Memes are everywhere. The clever one-liners make us laugh and connect us with friends. But here’s the thing: their sheer volume and origins in toxic internet spaces pose a risk of eroding our critical thinking.

Here are three ways memes are making us dumber:

1. Memes are born in sleazy internet communities.

Most memes don’t pop out of nowhere; many come from controversial online spaces. Researchers at University of College London collected over 100 million memes to track where they start and how they spread. What they found out is that most memes come from Reddit, Twitter, /pol/, and Gab, forums known for cyberbullying, harassment, and extreme political views.

Take /pol/, for example. Its name stands for “politically incorrect”. It is a notorious discussion board on 4chan and is infamous for spreading racist and misogynistic jokes. Gab was purposely built for far-right racists and antisemites and has almost zero content regulation.

When memes come from these spaces, and many do, they’re packed full of hidden biases. A punchline can overshadow nuance, making us laugh at things we should be questioning or normalizing biases we might otherwise reject.

For example, memes about “alpha males” vs. “beta males” are popular online, especially in male-dominated online communities, or the “manosphere”. While some posts are silly, others push outdated and misogynistic ideas about toxic masculinity and power.

2. The sheer volume and repetition of memes makes them cliche.

Memes have become such a huge part of our culture that people now try to recreate them. Meme templates like “Distracted Boyfriend” or “Drakeposting” flood the internet. We re-make and re-share these formats. Their adaptability is part of their charm.

But let’s be honest: everyone is tired of seeing the “Distracted Boyfriend” and “Drakeposting” memes. As templates circulate ad nauseam, they create what’s known as “meme fatigue.” In memetics, the study of how ideas and cultural trends spread like viruses (and also where the word “meme” comes from), memes evolve like biological creatures. They constantly replicate, adapt, and sometimes mutate in response to shifts in culture.

When it first appears, a meme comes off as clever, insightful, or even thought-provoking. But after seeing the same joke a hundred times in slightly different variations, it loses its spark. Instead of making us think or laugh, memes just become background noise – predictable, overused, and mind-numbing. In other words, memes become cliches.

3. Memes desensitize us to important issues.

Many memes are funny. Last time I took a physics test, I didn’t think I did that well. After school, one of my friends sent me a meme about failing tests. I laughed, then shook off the disappointment. In moments like this, memes can be a good way to cope with stress and laugh off troubles.

However, some memes downplay issues that shouldn’t be downplayed.

In 2020, after Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, #WW3 and “World War III” memes blew up on the internet. Suddenly, a real geopolitical crisis felt more like a running joke than something to be genuinely concerned about. Events like China possibly attacking Taiwan, Trump deporting millions of Mexicans and tearing apart families, and the South Korean president declaring martial law out of thin air all became topics to laugh about rather than the terrifying realities they are.

Over time, this kind of humor desensitizes us. When we constantly see serious topics wrapped in humor, they start to feel less urgent. Of course memes can be a unique way to bring attention to social issues, but there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed. A joke about failing a test is one thing, but a joke about rape or human suffering is another.

Serious matters like calling global warming a hoax or causally cracking a joke about rape culture are increasingly framed as memes to look at for three seconds then scroll away. As a result, memes foster a culture of dismissal, where nothing feels too serious and everything is reduced to fleeting entertainment.

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Memes have undeniable cultural value. They make us laugh, connect us with friends, and provide a quick and fun way to comment on what’s happening in the world. However, their constant repetition, overuse, and roots in questionable soil come with a cost.

If we submerge too deeply into meme culture, we risk becoming less informed and engaged with the social issues that demand our earnest attention.