HackerNews Readings: The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

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Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny

Sadhguru

4.9 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition

Richard Ferber

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

4.8 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Secret Lives of Color

Kassia St Clair

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

Gad Saad

4.8 on Amazon

2 HN comments

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction--from Childhood through Adulthood

Edward M. Hallowell M.D. and John J. Ratey M.D.

4.8 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything

Stephen M .R. Covey , Stephen R. Covey, et al.

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues

David Bradford Ph.D. and Carole Robin Ph.D.

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life

John G. Miller

4.6 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Light on Yoga: The Bible of Modern Yoga

B. K. S. Iyengar and Yehudi Menuhin

4.7 on Amazon

2 HN comments

On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep

Robert Bucknam M.D. and Gary Ezzo

4.5 on Amazon

2 HN comments

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Elizabeth Gilbert

4.6 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential

Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

4.7 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

Beverly Daniel Tatum

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

Guts

Raina Telgemeier

4.8 on Amazon

1 HN comments

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mbostlemanonMar 23, 2021

I'm reading Gad Saad's The Parasitic Mind at the moment. His metaphor of how parasitic ideas can take hold within a group and then take control of the host seems to be on display here.

throwawayseaonMar 28, 2021

Worse, I think social media censorship exacerbates the issue in certain cases. For example pointing out that the number of unarmed Blacks killed by police is actually very low (https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/poll-44-of-liberals-say-...) gets you mass reporting from dedicated activists and results in your post being blocked or account bans. Because the medium (Twitter) is itself editorializing the content through censorship, the mass amplification of bad ideas can happen unabated since others don’t get to push back.

It’s funny that “virality” was once seen as a positive feature of social media. Gad Saad, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, explores the concept of “idea pathogens” (that infect minds and spread like viruses) in his book The Parasitic Mind (https://bookshop.org/books/the-parasitic-mind-how-infectious...). You can hear him speak about this concept in his interview on the Jordan Peterson podcast (https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/podcast/gadsaad/). Social media is the breeding ground for idea pathogens.