more, since it is so crudely fictive, it creates an impoverishment of cultural and political life. There is now one national narrative, one history, one tradition, one people. It thus belies the true reality of the people and in doing so suppresses the pluralistic and dynamic cultural forces that make for its actual life.

But clearly the worst consequence of nationalism is its propensity for war and other forms of violence. As George Orwell points out in his famous essay “Notes on Nationalism,” the nationalist — much like the narcissist — tends to be someone who thinks largely in terms of comparative prestige. The nationalist, energized by “pride” and the insecurity that always lay behind it, is an inherently other-obsessed — and aggressive — personality. So, as natural and useful as it may at times be, nationalism, especially in its unchecked form, does seem to be a pathology of the collective mind, “an infantile disease… the measles of mankind,” as Einstein described it. It is no coincidence that both Orwell and Einstein lived in times that demonstrated the horrific potential of nationalistic thinking.

It is worth mentioning, if only as a coda, that nationalism is quite distinct from patriotism. The patriot — like the person who accepts, respects, and dutifully cares for himself — is someone who need not be out of touch with reality. Neither need he be especially aggressive towards others. But the nationalist, like the narcissist, has gone sadly down the path of delusion and pathology, and, in the end, fails to either accept, respect, or properly care for the supposed object of his love. What’s more, he is most decidedly not a good neighbor. He lives in the grips of a fantasy based in great desperation and, if necessary, he will gladly defend that fantasy with violence.

Ousman Abba · Answer

Kuru

A very rare desease that was common among the Fore people ( One of ethics group in Papua New Guinea). It has been named Kuru, which literally means trembling in Fore, because one of its symptoms is excessive trembling.

It is also known as the "laughing sickness" due to the pathologic bursts of laughter which is also a symptom of the disease.

The symptoms are:

* difficulty walking
 * poor coordination
 * difficulty swallowing
 * slurred speech
 * moodiness and behavioral changes
 * dementia
 * muscle twitching and tremors
 * inability to grasp objects
 * random, compulsive laughing or crying
Desease transmission from Wikipedia

%3E It is now widely accepted that kuru was transmitted among members of the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via funerary cannibalism. Deceased family members were traditionally cooked and eaten, which was thought to help free the spirit of the dead.Females and children usually consumed the brain, the organ in which infectious prions were most concentrated, thus allowing for transmission of kuru. The disease was therefore more prevalent among women and children.
Although Kuru is not an exclusive desease to Fore, the fact that it is transmitted only via cannibalism and the dead body is eaten by close relatives made it impossible be transmitted to other communities.

Claire Jordan · Answer

A genetic disorder called Tay-Sachs disease, almost exclusively found in Ashkenazi Jews. Sickle-cell anaemia, found in people whose ancestors came from areas of Africa badly affected by malaria. If you are black you are more likely to develop the auto-immune disease sarcoidosis. Skin cancer mainly occurs in pale people. The Doma people of Zimbabwe have a high incidence of ostrich foot disorder, aka ectrodactyly, which is rare elsewhere. A white American family called the Fugates carry a condition called methemoglobinemia, which if untreated turns their skins slightly blue.

Also, I don’t know if this is so in humans or not, and I’d appreciate it if somebody who does know could enlighten me, but I’ve observed that in non-human animals it seems to be generally true that the darker the skin, the less likely they are to develop nasty skin infections such as ringworm.

Marc Lambert · Answer

Where the the brain creates symptoms that have no organic basis, I can give an example of my own experience:

I had some light headiness and thought it may be a mini stroke.

I got more symptoms some memory loss.

I then did a deep EGMi meditation maximising use of my left logical/positive brain and all the symptoms went away, they were driven by my faulty right anxious/negative brain.

The right brain can cause physical symptoms and also real disease, I have put together EGMi neg-cebo theory:

https://www.evolutionalgoodhism.com/egmi-physical-health-and-neg-cebo-theory.html

Nathan Doromal · Answer

I think the cultural of demoralization can be blamed on the increasing loss of spirituality in modern life.

The secular planners had previously blamed religion for much of the ills of society. They said it enslaved mankind and prevented their enlightenment. So slowly over time religion has become deemphasized in the public dialogue in lieu of a secular world increasingly hedonistic and consumerist values.

But it seems that no amount of hedonism nor consumerism can replace our spiritual needs. Organized religion is a good introduction to spirituality. Without its presence, we have people attempting to “find spirituality” via incomplete secular means or chasing of various fads.

