Sylterusten virus

The Sylterusten Virus
Origin
The Sylterusten virus is a term coined by Matthew Alday in 2011 in a document he published. The name literally comes from Norwegian meaning "the preserved rust" or "the jellied rust" from bokmål Norwegian.
Description
Alday who was a computer systems engineer used the term to describe it as a social structure virus. In Norway there are set of rules that people are familiar with called janteloven or in English, Jante Law. Alday having grown up in the United States, recognized that in Norway the social-cultural structure was founded on these beliefs which were different than the social-cultural structure of the United States. Alday believed that everyone should always strive to be the best at what it is that he or she does. In Alday's fields of knowledge, he saw himself as an inventor and innovator for the future. He believed that perfection was never possible, but that one should always use the principles of quality control to continually try to improve a system or technology. Alday believed that one should take on the character role that made the individual a happy consumer and producer in society.
Although Alday recognized the completely different social-cultural structures between the US and Norway, he believed that he could use his predisposition of US culture to improve upon systems and technology in Norway. This is where Alday made his mistake and uncovered the Sylterusten virus.
Terminology
Alday uses the term, Sylterusten virus as one or more people who think or believe in janteloven but take it one step further and try to cause social or cognitive damage to another person's reality. The Sylterusten virus attacks those individuals who believe that they can change the world as one individual. The social virus begins by communicating to the individual that they are neither better nor worse than anyone else. If the virus does not alter the conscious of the individual, then the social virus morphs and begins to attack the subconscious.
Sylterusten Virus Examples
Example 1
For example, the Sylterusten virus inflicts mental damage to an individual’s conscious or subconscious by telling an individual that they believe something extreme to be “truth.” An example of this is, "You think you are a genius and everyone else is stupid." The Sylterusten virus uses the fundamental core of janteloven to try to convince the individual that he or she cannot think for his or herself. In addition, the “truth” must be so extreme that it cannot be true. The phrase, "You think" is the social virus' communicative method to force the individual to believe in something that is true without any foundation. The word "genius" and "stupid" are the two extreme points. All together, if one was to decrypt the meaning of the phrase, "You think you are genius and everyone else is stupid" then they would find that the social virus is communicating, "You are not a genius and we are not stupid. We are all the same. This is what you must believe. This is true."
Example 2
However, the problem with the Sylterusten virus is that it does not stop at one phrase, but rather takes on other forms or identities. Take this conversation as an example,
Sylterusten virus: "Do task A"
Individual: "I finished task A"
Sylterusten virus: ”Why did you do task A?”
Individual: “You told me to do task A.”
Sylterusten virus: “No, you did not do what I told you to do. You were supposed to do task B.”
Individual: “I finished task B”
Sylterusten virus: “No, you did not do what I told you to do. You were supposed to do task A.”
The social virus in the conversation above tries to destroy the social framework of an individual so that this framework is broken or damaged. In Alday’s experience when living in Norway, the social framework was janteloven. The more Alday rejected framework, the virus continued to form new identities or methods to break Alday’s social structure.
Alday's Viewpoint
Conformity
Alday saw the social-cultural structure of Norway to be inflicted with the virus. People were afraid of having a voice and rather chose to accept the voice of janteloven. Alday saw adults using a virtual suggestion box as a way to conform to social structure so the adult individual could hide amongst the group. For example, if an individual has an idea whether good or bad, the individual must first talk to others and test whether the individual’s idea is worthy of discussion. The individual must then form an alliance around the idea and then present it to the group as a formal position. Depending on the idea’s validity, it is either an up or down call by either the group leader or leaders. If the leader or leaders decide it is a “bad” idea, then according to rules janteloven, the individual must accept the idea as “bad.” If the individual does not conform to the idea as “bad”, then according to rules, the individual thinks he or she is better than the group. Why the group and not the leaders? It is because the group is conditioned to accept janteloven.
Nonconformity
However, Alday did not believe that it was necessary to use the virtual suggestion box. Alday believed if it was the individual’s idea, then the individual should be recognized for the contribution. Anyone who improved on the individual’s idea would be recognized individually for his or her contribution. Alday believed that anyone’s ideas were subject to a market. That is, if the individual idea is good, then the market will carry the individual idea further. Alday used the term, “my intellectual property” when referring to one of his individual ideas and inventions that the leader had determined as a “bad” idea. Unfortunately for Alday, he broke the social structure’s rules and hence the Sytlerusten virus morphed into a social demon inflicting damage to Alday’s conscious and subconscious that eventually caused Alday to disassociate himself from the social structure in Norway. Alday believed that it was impossible for him to be a part of what he saw as a flawed social-cultrual structure.
During Alday’s hiatus from society, he wrote an unpublished and secret mathematical document named, “Breaking the Social Construct.” The mathematical theme starts from, “I reject society’s social construct. I shall write my social construct to protect myself and other individuals against those that seek to destroy the individual social structure.” Alday then began writing mathematical formulas to recreate the situation he was subject to. He used the experience of the Sylterusten virus and wrote formulas against those social viruses that seek to cause harm to the individual.
Alday's Final Self Evaluation
Alday saw Bill Gates as in individual who believed that everyone in the future would have a computer in their house. How many laughed at Bill Gates? Alday realized that Bill Gates, Microsoft, and those teachers that pushed him to use his potential gave him the opportunity to uncover the shady or disgusting parts of society. After Alday recovered from his disassociation from society, he sought to carry on his primary field of work, technology. Alday believed in innovating and inventing technology to solve social-cultural problems that attacked the individual’s social structure and the individual’s happiness.

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