Tuesday

Concocting the ultimate viral idea

What might a powerful viral idea look like? In other words, what elements would an idea that's equipped for survival and impact have?

Lets make some guesses about this hypothetical idea:

  • Untestable but ultimate rewards for believing and following idea correctly.
  • Untestable but ultimate punishments for not believing in or not following idea correctly.
  • Punishment for believing in other contrary ideas.
  • All good things that happen are thanks to belief in idea.
  • All bad things that happen are from lack of faith in idea or are good things in disguise.
  • Idea supported in large body of interpretable literature containing some historical grounding.
  • Reward for taking idea without evidence.
  • Everything in the world is evidence for idea.
  • Reward for convincing others of idea and for having many children.
  • Open to all races, ages, and sexes.
  • Solutions to fear of death, lack of control, loneliness, powerlessness, and insignificance.
  • Reward for outward appearance of happiness.
  • Reward for funding idea.
  • Reward for dedicating everything to idea.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Any additions to make this bad boy even more infectious?

6 comments:

  1. Name it Christianotaenia pisiformes. You get it by speaking, handling, thinking about or handling feces of faith.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Segmented in slight (meaningless?) ways to create more of an us vs them feel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Better if it's not open to all races, ages, sexes, opinions, and sexual orientations. This makes it more exclusive, and therefore more appealing to the "in-group", playing off of the existing prejudices of potential members thereby attracting them, and like anonymous stated above, creates an antagonistic relationship between segments of the population which is easily used by the leadership of the group to rally support for said idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You asked for suggestions ... I had three:

    - Profitable careers offered to those with little to no marketable skill, provided they are willing to aggressively sell or defend the idea.

    - Reward for sacrificing one's life in defense of idea.

    - All apparent contradictions stemming from following of idea are misinterpretations, misrepresentations, or mistranslations of original idea, which is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, and:

    - Any Scientific theory that does not immediately conform to idea, can be better explained through newer pseudo-scientific theory which is formed around idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. add

    - Harsh punishment for those who stop believing idea (for another idea)

    ReplyDelete