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The Virus: Rebelling Against a Programmed Society
"Focus a man's attention on trivialities and you can slowly wrap him in barbwire"
In The Virus (Thorin's 4th book), Thorin unleashes his wit and mental fury upon the controlling forces which modify and condition the populace with psychological trickery. The chapters in The Virus explain how various psychological manipulation techniques, or "programs," (as Thorin puts it) are used by government officials, religious leaders, and greed-driven merchandisers to gain social compliance, direct behavior, maintain submissiveness, and most importantly: sell goods. This ingenious book pulls back the pleasant facade and exposes how "modern day slavery" has been polished, refined, packaged, and sold to the naive public.
Continuing the fight in which he declared early in his writing career, Thorin's works exposes the manipulative persuasions which he claims, "transforms the mass into a socially compliant lemming race." In The Virus, Thorin challenges not only herd mentality, social mimicry, trends, and fads, but many traditional (yet thoughtless) practices as well. In The Virus, this modern day iconoclast takes intellectual rebellion to new heights.
In The Virus (Thorin's 4th book), Thorin unleashes his wit and mental fury upon the controlling forces which modify and condition the populace with psychological trickery. The chapters in The Virus explain how various psychological manipulation techniques, or "programs," (as Thorin puts it) are used by government officials, religious leaders, and greed-driven merchandisers to gain social compliance, direct behavior, maintain submissiveness, and most importantly: sell goods. This ingenious book pulls back the pleasant facade and exposes how "modern day slavery" has been polished, refined, packaged, and sold to the naive public.
Continuing the fight in which he declared early in his writing career, Thorin's works exposes the manipulative persuasions which he claims, "transforms the mass into a socially compliant lemming race." In The Virus, Thorin challenges not only herd mentality, social mimicry, trends, and fads, but many traditional (yet thoughtless) practices as well. In The Virus, this modern day iconoclast takes intellectual rebellion to new heights.
104 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2008
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 23, 2012
Thorin explains in a fairly simple matter the methods used by the media, businesses, politicians and society to manipulate you. One of my influences and a friend, he has set the bar high. Also, in the X3 section, you better know binary to learn about the author. His way of being enigmatic unless you take the time to look deeper.
October 4, 2010
2.5 stars
The Virus is a mixed bag. There were things about it that I liked and things that annoyed the hell out of me.
So, starting with the good: While I don't agree with everything Thorin says, he does make some excellent points about the nature of society, and I fully concur with him when he states that every story has three sides, that we should all live and let live, and that opinions should be formed as a result of personal analysis rather than blind repetition of socially accepted ideas.
And now the bad: Thorin has a big ego. The Virus is 94 pages long, and at least 20 of it is self-congratulatory blathering (and about another 10 is sociopolitical buzz words). He often comes across as condescending an proselytizing, and seems to regard everyone, including his readers, with thinly-veiled contempt. The book gets very repetitive (not surprising considering its basic "think for yourself" message could be delivered in three words) and is even self-contradictory at times.
Also, Thorin should consider hiring an editor.
The Virus is a mixed bag. There were things about it that I liked and things that annoyed the hell out of me.
So, starting with the good: While I don't agree with everything Thorin says, he does make some excellent points about the nature of society, and I fully concur with him when he states that every story has three sides, that we should all live and let live, and that opinions should be formed as a result of personal analysis rather than blind repetition of socially accepted ideas.
And now the bad: Thorin has a big ego. The Virus is 94 pages long, and at least 20 of it is self-congratulatory blathering (and about another 10 is sociopolitical buzz words). He often comes across as condescending an proselytizing, and seems to regard everyone, including his readers, with thinly-veiled contempt. The book gets very repetitive (not surprising considering its basic "think for yourself" message could be delivered in three words) and is even self-contradictory at times.
Also, Thorin should consider hiring an editor.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews