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Dumb, Dishonest Memers

Many people really like internet "memes", reaction gifs, emojis, funny photos, short videos, etc.

Themes here include: few words, usually not even one complete sentence, more seeing something and less reading.

Why do people like this?

They don't like to think. Reading is hard. Creating or understanding sentences is thinking. A sentence expresses a thought. Less than a sentence means not thinking through a whole though enough for words.

It's very primitive. It's also a sort of reversion to oral culture from written culture. Not a complete reversion. Books aren't disappearing. It's just that most people don't like books. And maybe it's not a reversion since I guess most people never liked books. The majority who didn't like words didn't write down their opinions in books much. But now the internet has gone super mainstream so they are communicating in public a lot. It's more revealing a problem than anything getting worse.

I thought of a different reason. It's not just that thinking takes thought and sentences are thoughts and they often don't consciously know what they mean or think, or why and don't want to figure it out.

It's also that sentences are connected with honesty. Saying what you mean is clearer to both yourself and others. A dishonest person prefers to live with a mental fog that helps hide the dishonesty.

Ambiguity and leaving a lot unstated gives room for all sorts of dishonesty and bias. Formulating thoughts in sentences is part of facing reality. (Dishonesty is a rebellion against reality. It thrives among those who spend their time dealing with people instead of things. Dishonesty is encouraged in many ways in the social world but is discouraged in and by the natural world.)


Elliot Temple on December 4, 2019
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