Not really about memes, but I’ve been wondering if there’s some continuity in the elements in humans that make us susceptible to addictions, and the elements that make us susceptible to cults, conspiracy theories and false narratives, like the whole “fake votes” thing in the US, which large numbers of people seem to still believe, based on a lot of propaganda put out by people with a lot to gain by the lies. Points of comparison:
– it’s hard to give up a conspiracy theory or cult, or an addiction, because it’s about your identity, and it’s about admitting you have a problem, and changing habits of mind and body. Who wants to say they were wrong?
– it’s also about the group you hang with: you go the bar and everyone’s drinking; you live in a particular place, or watch a particular show, and “everybody” is voting one way; it’s hard to believe there are others who don’t live in those worlds, or that you could be one of them.
– it’s self destruction that feels like self love. Like, voting for the people who don’t want a big relief package and don’t want to raise the minimum wage but do like giving breaks to billionaires and corporations, or voting for the people who don’t want you to have health care: that doesn’t seem like it’s self interest for rural Americans or low to middle income people. But seems like many of those people believe their self interest hinges on an ideological image created by images and rhetoric and myth. and that’s not unlike the way we can believe we’re taking care of ourselves or even treating ourselves or medicating ourselves, when we numb out the scary bits of reality by getting drunk or high. it comes from a sense of powerlessness that makes you reach for false illusions of power or control.
It’s not a total analogy, lots doesn’t fit, but it partly fits.