This Video Will Make You Angry

Summary

This video explores the concept of 'thought germs,' likening ideas and emotions on the internet to biological germs. Just as germs spread, mutate, and exploit weaknesses in our immune system, thoughts on social media use emotions—especially anger—to bypass mental defenses and encourage sharing. Thought germs can evolve, grow stronger, and sometimes cooperate to maintain arguments, dividing people. While some thought germs are harmless or funny, others manipulate emotions and distort reality. To protect your mental health, it's essential to practice good 'mental hygiene' by being cautious of thoughts that exploit emotional weaknesses.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Thoughts are like germs, spreading from one brain to another and competing for space.
• 😂 Jokes are thought germs that reproduce by being shared, similar to how germs spread through sneezing.
• 🌐 Social media exposes you to everyone's 'mental sneezes,' increasing the chances of thought germs entering your brain.
• 😺 A funny cat photo can act like a super-flu, rapidly spreading through the internet due to its emotional appeal.
• 😠 Thought germs exploit emotional weaknesses, with anger being the most powerful for compelling people to share.
• 💥 Anger bypasses mental defenses, making it the most effective emotion for spreading thought germs online.
• 🌍 The internet amplifies thought germs by making them easily shareable and prone to changes, making them even more infectious.
• 🦋 Symbiotic thought germs on opposite sides of an argument work together to spread further by drawing more attention and anger.
• 🎯 Arguments can cause groups to focus more on their feelings about the other side, turning into breeding grounds for enraging thought germs.
• 🧼 Maintaining mental hygiene involves being cautious of thought germs that have passed through many brains and exploit emotional weaknesses.

Q & A

What is the central analogy used in the video script?

The central analogy in the script compares thoughts to germs, suggesting that they spread and multiply in a similar way. Just like how germs infect people and spread through contact, thoughts spread through communication and can 'infect' minds when shared.

How does the script explain the concept of a 'thought germ'?

A 'thought germ' is any idea, joke, or belief that can spread from one person to another. When someone shares a thought (e.g., a joke), it 'infects' the other person's mind, much like how germs spread. These thought germs can grow, evolve, and change as they move between people.

What role do emotions play in the spread of thought germs?

Emotions are key to the spread of thought germs. Thoughts that trigger strong emotional responses, especially anger, tend to spread more rapidly and broadly. This is because emotions like anger bypass mental defenses, making people more likely to share and spread the thought.

Why does the script suggest that sadness does not spread thought germs effectively?

According to the script, sad thought germs don't spread as effectively because sadness does not prompt people to share it widely. Thoughts that evoke emotions like anger or awe are more likely to be shared, while sadness tends to limit the spread.

What does the script mean by 'mental hygiene'?

Mental hygiene refers to being mindful and cautious about the thoughts and ideas we allow into our minds. The script suggests that just as we protect ourselves from germs through physical hygiene, we should protect our minds from thought germs that exploit our emotional vulnerabilities.

How does the Internet help thought germs evolve?

The Internet allows thought germs to spread quickly and widely, giving them more opportunities to evolve. As thoughts are shared, people modify them (e.g., adding captions to photos), and the changes that make them more appealing or viral help them spread even further, similar to how germs can mutate to become more infectious.

What is the significance of 'symbiotic anger germs' in the script?

Symbiotic anger germs refer to opposing thought germs that fuel each other. These opposing ideas, often seen in arguments, help both sides grow stronger by feeding off the anger and attention from the other. The script explains how these thought germs cooperate to keep arguments alive and spread more effectively.

Why do some thought germs lead to long-lasting arguments?

Thought germs can create long-lasting arguments because opposing sides keep the discussion alive. When two opposing ideas clash, it prevents the conversation from dying out, especially when anger is involved. This dynamic helps thought germs spread and persist, sometimes indefinitely.

What is the danger of thought germs spreading through online arguments?

The danger lies in how thought germs can distort reality by evolving to become more enraging and less accurate. Online arguments, fueled by anger, can create extreme versions of thought germs that spread rapidly, leading to more division and hostility among groups.

What advice does the script give for maintaining a healthy mind?

