May 14, 2012

The Murder Virus

Been - for reasons not even I am familiar with - watching a few documentaries about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, and something occurred to me. Random thought, detached hypothesis.

Can neuroses - mental or psychological or emotional affectations - be contagious?

For example, if you hang out with a friend for a long period of time, is it not possible - plausible, even - that you begin to take on aspects of their personality? Sort of like, if you hang out at a particular place - a coffee shop, bookstore, bar, whatever - you take on a variety of elements of that location, at the very least the aroma of the place. The books we read, the music we listen to, the media we consume leaves its mark on us, to some at least mild degree.

So what about the internet? The websites, and so forth - might they start to also migrate their way into our minds, into our sense of interaction?

Taking it to the next step, then, how might the designs and functionality of those sites filter into our subconsciousness?

And the people who design those sites - assuming that the design of their sites come at least subconsciously from their own personal preferences and design aesthetics - what about the potential of their subconsciousness making its way across their sites and into the minds of the people viewing them?

So this now gave me an idea for a short story: The Murder Virus.

Probably already out there somewhere, but if not, I'm calling dibs.


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