In the end though, these fail to satisfy. Without spirituality, we are left trying to cover-up our own mortality. We hide the sick, the dying from our normal purview. We keep ourselves entertained and chasing the proverbial carrot-on-the-stick, all the while hoping that our own existential longings are fulfilled.

Answering spiritual questions doesn’t come from the pursuit of worldly things.

Kyrani Eade · Answer

I don’t think that it is correct to say that we can combat disease “with the mind” as if it was some weapon. What I have found is that there is underhanded foul game play and related, inhumane people behind disease.

This foul game play involves two key aspects.

One is a concealed threat, which has to be set up. It is not a simple threat. And there is scientific evidence, which is not understood by the biomedical scientists. They see a fight or flight response, but they tick it off as some dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system.

The other is mentally presented ideas or in other words telepathy. This requires someone closely or at least moderately closely related. All the experiments on telepathy in science have been done double blinded, which means there is no related subjects. All are total strangers. Furthermore the subjects are not even relating in the moment. And another big disadvantage is that the issues used are trivial to the extreme. What is the picture on a playing card? Or what is the number that a random number generator has come up with? That is not even one in a million but one of an infinite set!

Ideas appear in the Mind.

And here again the rejection of telepathy, which is evidence that there is only One Mind, a common non-physical reality, through which we all participate and inter-relate. The scientists are postulating a many minds theory, that everyone has a mind and that it is an emergent property of the brain’s complexity. What evidence? There is none.

The biomedical scientists are saying that all ideas are created in your brain. That locks a person in a maze, from which there is no exit. Why? Because our own ideas carry our authority, which is why we would react. Knowing that ideas can be mentally presented means that we can reject those that just appear out of the blue and are not part of our own thinking, not deliberately called into Mind. Those that are merely mentally presented by someone else have no authority. We can simply and easily reject them.

In disease ideas are at the heart of the problem because almost all of disease is a nocebo effect, i.e., our reaction to ideas. We unwittingly bring into being adverse bodily reactivity, which over time becomes disease. This is the problem.

Knowing the ideas are mere suggestions made by someone related and inhumane and who has some agenda, as for instance wanting to gain power an influence over us, then we can reject the ideas. We don’t react or we cease reacting and thus either avoid disease or at the least be able to stop the problem and regain our health.

And this also applies to your children and pets. You can protect them too because they cannot affect them directly.

And remember the best revenge is when they find they see you healthy and happy and are unable to affect you anymore because you can see the ideas are bogus and reject them. It will kill them.

If you are interested to understand the underhanded foul game play then go to my profile page. There you will find my pinned answer, which has two videos in it. One is a general discussion of the foul game play and the second one is in relation to cancer.

You will also find a link to my YouTube video series on The Underlying Conditions of Disease. In the first five or six videos I discuss all the elements of the underhanded foul game play in detail. This is important to understand if you want health mastery.

Ms Rr · Answer

Diseases can have a significant impact on a person’s mental health. They can cause changes in mood, thinking, and behavior. They can also lead to anxiety and depression. In some cases, diseases can even cause psychotic symptoms.

Diseases that affect the brain or central nervous system are particularly likely to cause mental health problems. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, is associated with memory loss, confusion, and personality changes. Parkinson’s disease can cause depression, anxiety, and difficulty controlling emotions.

Certain physical illnesses can also affect the mind. Cancer, for instance, can cause fatigue, worry, and sadness. Chronic pain can lead to depression and anxiety. And even common colds and flu can make people feel irritable and depressed.

Pranav Patni · Answer

Pain is a mechanism of our body to tell us that there is something wrong happening inside it. Sometimes due to certain circumstances, the brain tricks the body to feel pain even when there is no actual physiological problem linked to it, but the pain is still real. Let me explain this to you by an interesting example.

Some people feel pain in the part of their limbs (say an arm) which got amputated some time ago, i.e., the arm doesn’t exist any longer but they feel terrible pain at the location where that part used to exist. Such arm is called a ‘Phantom arm’. An Indian-American neuroscientist, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, came to an amazing solution for this problem. Using a simple setup of mirrors, he created an illusion and asked the patients to move the other hand. The illusion tricked their brains to think that the amputated arm is back and he then asked the patient to move the healthy hand and bring it in a position in which the pain vanishes, and as it happened, he broke the illusion and the pain was gone forever! This process was named as ‘Mirror Box Therapy’.

Link:

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Mirror_Therapy
Cheers!!

