@thltd_: "The Left can't meme" is a now...

"The Left can't meme" is a now-clichéd but observably true phrase. Differences in Left- and Right-Wing brain hemisphere bias, which coincidentally map to left and right brain hemisphere functions, may explain why Leftist memes suck. I will explain the theory in this thread...

Lateralization of brain functions dates back to evolutionary prehistory. This image is a good summary. Each hemisphere produces different "visions" of the world. Left hemisphere = analytical, detailed-oriented perception, while right hemisphere = intuitive, holistic perception.

The left brain ("the emissary") carves reality into small pieces, sees a world of isolated fragments, decontextualized & abstract. The right brain ("the master") sees a world that is rich, interconnected, constantly evolving; it reads between the lines & anchors us in reality.

The left brain perceives animate things as inanimate ("the human body is just a machine"), the right perceives inanimate things as animate ("the sun is a living god"). The right brain is more important for holistic understanding, but accurate perception requires both hemispheres.

This image shows trees drawn by people with right & left brain hemisphere damage. The left brain produces an incoherent tree fragment, a twig at best; the right produces a broadly tree-like shape that could be misidentified. Both hemispheres combined produce a recognizable tree.

Now, compare these modes of perception to Left vs. Right politics: Leftists are neurotically pedantic, obsessed with abstract theories, tiny details, splintering the world into smaller and smaller pieces. Generally, they can't see the forest for the trees.

See: race denialism ("every human is a unique individual!"), "gender" as abstract and infinite, and so on. Psychosis and schizophrenia are associated with right hemisphere brain damage, i.e. left hemisphere dominance. Are many Leftists not completely disconnected from reality?

In contrast, Right-Wingers are concerned with bigger pictures and broad trends over specific details, exemplified by "stereotyping" and judging groups while ignoring random exceptions to the rules. The Right-Wing worldview is more holistic and intuitive.

Right-Wingers appear to be more prone to conspiratorial thinking, constantly looking for connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena. This biases RWers toward false positives, which is far safer and more evolutionarily adaptive than being biased toward false negatives.

Bearing the above info in mind, it seems natural that Leftist memes are giant walls of textual gibberish, the interpretation of which requires prior knowledge of convoluted abstract theories, while RW memes are simple, intuitive, and easily understood at a glance.