“Antirational memes are evolved to resist the relevant creative problem-solving, but it is not impossible. People do find ways all the time. We humans have dazzlingly creative, ingenious minds capable of far more than we tend to imagine.”
– Sarah Fitz-Claridge
“If anti-rational memes are compelling me to coerce my children, and they prevent you criticising them and compel you to install them in other people, how can I ever take my children seriously instead of coercing them?!”
Antirational memes only compel you in the sense that any idea in your mind can. Notice that the very idea of their compelling you implies that rival ideas are also present in your mind. It may feel as if the compulsion is coming from outside your mind, but it is actually inside your own mind. It is not a magic demon possessing you or reaching into your mind and doing stuff in your mind.
Because antirational memes are ideas inside our mind rather than a supernatural force compelling us from outside, we can use our creativity to resolve the conflicts. Antirational memes are evolved to resist the relevant creative problem-solving, but it is not impossible. People do find ways all the time. We humans have dazzlingly creative, ingenious minds capable of far more than we tend to imagine.
You can look at the issue from different angles, seeing it in the wider context of your thinking. What values do you hold that conflict with coercion? What do you think of paternalism and even gentle coercion when you yourself are the one on the end of it? Or when your beloved sister is on the end of it?
There is every reason for hope! And the fact that you have noticed that coercing your children is problematic is progress compared to how things were in the static society1 of the past. (And hey, maybe the fact that mainstream parents these days seem to feel more need to justify their advocacy of coercion is itself progress?)
See also:
- If coercion has impaired my ability to correct errors, how is taking children seriously even possible?
- The rationalist mistake
- Is the purpose of taking children seriously to avoid the harm coercion would do?
Notes
1. Don’t miss the fascinating stuff about static societies versus dynamic ones, antirational memes, and the evolution of creativity, in David Deutsch’s brilliant article, The evolution of culture, and in his second book, The Beginning of Infinity.
See also:
- “What is wrong with loving limits for children?”
- How they feel about the coercion at the time
- Common emotional blackmail
Sarah Fitz-Claridge, 2022, Taking Children Seriously FAQ: ‘“If antirational memes are compelling me to coerce my children, what hope is there?!”’, https://takingchildrenseriously.com/if-anti-rational-memes-are-compelling-me-to-coerce-my-children-what-hope-is-there/