Defender
@defenderofbasic.bsky.social
Memetics science writer / open memetics evangelist
"can we predict, in principle, the “emotional resonance vector” of a new idea before it spreads"
yes, absolutely! All you have to do is preregister with the open memetics institute. If your thing goes viral in the way you predict, then that's proof
yes, absolutely! All you have to do is preregister with the open memetics institute. If your thing goes viral in the way you predict, then that's proof
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
"can we predict, in principle, the “emotional resonance vector” of a new idea before it spreads"
yes, absolutely! All you have to do is preregister with the open memetics institute. If your thing goes viral in the way you predict, then that's proof
yes, absolutely! All you have to do is preregister with the open memetics institute. If your thing goes viral in the way you predict, then that's proof
yeah this is solvable if you take reflexivity as a fundamental part of your axioms, not something you try to eliminate. From michael smith's "subjective science" (morphenius.substack.com/p/subjective...)
November 8, 2025 at 9:52 PM
yeah this is solvable if you take reflexivity as a fundamental part of your axioms, not something you try to eliminate. From michael smith's "subjective science" (morphenius.substack.com/p/subjective...)
(experimenting with memes to unite left/right)
November 8, 2025 at 2:34 PM
(experimenting with memes to unite left/right)
screenshot to get around word text limit (also - if there's a beta testing thing for Semble or a discord or w/e I'd love to test it out! I've been getting all my ORI people to write on github to get used to the workflow of micropublishing & reviewing each other)
November 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM
screenshot to get around word text limit (also - if there's a beta testing thing for Semble or a discord or w/e I'd love to test it out! I've been getting all my ORI people to write on github to get used to the workflow of micropublishing & reviewing each other)
meanwhile, on extremist right wing twitter @hankgreen.bsky.social
October 4, 2025 at 7:34 PM
meanwhile, on extremist right wing twitter @hankgreen.bsky.social
we are discussing a strange phenomenon where if you google "Memory Holes are signs of Epistemically Hostile Enviroments" this substack essay does NOT appear (which is kind of poetic, the concept of a memory hole is being memory holed!)
deathisbad.substack.com/p/memory-hol...
deathisbad.substack.com/p/memory-hol...
August 5, 2025 at 12:29 PM
we are discussing a strange phenomenon where if you google "Memory Holes are signs of Epistemically Hostile Enviroments" this substack essay does NOT appear (which is kind of poetic, the concept of a memory hole is being memory holed!)
deathisbad.substack.com/p/memory-hol...
deathisbad.substack.com/p/memory-hol...
glimpse of what I've been up to (this is from the open memetics discord) - discussing memory holes & how they are unstable, because awareness of them makes them disappear
August 5, 2025 at 12:28 PM
glimpse of what I've been up to (this is from the open memetics discord) - discussing memory holes & how they are unstable, because awareness of them makes them disappear
great question!! I recently wrote an analysis/introduction to hank green from a memetics perspective (his egregore is surprisingly not well known at all in the tpot/rationalist spaces)
July 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
great question!! I recently wrote an analysis/introduction to hank green from a memetics perspective (his egregore is surprisingly not well known at all in the tpot/rationalist spaces)
(stats for the "There is no source" art piece on twitter: )
June 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
(stats for the "There is no source" art piece on twitter: )
"There is No Source"
June 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
"There is No Source"
update: k-means on projected data maybe isn't that great? (I haven't tried any of that yet)
June 18, 2025 at 1:32 PM
update: k-means on projected data maybe isn't that great? (I haven't tried any of that yet)
epistemic shortcuts are necessary, but some increase your ability to handle complexity, and some increase the veil of complexity that allows power, abuse, corruption to fester
June 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
epistemic shortcuts are necessary, but some increase your ability to handle complexity, and some increase the veil of complexity that allows power, abuse, corruption to fester
given a viral tweet thread, we can see "the shape" of all replies. Replies that similar together conceptually appear close together on the map (planning to apply this to bluesky next)
June 17, 2025 at 1:41 AM
given a viral tweet thread, we can see "the shape" of all replies. Replies that similar together conceptually appear close together on the map (planning to apply this to bluesky next)
Prep-planned scripts for social interactions are training wheels, and they prevent you from actually learning the underlying rules. You have to prompt real humans over & over to learn this. Good news: a lot of them crave earnest interaction on the internet. Go practice there.
June 10, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Prep-planned scripts for social interactions are training wheels, and they prevent you from actually learning the underlying rules. You have to prompt real humans over & over to learn this. Good news: a lot of them crave earnest interaction on the internet. Go practice there.
"how autistic supercharmers develop (1/2)"
June 10, 2025 at 1:10 PM
"how autistic supercharmers develop (1/2)"
the ideological turing test is how you find out if you think the other side is evil because you don't understand them, or because they actually are evil
June 4, 2025 at 12:35 PM
the ideological turing test is how you find out if you think the other side is evil because you don't understand them, or because they actually are evil
This is my protocol for good faith interaction on the internet cc @linas.org
June 2, 2025 at 3:37 PM
This is my protocol for good faith interaction on the internet cc @linas.org
if you make peer reviews public, it acts as a way to get feedback for the reviewer too (like as an undergrad I can review a paper, in my own words, and that conveys any lack of understanding I may have about the field)
June 2, 2025 at 1:02 PM
if you make peer reviews public, it acts as a way to get feedback for the reviewer too (like as an undergrad I can review a paper, in my own words, and that conveys any lack of understanding I may have about the field)
two ways to communicate with an entire mind
June 1, 2025 at 11:12 PM
two ways to communicate with an entire mind
(no larger blog post yet, I'm struggling to write something that's legible to everyone, getting feedback on individual pieces seems to be unblocking me)
here's my attempt at an answer:
here's my attempt at an answer:
May 31, 2025 at 4:07 PM
(no larger blog post yet, I'm struggling to write something that's legible to everyone, getting feedback on individual pieces seems to be unblocking me)
here's my attempt at an answer:
here's my attempt at an answer:
The fundamental principle of open memetics is we spread ideas via "pull, not push". Because either it succeeds, or if there is resistance, that is ITSELF novel information. You either spread or gain insight. It's either marketing, or research. It's win win either way cc @tedunderwood.me
May 31, 2025 at 3:26 PM
The fundamental principle of open memetics is we spread ideas via "pull, not push". Because either it succeeds, or if there is resistance, that is ITSELF novel information. You either spread or gain insight. It's either marketing, or research. It's win win either way cc @tedunderwood.me
On open source cultural engineering (the cool thing about this is that doing it in the open allows those who disagree to take action, and possibly move the needle in the opposite direction. Culture war turns into culture science)
May 31, 2025 at 3:26 PM
On open source cultural engineering (the cool thing about this is that doing it in the open allows those who disagree to take action, and possibly move the needle in the opposite direction. Culture war turns into culture science)
I didn't think about that!! the other big idea I'm really excited to see is "drift over time". Like take something that seems like it has shifted (like say, the ethics of AI) and see the concepts moving. If we had this decades ago we might have seen:
May 31, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I didn't think about that!! the other big idea I'm really excited to see is "drift over time". Like take something that seems like it has shifted (like say, the ethics of AI) and see the concepts moving. If we had this decades ago we might have seen:
on epistemic literacy tests
 Hank Green shows examples of liberal misinformation to his liberal audience. "The conclusion is right, but not for this reason"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sydtqdji6dxfqfn35gd7esdw/bafkreifculx2kfgwtpnsbsjuogtkobhovadw3ci26gg36ucplwb5w6jjsm@jpeg)
May 30, 2025 at 7:40 PM
on epistemic literacy tests