Then the Xenopsychologist made a muffled noise that could have been a bark of incredulity, or just a sad laugh. “Stars beyond,” said the Xenopsychologist, “they’re trying to persuade us to eat our own children.”
“Using,” said the Lord Programmer, “what they assert to be arguments from universal principles, rather than appeals to mere instincts that might differ from star to star.”
...
Akon was resting his head in his hands. “You know,” Akon said, “I thought about composing a message like this to the Babyeaters. It was a stupid thought, but I kept turning it over in my mind. Trying to think about how I might persuade them that eating babies was… not a good thing.”
I thought you were going somewhere else with that.
I thought any argument or transmittable piece of information that could convince someone to change their values was a meme.