The script advises people to be cautious of thoughts that have spread widely and trigger emotional responses. It encourages practicing good mental hygiene by being aware of how thoughts exploit emotions and ensuring that we critically evaluate the ideas we let into our minds.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Thought Germs: How Ideas Spread Like Germs

This paragraph introduces the concept of 'thought germs,' comparing them to biological germs that need a brain to survive and spread. It draws parallels between jokes and thought germs, emphasizing how social media allows these thoughts to reproduce, much like how germs spread through sneezing. The analogy is extended to show how emotionally charged ideas—especially anger—exploit mental vulnerabilities, leading to higher rates of sharing. It highlights how logging on to social media is akin to exposing oneself to mental 'sneezes' from others.

05:01

😺 Cat Memes as Super-Flu and the Role of Emotions

This section delves deeper into how thoughts, like germs, exploit weak points in the brain, particularly emotions. It describes how thought germs that evoke strong emotions are more likely to spread, with anger being the most effective trigger. Websites and social media platforms capitalize on this by constructing content designed to elicit awe, surprise, or anger, which drives higher engagement and sharing. The cat meme analogy is used to illustrate how seemingly harmless content can spread like a 'super-flu' if it resonates emotionally.

🌐 The Internet: Breeding Ground for Thought Germ Evolution

The Internet is compared to transatlantic flights for germs, providing the perfect environment for thought germs to spread and evolve. As content spreads, users may tweak or modify it—through memes, captions, or edits—leading to the creation of even more infectious versions. While most changes make the content worse, occasionally, these tweaks make it stronger, leading to viral success. The Internet's capacity for rapid sharing and mutation of ideas fuels this process, which can be both positive (as with jokes) or negative (as with angry thought germs).

🔥 The Evolution of Anger and Symbiotic Thought Germs

This part explores how thought germs, particularly those fueled by anger, evolve over time. As these germs spread, they become more extreme, distorted, and effective at triggering emotional reactions. The more visibility an argument gets, the more likely it is to draw in bystanders, amplifying its reach. This leads to a symbiotic relationship between opposing thought germs, where both sides benefit from the conflict, helping each other grow and spread. The paragraph suggests that these thought germs aren't competing but cooperating in creating wider influence.

⚔️ Argument Symbiosis and Group Polarization

The paragraph highlights how thought germs thrive in polarized environments, where groups argue not with each other but about how infuriating the other group is. Each group constructs an exaggerated and enraging image of the opposing side, leading to further spread of these distorted thought germs. The angrier the content, the faster it spreads, even if it’s not accurate. This phenomenon explains why certain arguments seem to never end and continue to gain traction despite the lack of productive debate.

🧼 Mental Hygiene and Thought Germ Awareness

The final paragraph urges readers to be mindful of how thought germs use emotions to spread, especially after passing through many brains and undergoing alterations. Some thoughts grow stronger and more infectious, while others fade. Maintaining good mental hygiene means being cautious about thoughts that trigger emotional responses, particularly those that exploit personal vulnerabilities. It concludes with a reminder that it's important to protect one’s mental space, just as one would maintain physical hygiene, to keep harmful thought germs at bay.

Keywords

💡Thought Germs

Thought germs are ideas or beliefs that spread from person to person, much like how biological germs spread. In the video, thoughts are compared to germs because they reproduce by being shared between individuals. Some thoughts, like jokes or funny images, can spread rapidly across social media platforms, reproducing when people share them with others. This concept underlines the core idea of how information and emotions propagate in online environments.

💡Mental Hygiene

Mental hygiene refers to the process of maintaining a healthy mind by being cautious about the information and emotions that influence one's thoughts. The video uses this concept to highlight the importance of recognizing when thought germs exploit emotional weaknesses. Just as physical hygiene helps prevent the spread of disease, mental hygiene helps protect the brain from being overwhelmed by manipulative or harmful thoughts shared on the internet.

💡Emotional Buttons

Emotional buttons are the vulnerabilities in the human brain that thought germs target to provoke a reaction, such as joy, anger, or awe. The video explains that thought germs which press emotional buttons are more likely to be shared and spread. For example, anger bypasses mental defenses and compels individuals to react, which increases the virality of the thought.

💡Social Media

Social media is portrayed as the platform where thought germs spread most effectively, likened to a 'mental sneeze' that exposes others to new thoughts. The video highlights how logging into social media means exposing oneself to an influx of thought germs in the form of posts, memes, and news, all competing for attention and reproduction within your mind.

💡Symbiotic Thought Germs

Symbiotic thought germs are opposing ideas that work together to sustain and spread each other, often through conflict or debate. In the video, these germs are shown to thrive when they create arguments that polarize individuals. The existence of one thought germ (like an ideology) makes the other more visible, allowing both to infect more minds as people take sides.

