Science Memes
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
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- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"
Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.
Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.
We moderate for vibe, not category. Pruning is light, especially where a post creates interesting discussion. Experimenting is encouraged.
See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.
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The cat thing was designed to be as absurd as possible to heckle Bohr and Heisenburg.
Similarly, Freeman Dyson's Dyson sphere paper was a work of satire, to poke fun at how ridiculous the idea was. He got stuck with it anyway.
same with the trolley problem. it's supposed to be so obvious, like asking someone 'if your friend jumped off a cliff, would you?' that it shows that it is moral to choose the lesser of two evils. it wasn't designed to be a debate
we're talking about the intersection between ethics and game theory though. the simple problems (trolley problem, cat dilemma, pushing a friend off a cliff, prisoner's dilemma) have simple boring answers. It's once you change the simple problem that it becomes interesting, both in game theory and ethics