The "artificial entities" mentioned by Atkinson and described as existing in a layer very close to the one humans are found in?
They are the "memes" we are all so familiar with
>It occasionally happens, however, that an artificial elemental of this description is for various reasons unable to expend its force either upon its object or its creator, and in such cases it becomes a kind of wandering demon, readily attracted by any person who indulges feelings similar to that which gave it birth, and equally prepared either to stimulate such feelings in him for the sake of the strength it may gain from them, or to pour out its store of evil influences upon him through any opening which he may offer it. If it is sufficiently powerful to seize upon some passing shell (discarded astral body) it frequently does so, as the possession of such a temporary home enables it to husband its dreadful resources more carefully.
Memes are very much alive, the difference between us and them is that they are made of information, while we are made of matter. Being entirely information-based entities they can't replicate on their own and must parasitize on animals for survival and reproduction, they are spontaneously generated unintentionally from the information they sustain themselves on. The more intelligent the animal they infect, the more complex they can become (any animal capable of having a personality of its own is also capable of being infected by and generating such entities), since they are literally just information they have no physical form and can make it from host to host through any medium that can transmit information (such as the internet).
The most powerful memes are the ones that can invoke the most primal and powerful emotions, such as anger, since those tend to lead to more of the same and thus more loosh for the meme to consume. While memes are no doubt mostly nuisances, and at worst, outright destructive, they have undoubtedly helped humanity advance by letting us work towards common goals more easily as an effect of mutual infection (very early humans were much more solitary than their modern counterparts and only formed basic family structures based on survival)
The thing I don't understand though, is what process one can use to purge oneself of evil memes? Since their form is information it's obvious that forgetting a meme kills it instantly, however, forgetting things on purpose is impossible, especially meme entities like these since they only grow stronger as attention is fed to them, distracting yourself from it also wouldn't kill it, but put it in a dormant state ready to spring back to life at any moment. Perhaps it can be done by forming a positive "counter meme" that absorbs energy that otherwise would be absorbed by the unwanted meme? Like a kind of parasite that parasitizes the parasite. It would have to be able to kill itself after it's done or be one of the rare passive or useful memes in order for this to work, otherwise it accomplishes nothing.
As you can probably gather I have fucked myself and created a fucking evil rage demon that needs to be cleansed ASAP before I go insane, it's one that subsists mostly on hatred undirected, probably the strongest type of such elemental, i can hardly even fucking think straight anymore
Blue image to counter the vibe of this thing, which is, naturally, red-orange.