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this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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lol a meme is literally just an idea.
Free exchange of ideas is the core concept of democracy.
Would you say that memes(in the sense of ideas with memetic properties that allow it to spread virally with great efficiency) such as QAnon or antivax, are they good for a democratic society? How about meme complexes(a collection of memes) like fascism or authoritarian ideologies? Don't get me wrong, exchange of ideas are good, but there are certain memes and ideas that must be argued against and fought, perhaps with our own memes and meme complexes. And if these memes and ideas are made less viable in terms of their ability to spread from the vaccine of counterargument and counter memery, then I say that's good.
Argued against, absolutely.
It cannot be a democracy if they're prevented from being able to share any ideas, insane or not.
I think there's a limit to that though, infohazards like how to make a bomb from common household materials and the like for example. In fact, the show mythbusters once made an episode about this exact topic, and they thank God, decided that it'd be responsible to censor/not air one of the tests they had conducted as it would be harmful if such information got out. Statistically, you know a few people would've tried out that recipe and blown their fingers off or something. I'm pretty sure I know what that compound was, and it's the same explosive that basically got the TSA banning liquid containers over 100mls or some shit.