meme plague

philosophy The spread of a successful but pernicious meme,

especially one that parasitises the victims into giving their

all to propagate it. Astrology, BASIC, and the other guy's

religion are often considered to be examples. This usage is

given point by the historical fact that "joiner" ideologies

like Naziism or various forms of millennarian Christianity

have exhibited plague-like cycles of exponential growth

followed by collapses to small reservoir populations.

[Jargon File]

(1996-08-11)