💡Anger

Anger is described as the most effective emotional trigger for spreading thought germs. The video explains that anger bypasses the brain's immune system, leading individuals to share angry thoughts more frequently and widely. This makes anger a powerful tool for thought germs, as it ensures rapid spread, often at the expense of accuracy or reason.

💡Awe

Awe is another emotion that can help thought germs spread, though not as effectively as anger. The video points out that awe-inspiring content, such as 'mind-blowing' facts or shocking secrets, also compels people to share it with others. Websites often use this emotion by framing their content in ways that promise to astonish or amaze viewers.

💡Meme Lifecycle

The meme lifecycle refers to the process by which an idea, image, or joke (like a cat photo) spreads, evolves, and eventually fades from relevance. In the video, memes are treated as thought germs that begin with a simple idea, grow as they are shared, and change through iterations like photoshopped images or new captions. The faster a meme spreads, the more it evolves and the more likely it is to become viral.

💡Internet's Role

The internet is presented as the perfect breeding ground for thought germs because it allows for rapid sharing, mutation, and widespread exposure. In the video, the internet is compared to transatlantic flights for biological germs, as it provides the infrastructure for thought germs to leap between minds across the globe, creating the potential for viral sensations.

💡With-us-or-against-us

This concept refers to a divisive tool used by thought germs to polarize individuals, forcing them to take sides in an argument. The video explains that this mentality helps symbiotic thought germs grow by making it difficult for neutral individuals to remain uninvolved. It also fosters an 'us vs. them' dynamic, which further amplifies the spread of the thought germs on both sides of an issue.

Highlights

Thoughts are like germs that compete for space in the brain, with each one trying to survive and spread.

Jokes are compared to thought germs, reproducing when shared with others, similar to how viruses spread.

Social media is described as a platform where users are exposed to 'mental sneezes,' spreading thought germs from post to post.

Emotions serve as weak points in the brain’s defenses, allowing thought germs that trigger emotional responses to spread more easily.

Anger is identified as the most effective emotion for spreading thought germs, bypassing mental defenses.

Not all emotional thought germs are effective; sad ones don't spread as far, while awe and anger are much more successful.

The analogy of a funny cat photo being a 'super-flu' highlights how thought germs can quickly spread across the internet.

The internet helps thought germs grow stronger through constant sharing and modification by users, leading to 'viral' success.

As thought germs evolve, some become more powerful, while others burn out due to overexposure.

Angry thought germs are more likely to distort and become more aggravating as they are shared, further increasing their spread.

Opposing thought germs can become symbiotic, helping each other spread by creating more visibility and engagement.

'Us vs. Them' dynamics fuel the growth of symbiotic anger germs, making it hard for neutral individuals to remain uninvolved.

Large groups tend to argue more with themselves about the anger generated by the opposing side than engage in direct debate.

The most enraging but not necessarily accurate thought germs spread the fastest, building a distorted image of the opposing group.

Maintaining good mental hygiene requires caution when dealing with thought germs that have passed through many brains, as they become better at exploiting emotional weak points.

Transcripts

Hello Internet.

Thoughts compete for space in your brain: cat photos, news stories, beliefs structures,

funny GIFs, educational videos, not-so-educational videos and your thinking inventory is limited.

A thought without a brain to think it, dies.

Now we can treat thoughts as though they're alive. Specifically alive like germs. That

might sound weird but stick with me.

Take jokes. Jokes are thought germs that live in your brain -- and when you tell the joke

to another brain, you help it reproduce.

Just like when you have the flu and sneeze to help it reproduce. This germ gets into

its host by snot through the mouth and this one by words through the ear but it's reproduction

either way.

Logging on to your social media then, is exposing yourself to everyone's mental sneezes. Each

post a glob of snot with an thought germ trying to get in your brain -- if not for permanent

residence then at least long enough to get you to press the share button and sneeze it

with everyone you know.

In this analogy then, a funny cat photo with a perfect caption is a super-flu.

Now just as germs exploit weak points in your immune system, so do thought germs exploit

weak points in your brain. A.K.A. emotions.

Once inside, thought germs that press emotional buttons get their hosts to spread them more

-- measurably more. Well, except sadness, sad thought germs don't get very far. Awe

is pretty good which is why websites that construct thought germs like biological weapons

arm them with them titles like "7 whatevers that will blow your mind" or "The Shocking

Secret behind... this thing"

But anger is the ultimate edge for a thought germ. Anger, bypasses your mental immune system,

and compels you to share it.

