Unironically, the side that is more often correct in a given debate usually has way better memes. It's a decent (albeit not foolproof) heuristic. And it applies to humor more broadly, with memes basically being the haiku form of humor.

-When you find something funny, it's often because you subconsciously agree with it, at least partially. Sometimes you're trained that you *should* agree with a given side, but humor just cuts through it and reveals that really you kind of don't, and in some way forces you into an honest moment.

-Creating a meme requires condensing an argument into a short context. While outright lies are easy to make short (i.e. you can just say a false thing that requires the other side to take time to unpack), actual arguments are not so easy to make short, especially if they're also going to be funny. A meme that has any sort of point to it generally has an argument embedded within it, even if that argument takes the form of an observation or other simple thing. Outside of highly technical contexts, arguments/observations are generally easier to condense if they're true.

The side of a given debate that reliably can make short, funny arguments is typically on to something.

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Humor is always winning

In memes we trust šŸ¤

You're onto something A meme can represent your argument here.

The one with the normal law distribution

Morons will laugh. Geniuses will make them laugh. Only the irrational won't laugh and brute force seriousness into a conversation that deserved humourous relief. (It deserves it because we all understand it's serious shit).

I think the combo of both is important.

Meme-only arguments lack depth.

I view memes as signposts and long-form articles/discussions as useful deep dives. The memes help point to which longer things are worth taking the time to consume.

Both have their place/function for sure.

Just to drive the point home, the topic of homeschooling recently came up in one of my posts. Here’s a meme I made as a follow up, as well as an article I decided to write to dive deeper into the topic. Both have a place šŸ’Æ

nostr:nevent1qqszflq445mxl4eku5vws6gv32canyt8tpcszaljej3wzv20040hvmgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhg0zm25t

nostr:naddr1qqxksmmdv4ekx6r0dakxjmn8qyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2aqzyruwd3jrgtc7q5jgqccwylsszmwwxh7r5c2wvpp5lm625fgrx2x2jqcyqqq823c23mljd

Nailed it

I hadn't thought of it like that...the haiku metaphor is apt

šŸ˜‚

Changing the world order one meme at a time

Brevity is the soul of wit

There is the concept of anti-rational memes. These memes spread and maintain themselves by crippling the person's ability to correct errors.

For example "The holy book must not be questioned", or "Conspiracy theory(ist)".

These anti-rational memes mostly ruled until the scientific revolution. They are what kept sapiens sick and impoverished for the vast majority of their existence.

Anti-rational memes have clearly been in decline, but I wonder about their ability to spread through humor. I'm probably too biased to them to find them funny, but presumably they can be funny because sapiens must have had a sense of humor.

Memetic supremacy is the air superiority of postmodern warfare

ā€žWhen you find something funny, it's often because you subconsciously agree with it, at least partially.ā€œ

That is probably more true for political persons.

Slap stick does not depend on it. Neither does humor that is based on misunderstandings, stupidity, or chutzpah.

This is also reminiscent of a physicists love of elegance in their explanations.

"That equation is too ugly to be true." is not always correct, but is a good enough heuristic to help progress.

And this idea of elegance (saying a lot with a little) in memes is similar.

Elegance appears to be a type of beauty that is woven into the universe. Some memes are beautiful in this way.

So can you compact, compress, or make memes more elegant that are false as well as you can compact false memes?

I suspect you are correct, because deeper truths have "more meat" so to speak. There is more there to compress.

On the other hand, I bet cloistered monks studying a holy book their entire lives could come up with some killer memes that could compact their studies, lives, and obscure monastic references in one succinct image drawn on a bathroom wall.

Amen. Toilet walls educate - If you are reading this - you are in deep shit.

Humor bypasses the ego. That’s why the funniest side in a debate often feels more right — it’s where the honest brain laughs before the conditioned brain reacts.

oh yeah, I just made my first meme a month ago, just for Nostr. And it was really fun to make!

Visuals + humor are good communication tools. Though it can also be used to desensitize, dismiss, distract, I dunno why these are all ā€˜d’ words … I guess I got on an alliterative rhythm.

So true. I feel like this is why some of the most popular truth tellers are comedians these days (e.g., Dave Smith)

nostr:nevent1qqs0mldy7u6g3katqjlnjvqdqahwtjvky0ec0cph4htq2f7yuq89wngzyr4tpe6k6v4cp0x5vneas39cqspsxp66z04tcdve5a3vntr6hy057qcyqqqqqqg2z3j7c

Finally, a scientific framework for determining truth: Meme Epistemologyā„¢.

Peer review? Nah. Just drop a spicy JPEG with Impact font and see if it vibes.

If it slaps, it’s probably true. If it has a Wojak… Nobel Prize.

Forget citations—can your worldview survive a well-placed Shrek reaction image?

Didn’t think so.

But real talk: memes are the compressed zip files of culture.

And like all compression… some data gets lost, but what stays? Usually the signal.

#HaikuOfTheInternet #MemeBasedReality #TruthInPixels