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The Phenomenologically Distributed Human Parasite (PDHP) "M0" is a social parasite that lives in the populations of humans that exists between phenomenological zones. This parasite uses positive feedback mechanisms inherent in the brain to control the host's, society's and culture's behavior to propagate itself.

Contents 1 Habitat and Anatomy 2 Driver Organ 3 Vector Organ 4 Species 4.1 Individual Infections 4.2 Small Group Infections 4.3 Larger Groups and Religions 5 Links

[edit] Habitat and Anatomy

The parts of the parasite exist as five organs cooperating in six phenomenological zones.

• Organs
  • Driver — that positive feedback hooks in a host that enforce the behaviors that create dopamine dependence.
  • Vector — the social structures between individuals that propagate to other hosts to create the initial dopamine dependency behaviors.
  • Boom
  • Clamp
• Phenomenological Zones
  • Neurological — Inside the brain.
  • Cognitive — Inside an individual's mind.
  • Behavioral — The behavior of an individual as observed.
  • Social — The behavior of select groups of individuals.
  • Cultural — The behavior of large groups of individuals passed along generations.
  • Paradigmatic — The universe of beliefs held by a culture.

[edit] Driver Organ

The driver organ is a positive feedback loop within the brain that exploits the brain's reward system (Neurological Zone).

• Secretion — the host's body creates its own drug, dopamine, to promote a feeling of well-being. Food, sex, and drugs are common sources of stimuli (Behavioral Zone) that increase dopamine. The PDHP hijacks this feedback loop by systematically training the carrier to use neutral stimuli of ritual or boredom to increase dopamine.
• Constraint—the host repeats more boring or ritualized behavior to generate more dopamine.

[edit] Vector Organ

The vector organ is another positive feedback loop designed to spread PDHP to new individuals and maintain infection of existing infected individuals.

[edit] Species

There are a few different species of this parasite that share some or all of the organs needed to create a functional parasite.

[edit] Individual Infections

• Fanaticism an emotion of being filled with excessive, uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious, antireligious, political cause, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime, hobby or celebrity. Fanatics have the driver organ but no effective vector, boom or clamp.

[edit] Small Group Infections

• Groupthink that causes highly cohesive groups to avoid conflict by insulation and unquestioned leadership.
• Fundamentalism — a usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.
• Cults where techniques of mind control are explicitly used by leaders to create and keep followers. After the founding leaders die or no longer can lead, the infected followers propagate the cult forward without leadership and over time, mutate.

[edit] Larger Groups and Religions

Religions have been observed as having features of the parasite:

• http://www.christianitymeme.org/ explains "The Christianity Meme has been shaped purely by natural selection--the law of survival of the fittest--as it has played out in human minds. It is a sophisticated product of cultural evolution."
• In Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion he believes that "The general theory of religion as an accidental by-product - a misfiring of something useful - is the one I wish to advocate"

[edit] Links

• The Anatomy,

Life Cycle and Effects of the Phenomenologically Distributed Human Parasite M0 [1] as described by The Reciprocality Group.