Kevin Simler

memedics (n.) — meme medics, doctors on the battlefield of the internet culture wars i’m trying to think through how a “memedic” would respond to the Progress Studies “controversy”. this case presents us with (at least) two warring realities, two narratives on a collision course

1. a memedic would write down their gut reaction and notice which tribe they want to angrily defend by default 2. they’d come up with some plausible explanations for why the other tribe is so angry. maybe they’d try to play out a hypothetical convo with a friend who’d disagree

imagining the “opponent” as a friend helps them remember not to demonize or flippantly dismiss 3. they’d try to forget about who’s right and who’s wrong for a moment, and focus on fleshing out the positions of both sides just for the fun of it

4. if they decide to contribute to the convo, they’d zoom out a bit and explain what they learned about: the shared narrative that each ingroup is telling itself, the kernel(s) of truth in each camp, and what they’re not seeing about each other