Amber Leann Drake · Answer

Healing holistically means just that. The whole person. You are connected to your spirit and your brain as much as you are connected to your arm or leg. It is a part of you as a whole. You must align yourself, mind, spirit, body. Healing presents in the body, but starts in the mind. The choice to get better, the choice to put your health first, the choice to pursue a better life. Then it moves to the gut. You have to have to get your gut health in check before you are going to heal anything else. I mean it, look it up if you don't believe me. Gut health is the key to everything else.

If you want to know more, check out my blog. I write all about health and wellness.

Why Your Gut is the Key to Your Health [ https://littleponderingswithlittlepond.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/why-gut-health-is-important/ ]

What the Heck is a Probiotic? [ https://littleponderingswithlittlepond.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/what-the-heck-is-a-probiotic/ ]

Carl Grove · Answer

I don’t think it is a disease of the mind, rather it is an example of a once useful trait, acquired during the early stages of evolution, reaching the end of its usefulness and becoming, in contemporary jargon, counter-productive.

The tendency for animals to form groups of various sizes and characteristics, whether herds, or packs, or flocks, is a fundamental characteristic of inherited behaviour. Once humans began to develop their amazingly high intelligence, acquired language, and began to compete with other species, they continued the grouping behaviour but added to it the beliefs and knowledge common to their particular group, or tribe. Some of the knowledge was based on information about their environment acquired over 1000s of years, but some of it was based upon their equivalent of old wives’ tales, and the emergence of ritualistic “religious” thinking.

As human history progressed, tribalism began to operate on a much larger scale and conflicts that would once have played out in a few days became prolonged and destructive — warfare and nationalism grew hand-in-hand.

Today we have reached a point where it has become very clear that nationalism in its extreme forms is a threat to the survival of the whole species. The arsenal of weapons now available, if employed, would decimate humanity. Organisations such as the UN have made a serious effort to contain the problem, but because most of us have a strong feeling of national identity their effects have been limited. Something that was once natural and which promoted survival has now become a problem that needs to be confronted. Increasing numbers of citizens have now accepted the idea in principle. Clear and obvious threats such as global warming and the coronavirus show dramatically that we need to overcome our natural but divisive tendencies to identify with smaller social units, and learn to regard ourselves as part of humanity as a whole.

Ms.Mahendri Narayana Vasudeva · Answer

The mind and the body are not two separate entities—although they are often treated that way. Physical health and emotional health are intimately intertwined in what’s known as the mind-body connection.

The mind-body connection is the link between a person’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors and their physical health.

Our chemistry and biology impact our mood and emotions, as well as thoughts and beliefs. With all of these factors combined, they play a major role in influencing our stress and physical health. If you’ve ever felt your stomach tighten up when you were anxious, you’ve experienced the mind-body connection.

While we still don’t understand everything about the mind-body connection,scientists are discovering some of the ways in which communication occurs. Dr. Jennifer Weinberg, MD, MPH, MBE, a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician, describes the brain as “the hardware” that allows us to experience the thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and emotions that we collectively call the “mind.”

Communication happens via chemical and physical messengers, such as hormones and neurotransmitters. In fact,researchers have identified the actual neural networks  that connect the cerebral cortex to the adrenal medulla, which actives the body’s response in stressful situations. These findings illuminate how mental states, such as stress anddepression, can influence organ function.

“According to the mind–body or biopsychosocial paradigm, which supersedes the older biomedical model, there is no real division between mind and body because of networks of communication that exist between the brain and neurological, endocrine and immune systems.” —Oakley Ray, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.

Studies have also determined that stressful emotions decrease immunity by altering blood cell function. In one study, researchers found that stress diminishes white blood cell response to infected cells and cancer cells. In addition, when individuals are stressed, they heal more slowly and vaccinations are less effective. Moreover, research has found that talk therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, can strengthen cell function and therefore enhance the body’s ability to fight disease.

“We already know that psychosocial interventions like mindfulness meditation will help you feel better mentally, but now for the first time we have evidence that they can also influence key aspects of your biology.”Linda E. Carlson, PhD, principal investigator and director of research, Psychosocial Resources Department, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Alberta, Canada.

In other words, people’s thoughts and behaviors have the ability to change their neurobiology–our stress and physical health are intertwined. That’s the power and mystery of the mind-body connection at work.

The impact of yoga, deep breathing has profound effect on our health as calming the body’s stress response supports the immune system, visualization may even help fight disease, according to some research.

What we eat has the power to prevent or help reverse mental health challenges.

