Cultural quarantine, not cancel culture. The main criterion for the success of genes is the increase in their reproduction. Similarly, cultural memes (ideas, beliefs) are also replicators (they copy themselves for reproduction), and they can reproduce beyond the will of their carrier or control their behavior (as many parasites do in nature). Often, a short-term impact is enough for memes to completely mutilate the mind (for example, induced psychosis).
Since ancient times, it has been noted that the spread of mental epidemics obeys the same laws as epidemics of infectious diseases (they can be stopped by physical and cultural barriers). Dawkins calls them "mental viruses," and other researchers - parasitic memes ("certain systems of misbelief can be fruitfully treated as cultural parasites"). The reproduction of a meme is its evolutionary success. It doesn't matter whether you ridicule it or reminisce - the meme-parasite has achieved its key goal, it has survived in your consciousness and successfully continues to replicate.
The essence of cultural quarantine aims to completely isolate the epidemic focus of destructive memes. Its difference is that there is no distinction between conditionally healthy and symptomatic carriers during quarantine. After all, from an epidemiological point of view, the most dangerous for the spread of infection are conditionally healthy carriers who deny their illness but actively spread the pathogen.
1. Quarantine for the "Zero patient".
For example, sent to study in Paris, Pol Pot learned and was infected with communist ideas - became a member of the Communist Party, and became a fierce fan of Stalin and Marx. Then, this index case and hyper-disseminator returned and embodied his ideas in a bloody massacre.
2. Hyperspreaders.
A feature of viral ideas is the unstoppable desire of the infected to spread them. For example, Henry Ford, obsessed with anti-semitism, sponsored pro-fascist publications, printed hundreds of thousands of anti-Semitic books, financed Hitler, urged American businesses to invest in Germany, and built car factories there. Or his modern analog - Elon Musk, who bought Twitter and turned it into a propaganda machine, reposting numerous blatantly false destructive materials daily.
3. Asymptomatic carriers.
The most dangerous thing for many infections is that they do not always cause disease symptoms. From typhoid to HIV infection, there are asymptomatic carriers (non-progressors) who carry and spread the disease without having symptoms and disease progression.
The same goes for cultural memes - according to studies, teachers in Nazi Germany, for the most part, did not believe in the ideology but simply teaching according to the curriculum, managed to raise a generation of convinced Nazis who retained their views even after the war. Carriers can only be identified by special tests and are usually restricted access to certain jobs (such as working in children's institutions).
For example, Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) was born with the disease, as her mother had typhoid fever during pregnancy. She is a typical carrier, worked as a cook, infected with typhoid, leading to the death of dozens of people. She gained notoriety for her categorical denial of the disease and refusal to stop working in the food industry. Mary was forcibly quarantined twice by the state, with the second quarantine being lifelong.
Mary clearly understood that she brought death. However, she deliberately worked as a cook or in a hospital, where she could cause as much harm as possible. To avoid being caught, she changed her surname and continued to cause disease outbreaks. Carriers of cultural memes do the same. For example, popular blogger Alexey Fedotov, who grew up in Moscow, moved to the USA and changed his name to Lex Fridman, continues to actively spread destructive propaganda in millions of minds (including approval of Stalin, hatred of the West, denial of the existence of the Ukrainian people, etc.). This is the peculiarity of viral memes - they change the behavior of their carriers and stimulate them to spread the infection.
4. The most dangerous are memes that make the infected aggressive and change behavior. Thus, with rabies, there comes a stage of fearlessness and excitement. The rabies virus is indifferent to the death of the carrier if, before death, it manages to bite enough victims. Ideas of greatness (racism, fascism), ideas of spiritual superiority (Islamism), ideas of social superiority (left and right ideologies), and aggressive conspiracy theories (imaginary terrible enemy) can also be aggressive. Arguing is useless. The essence of viral memes is that they are highly valuable ideas for the carrier. If you even hint, the carrier becomes violently excited. Do not argue, it only increases the aggression of the patient, just bypass him and do not touch him, even with a ten-foot pole. Just as an alcoholic vehemently denies problems.
5. Difficulty in detecting infection. Recognizing infection can be impossible in everyday life, as the household sphere and self-service are minimally affected. Infected people often retain their criticality about their condition and prefer to hide their thoughts to avoid condemnation. However, touching on one specific topic with them, we see a complete clinical manifestation.
6. Don't eat from the dumpster. You cannot get infected if you fundamentally do not consume dubious content. Therefore, it is important to protect the gateways, and carefully monitor your consumption. Just as you don't eat carpaccio made from wild boar meat and lightly salted freshwater fish with a high risk of parasites, you should not consume information from anyone who has any signs of carrying parasitic ideas or any information of unclear origin.
7. The most famous quarantine is wandering in the desert when those who had escaped from slavery under the leadership of Moses erased the imprint of slavery and adopted new cultural memes (commandments) that allowed them to endure and become a great nation. Or the British Puritans, driven by the desire to escape the vices of society and build their community based on Protestant virtues in America.
Parasites of the mind. Why cultural theorists need the meme’s eye view Сognitive Systems Research Volume 52, December 2018, Pages 155-167