data/patterns/detect_mind_virus/README.md
Identify manipulative reasoning patterns that spread through cognitive exploitation rather than evidence.
An idea that spreads by exploiting cognitive shortcuts (fear, guilt, identity, authority) while resisting correction through logic, evidence, or experience.
Key distinction: Having wrong beliefs is human. Spreading beliefs that disable the ability to question them is a mind virus.
| Exploit | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Fear | "If you don't X, terrible Y will happen" |
| Guilt | "Good people do X" (questioners are bad) |
| Identity | "Real [group] believe X" |
| Authority | "Experts agree" (unnamed, untestable) |
| Zero-sum | "Their gain is your loss" |
| Unfalsifiability | Claims that cannot be tested |
# Analyze an argument
echo "If you question this policy, you're putting lives at risk" | fabric -p detect_mind_virus
# Analyze a manifesto
cat ideology.txt | fabric -p detect_mind_virus
# Check marketing content
fabric -p detect_mind_virus < sales_pitch.md
The cure for mind viruses is not counter-propaganda — it is restoring the capacity for:
From the Ultimate Law framework: github.com/ghrom/ultimatelaw