this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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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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  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
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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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[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 127 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Funnily enough we try to cultivate everything we like, so in a roundabout way they were successful.

[–] tetris11@lemmy.ml 30 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think the book Sapiens makes the point that wheat has trained us into cultivating it for selfish needs.

(Except that it's wheat, and that we annihilated 99% of its brethren to pick out the one that we liked so we could effectively clone it. But yes, we are the slaves...)

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 years ago

Sapiens and Homo Deus are both such good books. Lots of little anecdotes like that we're just so fascinating.

[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 years ago

I think that’s basically what The Botany of Desire is about, right?

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 years ago

I guess... If you consider factory farmed chickens to be "successful."