Science Memes
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
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If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"
Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.
Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.
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See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.
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Oh God, I never really thought about that in terms of AI for medical use but that actually makes AI sycophancy so much more terrifying.
Especially thinking in terms of how it could be used to dissuade people from seeking preventative care. (Which lets be honest, is probably exactly what is intended by at least some of the billionaires promoting AI in medicine as a convenient way to avoid having to go to the doctor for "every little thing.")
On the contrary I've used it a bit for benign ouchies and it is very conventional and will always always refer you to an actual doctor.
But it might be another sycophancy aspect, and I wouldn't be surprised if it went off the rail when you prime it with stuff like "give me a natural holistic ancestral remedy for XYZ"
Well I wouldn't say it has discouraged care. Frankly it has been more accurate than I would have expected. It's more that whenever you give it an update it goes wow that's fantastic news! But then if you read the actual details it's not so fantastic lol. So it will maintain this sort of fake positivity even as it accurately explains some of the bad things that could happen.