The Arctic Suicides: It's Not the Dark That Kills You
The section talking about contagion was interesting. What follows is pure speculation on my part and a bit of a ramble.<p>I believe many mental illnesses, depression, suicidal behavior and anorexia among them, can be characterized as contagious. And perhaps some other things that aren&#x27;t usually described as mental illnesses. The border between belief, religion and mental illness seems a bit fuzzy (echoes of Snow Crash). Small isolated communities must be much more susceptible to contagion taking hold, as single events have a great sway over perceptions, and there are few connections with a larger world to normalize things.<p>Charles Stross said something about the internet that stuck with me: &quot;the accidental invention of telepathy&quot;. Just like public water supplies opened up new vectors for diseases such as cholera, I wonder if the internet&#x27;s ability to more or less put minds directly in touch can facilitate the spread of certain mental illnesses. Consuming unfiltered internet might be looked on in a few years like drinking unsterilized water. In particular, I wonder if certain &quot;echo chamber&quot; social websites that allow easy isolation from mainstream opinion (Tumblr and 4chan, I&#x27;m looking at <i>you</i>) might be analogous to these dangerous isolated communities.