Viruses of the Mind

This all goes into the idea of influential surroundings over all leading to brainwashing. As we know it, who we are is a great reflection of the environment we grew up in. Who our parents are, is who we come to be. It may sound stereo typical but it is very common in many cases. Like if a child comes from a broken home then he/she might live a life dwelling on problems. If a child grows up in a basically decent home then he/she would most likely grow up to be a decent person. It starts when a person is at a very young age because this is when you believe anything someone tells you. Dawkins mentions a little girl that is being trained to believe all these things that her father tells her in order to bring her up as the best possible person she could be. As a person gets older he/she makes friends and the friends influence them as well. As a matter of fact a majority of a person’s influences come from friends especially at young ages like, fads, trends, peer pressure etc. One must conform in order to be accepted by a certain group, so they do whatever it takes to be accepted.

I sort of see the analogy of the computer virus but I’m still not exactly clear on it. Perhaps because they are both things that are implanted into a system whether you are willing or not.