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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Memes
Miscellaneous
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I find for coding problems it's actually better to walk away and let it tick over in your mind.
You'll often get a shower thought type moment.
That works for pretty much anything.
Get up and do anything else for a while. School teaches us to sit at our desks and work on the problem. Stop acting like a sixth grader.
This got me fired from the daycare
You were just staring at the kids. You were supposed to be changing diapers and feeding them. Insert obvious misunderstanding here.
One place I worked had a small park, so sometimes I'd go for a lap or two to think something through - the fresh air, mild exercise, change of scenery and lack of distractions wroked wonders.
Nothing more enchanting than when the answer to your coding problem literally comes to you in a dream. Had an array issue in C++ where I literally woke up saying "I don't need a ghost array to search after all is said and done, it's already sorted!"
Me, staring at my code, fiddling around, retrying it over and over: "WHY WON'T YOU WORK, DAMMIT?"
Me, late at night, trying to sleep, suddenly wide awake: "Oh that's why!"
Me, the next morning, staring at my code: "...what was it again?"
Once, the answer to a problem that was stumping me came while driving in the middle of nowhere at 01:00am back from a weekend trip.