Yes, I was never attempting to steelman OP’s argument. I was pointing out the flaws of the argument as it is given.

Steelmanning is a tool that is helpful in many situations, but that does not mean it is useful in every situation. Perhaps there is an ideal version of OP’s argument, a steelman, that I would agree with. But the actual argument that OP laid out is not ideal, it is hypocritical, and I am pointing that out.

A student who gets a poor grade on a paper does not get to go to the professor and ask them to “steelman” their argument for a better grade. The paper is judged as it is written.

This whole post is about OP taking issue with criticism.

OP’s snarky reference to free speech is hypocritical on its face. The entire thesis of their post is to attack criticism, and criticism is a form of free speech.

Pointing out hypocrisy is not a strawman.

I think most billionaires are not paying either of those taxes in any significant amounts.

Most follow the buy borrow die method. Then their children just have to pay estate tax.

Advanced tax cheats like Bill Gates take it one step further by creating their own charities. You give all your money to the “charity” and give your kids full control of the “charity”. This way you can avoid paying estate tax, and you only need to give away a tiny percentage of your wealth to actual charities and PR firms to save face.

The leaders of the New Atheist movement are not heroes; they are certainly imperfect. I agree with all of your criticisms, but you say nothing of the bulk of their work.

Hitchens’ God is Not Great will stand the test of time; his Islamophobia will not.

Dawkins’ The God Delusion is still correct, despite his late-in-life transphobia and “cultural Christianity”.

You are asking an interesting philosophical question, I feel a little out of my depth trying to answer.

But yes, I believe every meme is an idea, every idea is a meme, and there is a 1:1 relationship. The word “meme” is just an idea that is viewed through the lens of evolution.

Now as for the second question- should a screenshot of Twitter be allowed on this “meme” sub? - I don’t have a strong opinion, but I lean towards no

My apologies, I confused you with the other commenter Sonotsugipaa, and I spelled your name wrong. :(

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Your insist that memes must change or recontextualize at every step, but this is your personal interpretation and is not supported by any definition. This is analogous to saying “genes are only genes when they mutate, otherwise it’s just a bunch of amino acids”.

An exact copy of a gene is a gene. An exact copy of a meme is a meme.

It is not worthless at all. Studying cultural changes through the lens of evolution is very useful and enlightening. That’s why I referenced the books that go into this in depth.

I would argue your narrow definition of “meme” is worthless because we already have a term for what you are describing - they are called “image macros”.

Well the definition is correct, it is Antagonistic’s narrow interpretation of that definition that is incorrect.

The key is evolution. For something to evolve, it must have the ability to be transferred, to be changed/mutated, and to be stored. Both genes and memes have these properties.

Literally any idea is a meme. If you can think it, it’s a meme.

If you break a gene in two, the result is two genes. If you break a meme in two, the result is two memes.

The name “Antagonistic” is a meme. The letter ‘A’ is a meme. The sound you make when you say ‘A’ is a meme. The idea of air vibrating to make sound is a meme.

In one sense this is very true- the wealth of the American worker has been stolen over time by capitalists.

But the truth is that one person supporting a family of five has never been sustainable. It was only possible in an era when the American lifestyle was heavily subsidized by the rest of the world through post-WWII economic domination.

As worker productivity continues to rise, we can hope for a future where 1 person’s work can support 5. But, at least for the near future, the math simply doesn’t work out.

Example 2 is a meme, no doubt about it.

If you go any deeper than the surface-level Google definition (that you are pedantically picking apart), then you will find literally any idea or unit of culture is a meme.

Read the last chapter of Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene. Actually please read the whole book, it’s a masterpiece of science popularization. Or read Susan Blackmore’s The Meme Machine, it explains the concept of memes and how they evolve in further detail.

Well there’s a good chance I’ll die in a Trump concentration camp, so might as well make the best of it.

Shoot to kill any intruders that invade your home without a warrant.

If ICE Gestapo thugs invade your home without a warrant, be a hero. Exercise your second amendment right.

Do you ever imagine your pond is colored red, symbolizing the blood of millions of innocent lives taken by your industry?

Do you wonder how many of your industry’s victims dreamed of having a nice, quiet, peaceful life by a pond?

I have an honest followup question to this meme (because I lived it): how long do you expect the girlfriend to stay?

At age 23 I was in a great relationship, we were in love, then I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I stopped being able to do physical things, I dropped out of school, I was bedridden. She went from being my girlfriend to being my nurse. She cared for me for a year, one long miserable year, then she left.

Is she at fault for leaving?

If we use the original definition of the word “meme”, which is “a unit of cultural transmission” then yes literally everything is a meme.

It was coined to be analogous to the word “gene”. One of the similarities is that the borders of genes and memes are fuzzy: when you split a gene in half, you get two genes. Both genes and memes are nested inside of themselves like a Russian doll.

The misdefinition of “meme” as “image macro on the internet” was ill informed, and is thankfully going out of style.

I heard you like polyrhythms is actually a really good song imo

Your heart is in the right place, but I think “no regrets” is an insane take.

As a fellow unemployed CS grad, I once thought software engineering was my best shot at a middle class life.

Now after 5 years of unemployment, the financial reality is setting in. I will never be able to afford a home. I will never be able to afford a family. I will never be able to afford retirement. I will never be able to afford a vacation. I will never be able to afford most things that make life worth living.

I thought I was going to be an engineer. I thought I was going to be a professional. Now I’m fasting at the end of every month bc food stamps always run out, and the electric company is threatening to shut off my power.

Choosing CS is deeply regrettable.

Lol well I guess it’s easy to get confused. I was submitting job applications to write computer applications.

I was submitting app apps.