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Virus of the Mind

from The Rap Guide to Religion by Baba Brinkman

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about

Exploring and testing the hypothesis that religion is analogous to a virus of the mind.

Further Reading (Pro): www.inf.fu-berlin.de/lehre/pmo/eng/Dawkins-MindViruses.pdf

Further Reading (Con): www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/sep/16/why-no-longer-believe-religion-virus-mind

lyrics

Religions, replicating is their expertise
They’re infectious, people are the vectors
Spreading contagious information
Integrating it into their mental matrix
A child gets indoctrinated
Skepticism hasn’t developed yet to inoculate it
And the parents believe in a deity
Or several deities, yeah, demons and angel seem
As real the postman, they believe in them faithfully
Even if other people see them as make believe
The details tend to be ridiculous
Extra credit for those who really stick with it
Virus of the mind, if that’s what religion is
The effects of it are predicted to be negative
A burden, a waste, a regrettable detriment
No evolutionary benefit

It’s just a delusion
The feelin’ I get is incredible no one tell me it isn’t amazing
You're suffering confusion
Are you really thinkin’ that you’re gonna take it away from me by explaining?
It’s just a delusion
The feelin’ I get is incredible no one tell me it isn’t amazing
You're suffering from
Are you really thinkin’ that you’re gonna take it away from me by explaining?

Religions, some people think they’re viruses
Why else would someone commit suicide for it?
Are you tryin’ to get a ticket to the paradise party
With a kamikaze jihadi bomb on your body?
Well a ticket to oblivion is all it’s really givin’ you
Are you infected with a liver fluke?
It’s lookin’ like toxoplasmosis
A parasite that infects cats and rodents
And the rodent’s brain gets some rewiring
So they’re suddenly attracted to the felines, shwing!
Good for the parasite, bad for the host
Spread it like the holy ghost
A virus of the mind, if that’s what religion is
The effects of it are predicted to be negative
A burden, a waste, a regrettable detriment
No evolutionary benefit

It’s just a delusion
The feelin’ I get is incredible no one tell me it isn’t amazing
You're suffering confusion
Are you really thinkin’ that you’re gonna take it away from me by explaining?
It’s just a delusion
The feelin’ I get is incredible no one tell me it isn’t amazing
You're suffering from
Are you really thinkin’ that you’re gonna take it away from me by explaining?

Religion, is it good for us or bad for us?
Costs and benefits, get the ledger and add them up
If it’s like a virus, the carriers are vexed
With nothin’ but negative deleterious effects
Or maybe it hitchhikes instead of hijacks us
Benign like the mites that live in your eyelashes
Or it could be beneficial like commensal
Bacteria, makin’ digestion less difficult
If it’s mostly bad for people most of the time
Well then it’s gotta be a virus of the mind
But if you find evolutionary benefits
Sufficient to offset the negatives
Well then it fails in a test of evidence
And virus of the mind theory isn’t the best fit
You wanna measure evolutionary benefits?
Just count the surviving grandkids

It’s just a delusion
Virus of the mind
You’re suffering confusion
It can’t be right
It’s just a delusion
Have you seen religious people?
You’re suffering from
Look at their family size!
It’s just a delusion
Virus of the mind
You’re suffering confusion
Virus of the mind
It’s just a delusion
Virus of the mind
You’re suffering from

credits

from The Rap Guide to Religion, released October 23, 2015
Written by D. Brinkman and D. Moross
Produced and Mixed by Tom Caruana
Additional Keys by Simon Kendall
Guitars by Tom Van Deursen
Mastered by Mr. Simmonds

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Baba Brinkman New York, New York

Science rapper and inventor of several novel hip-hop variants. Canadian transplant to New York. Pathological optimist.

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