Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A new extinction?, 1 Aug 2004
Scientists now accept that the dinosaurs were exterminated by the impact of a large asteroid with the Earth. With some luck, Richard Brodie's VIRUS OF THE MIND may perform the same service for the legions of psychologists and psychiatrists now infecting our cities like so many bloated cockroaches. Brodie has [rather shamelessly] adopted Richard Dawkins' concept of the 'meme' to explain why so many people, confused and distressed by today's complex life, turn to these parasites for enlightenment. The reason so many of these people end up spending fortunes over many years 'working it out' with their therapists is that the 'advisers' have no idea what's going on either.Brodie's book isn't the definitive 'science of memetics', as some on this page have faulted him for, nor is it intended to be. Brodie is offering people, in plain, unadorned language, an opportunity for those in distress to take charge of their own destinies. The best aspect of this book is that it offers a concrete, easily understood foundation for why they feel the stress in the first place. No-one can shed stress, which is often viewed as 'the devil we know', without adding to the condition until a new path is adopted. Brodie makes abundantly clear how little we need to cling to the known devil and how pleasant a task it is to cast it off. He's to be congratulated, not condemned, for not writing a scientific treatise on how memes work. Calling this book a 'self-help' volume should be a viewed as a compliment, not pejorative. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book now!, 4 Sep 1999
By A Customer
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!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Memetics intro for the average Joe, 19 May 1999
By A Customer
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.
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