During the psychological thriller movie "Inception", the character Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) says "an idea is like a virus". It is an interesting statement. It is of course within the context of the movie, which I thought was very good, although it took my wife and I two viewings before we think we we were able to follow it. If you've not seen it, here is a brief overview, from http://www.imdb.com/: "Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable."
But beyond the movie, the statement has broad application, in particular, to politics and the war to win people's minds - i.e., votes; political persuasion. The battle of ideas is as old as mankind; it is related to the ego and one's ability and desire to get other people to believe your point of view. To some extent, isn't the whole concept of religion and proselytizing for a specific god, a battle for a person's mind?
