The problem isn’t spreading memes in and of itself. “Flatten the curve” is the same kind of statement as “we stay here for you, you stay home for us” or “we will defeat this invisible enemy”; it’s a motivational poster, a compact way for people to remind themselves what’s happening and why their efforts are important. The problem is when people start trying to interpret the memes as *policies*, and argue about whether the curve can indeed be flattened or declare that we’ll be in lockdown for N months because otherwise the curve won’t be flat.
The problem isn’t spreading memes in and of itself. “Flatten the curve” is the same kind of statement as “we stay here for you, you stay home for us” or “we will defeat this invisible enemy”; it’s a motivational poster, a compact way for people to remind themselves what’s happening and why their efforts are important. The problem is when people start trying to interpret the memes as *policies*, and argue about whether the curve can indeed be flattened or declare that we’ll be in lockdown for N months because otherwise the curve won’t be flat.