Being aware of your brain's weak spots is necessary for good mental hygiene -- like

knowing how to wash your hands. Because even without intentional construction, any thought

germ on the Internet can, on its own, grow more infections as it spreads. To talk about

why, lets forget anger for a moment and go back to that cat photo.

Every photo ever taken is a thought germ, and most die a quick death like the bazillion

cat photos (or baby photos) posted on The Internet that are never shared. But a mildly

funny cat photo can grow into so much more, because just as transatlantic flights were

the best thing to happen to germ germs, so the Internet is the best thing to happen to

thought germs.

For once on-board, that cat photo is a thought germ that can leap into other brains. And

those brains might share it, and here's the key point, occasionally, change it -- a Photoshop

here, a tweaked caption there.

Most changes are terrible, but some make the thought germ even funnier, getting brains

to share it more. Which results in more changes and a shot at super-stardom. A thus a lowly

cat photo can achieve global brain domination. At least for a few hours.

The Internet, with its unparalleled ability to share and randomly change thought germs

can't help but help make them stronger.

With jokes, that's awesome -- but with angry germs not always so awesome. No.

Angry germs, the more they're shared undergo the same process, changing and distorting

to be more aggravating. These have a better chance of spreading than their more accurate

but more boring rivals.

But like plagues, thought germs can burn though a population too quickly. Just watch your

favorite meme generating machine for a week and you'll see the life-cycle fly by.

However some thought germs have found a way around burnout. Now, I must warn you, depending

on which thought germs live in your head and which you fight for, the next section might

sound *horrifying*. So please keep in mind, we're going to talk about what makes some

thought germs, particularly angry ones, successful and not how good or bad they are.

OK? Deep breath: calm.

Though germs can burn out because once everyone agrees, it's hard to keep talking and thus

thinking about them.

But if there's an opposing thought germ, an argument, then the thinking never stops. Disagrement

doesn't have to be angry, but again, angry helps. The more visible an argument gets the

more bystanders it draws in which makes it more visible is why every group from the most

innocuous internet forum to The National Conversation can turn into a double rage storm across the

sky in no time.

Wait, these though germs aren't competing, they're co-operating. Working together they

reach more brains and hold their thoughts longer than they could alone. Thought germs

on opposite sides of an argument can be symbiotic.

One tool symbiotic anger germs in particular can employ is your-with-us-or-against-us.

Whatever thought germ just leaped to the front of your brain, push it back. This video isn't

about that. We're just talking about the tool, and this one makes it hard, for neutral brains

to resist and its diviciveness also grows its symbiotic partner.

This explains why, in some arguments gaining more allies also gains more enemies. Because

though the participants think they're involved in a firey battle to the death from the anger

germs perspective one side is a field of flowers and the other a flock of butterflies. *Of

course* planting more flowers will get you more butterflies and getting more butterflies

will pollinate more flowers.

If there is some argument that splits the population and lasts forever that even the

most neutral people find difficult to avoid, you just might be looking at a super successful

pair of symbiotic anger germs that have reached ecological stability

Now, one final depressing though. Uhhhh… I mean one more Awe inspiring point, that

will reveal the secrets of, ahhh -- actually no it's just depressing.

When opposing groups get big they don't really argue with each other, they *mostly* argue

with themselves about how angry the *other* group makes them. We can actually graph fights

on the Internet to see this in action. Each becomes its own quasi isolated internet, sharing

thoughts about the other.

You see where this is going, right?

Each group becomes a breeding ground for thought germs *about* the other -- and as before the

most enraging -- but not necessarily the most accurate -- spread fastest. A group almost

can't help but construct a totem of the other so enraging they talk about it all the time

-- which, now that you know how though germs grow, is exactly what make the totem always

perfectly maddening.

Now, all this isn't to say that there's no point in arguing. (That's a different video).

Or that the Internet isn't amazing, or that there aren't things worth trying to change

peoples' minds about. And thought germs of all kinds come and go.

But it's useful to be aware of how thought can use our emotions to spread and how the

more rapidly a thought is able to spread the more chances it has to become *even better*

at spreading through random changes made to it. Sometimes that's great, sometimes it's

terrible.

But if you want to maintain a healthy brain it pays to be cautious of thoughts that have

passed through a lot of other brains and that poke you where you are weakest.

It's your brain -- be hygienic with it.