In addition, the mind-body connection manifests in the communication between the brain and the gut. About 95 percent of serotonin, one of the primary hormones involved in mood and emotion regulation, is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. Sometimes called “the second brain” or “belly brain,” this enteric (intestinal-related) nervous system consists of some 100 million neurons sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the gut. Moreover, information travels mostly from the gut to the brain, rather than vice versa.

As a result, researchers have found that people with healthy, diverse gut microbes are less likely to suffer from anxiety and depression. Furthermore, studies in both animals and people demonstrate that replacing bad bacteria in the gut with good bacteria can significantly alter mood and emotional regulation.

Scientific studies are constantly revealing that the hormones and neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) associated with emotion can also have physical effects. They can affect our blood pressure, heart rate, sleep patterns, and even our appetite.

The mind-body connection is an important component of holistic medicine, which is a healthcare philosophy that seeks to treat the whole person, not just their symptoms. Now more than ever, doctors understand the importance of a comprehensive approach to care that includes mind, body, and spirit.

Preventing chronic disease requires lifestyle changes, like eating healthier, exercising regularly, and adopting better sleeping habits. However, our ability to implement these changes is driven by our attitudes, actions, and behaviors, which in turn are controlled by our mind.

Tara · Answer

Diseases are caused due to various reasons like unhealthy lifestyle, unhealthy sleep patterns, unhygienic food or living conditions, also genetic diseases are transferred from parents to their children BUT mostly they are caused due to weak immune system. Taking tension or having stress in MIND can worsen the condition and reduce the healing process. All body organs are connected to each other and one affects the other BUT to say that ALL the diseases are related to mind is not totally correct because many a times even a person with healthy mind suffers from diseases. ALL diseases are not related to MIND but they can AFFECT the mind in severe cases.

J C Collins · Answer

Witchcraft is a common thing in sub-equatorial Africa. I seem to recall something like 2000 convicted witches being executed in Equatorial Guineia over a 5 year period.

There are diseases that are restricted to certain areas, mostly “shitholes” Cholera and polio leap into my mind. The one that bothers me is Tuberculosis. It used to be almost unknown in the USA. It fuck near killed me, and I now am minus a lung. The current variants are resistant to most antibiotics.

IAMDENZEL · Answer

A disease is the disorder in the structure or function of a living organisms, caused by pathogens(disease causing organisms), such as bacteria, viruses, and fungus.

How have they affected society? In my opinion, though it has destabilize society in many ways it has also been a motivating force, to understanding the structure and the function of the human body and the organisms that causes these diseases.

Pradeep Awasthi · Answer

The mental disorders are largely triggered by anxiety,depression,sleeplessness,familiar conflicts,setbacks in business or jobs & deep agony of our innates.Thus to Counteract mind disesses,one need to live with peacefull state of mind by meditating regularly, Consulting with psychiatrists in acute onset of stress & anxiety.Along this following medicine,keeping patience in relationships,removing dislikes in family & Profession as well as taking optimum sleep during night can help anyone to overcome with worsening state of mental disorders.

Tim Tyler · Answer

I recently published a 326-page book called "Memetics" (2011). Blute's "Darwinian Sociocultural Evolution" (2010) has plenty of memes in it - as does Runciman's "The Theory of Cultural and Social Selection" (2009).

For other current activity see: http://on-memetics.blogspot.com/2011/10/memetics-researchers.html

Anonymous · Answer

I'm sorry, but I cannot agree to that.  A disease is a problem when it causes problems.  When it is hard to breathe, or walk, or eat, or keep a job, then it is not just in our minds.

Now, all that said, our mental responses to our diseases do make a difference.  One of my favorite book titles is, "I am not my disease."

But when a disease kills you, or ruins your brain, or destroys your body without killing it, it is/was not just in your mind.

Leonardo Esteban Vergara Concha · Answer

It’s more akin to a Physical disease, a Memetic Disease causes harmful behaviors on Cells (Persons) and spreads.

Joe Jacobs · Answer

Your disease is another organism’s breakfast. A disease is either something belonging to us that is broken in terms of its function, or something that was a part of us that has stopped working as we would like it to (as in cancer), or the effect of an external organism going about its business in such a way that it is breaking us.

A disease therefore is not a person, or a microbe, but a liver failure, the effects of something internal or external. A liver failure cannot have a mind. The actions of a microbe cannot have a mind (although the microbe itself may).

You think of the disease as an ‘actor’ only because you see your human self as an ‘actor’ at the centre of your world being opposed by other ‘actors’. A disease - a ‘dis  ease’ - is a state of your body, not a mind that opposes yours.