Why I Hate (Most) Memes

You've likely seen them, pictures going around Facebook with a phrase that's supposed to ridicule someone who disagrees with you. The word "meme" actually originates from Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene (1976), as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. But now the term has taken on a life of its own on the internet, being used as images meant to ridicule the other side or to try to give a brief argument for your position.

But that's the problem. There are a few exceptions, but a decent argument can't be made in only a few lines. Arguments are much more nuanced than that, and require evidence and arguments to support it. This is why as great as blogs can be, if you really want to educate yourself on a topic you should read books. But the problem is that people prefer soundbites over sound reasoning. It's the same on signs that you see when people picket.

Take this little slogan from the pro-choice side: "if abortion is murder, then masturbation is genocide." This statement has great rhetorical force, but it's nothing but a strawman argument against the true pro-life position, that the unborn are unique, genetically whole, living human organisms, and sperm and egg cells are just parts of a larger organism. Here's another meme that I've responded to in the past.
So I think that most memes are unhelpful when it comes to arguing for or against a particular position. I think that some can be useful in getting a conversation started, but I think that many memes just need to go.

Now don't get me wrong. Pro-life memes can be bad, too. Many people seem to be sharing memes as a way to "rally the troops," but all that does is help reinforcement someone's position when they already agree with you. Very few memes actually serve the purpose of getting someone thinking (though I'm sure they're out there). I think some pro-life memes can be good, and help get the conversation going (such as ones that mention that being born does not make one human). You just have to keep in mind that memes like that don't make your argument. You need to be willing to have a dialogue once you share a meme like that.

So I think that most memes are unhelpful when it comes to arguing for or against a particular position. I think that some can be useful in getting a conversation started, but I think that many memes just need to go.