I will say the one I found funniest was a cutaway diagram of an M2(Probably? Every piece of equipment in the US arsenal is M1 or M2) grenade but with the demon core juxtaposed over where the explosive internals would be, with the pin being mechanically attached to the screwdriver. The implication being that one would pull the pin and pro…
I will say the one I found funniest was a cutaway diagram of an M2(Probably? Every piece of equipment in the US arsenal is M1 or M2) grenade but with the demon core juxtaposed over where the explosive internals would be, with the pin being mechanically attached to the screwdriver. The implication being that one would pull the pin and promptly irradiate whoever you were looking to blow up.
Its somewhat interesting where the humor derives. I tend to take the old school approach of seeing memes as viral bits of information, a kind of cultural shorthand for more advanced concepts, and humor being the impetus for making most of them. I expect there are two kinds of humor at work here. One is a simple placement sort of humor. In a place you expected one thing, you see another. Your expectation is subverted. Hence in the case of the M2 grenade, Kinder Surprise, and I would be shocked if there weren't memes about looking through children's halloween candy to find Demon Cores in subversion over the old drugs/razor blades in candy panic. Kind of similar to the trend of overlaying the diagram of Osama Bin Laden's hiding place over similar images.
The other bit of humor is probably as you said, a juxtaposition between the scientist and the demon core, with the scientist being replaced by people who are emphatically not scientists, or even not human like cats or what have you. In addition to what you pointed out, I expect there is an element of in-joke here. Where unlike most jokes, the dark humor of this one makes it funnier by being explained. You have a seemingly innocuous activity, messing around with metal spheres, and someone viewing doesn't get the joke. It is funny because they only see the innocuous part, and the choice of participant is likely to enhance that feeling. The meme looks cutesy and nice. And then someone explains in the comments the really dark history of it, which has a degree of humor, but I think also is perversely a fascinating teaching moment. I think people have a somewhat counterintuitive love of learning what are perceived to be dark secrets, and learning about Slotin's history through a meme I think would trigger that, and probably encourage them to share it.
I will say the one I found funniest was a cutaway diagram of an M2(Probably? Every piece of equipment in the US arsenal is M1 or M2) grenade but with the demon core juxtaposed over where the explosive internals would be, with the pin being mechanically attached to the screwdriver. The implication being that one would pull the pin and promptly irradiate whoever you were looking to blow up.
Its somewhat interesting where the humor derives. I tend to take the old school approach of seeing memes as viral bits of information, a kind of cultural shorthand for more advanced concepts, and humor being the impetus for making most of them. I expect there are two kinds of humor at work here. One is a simple placement sort of humor. In a place you expected one thing, you see another. Your expectation is subverted. Hence in the case of the M2 grenade, Kinder Surprise, and I would be shocked if there weren't memes about looking through children's halloween candy to find Demon Cores in subversion over the old drugs/razor blades in candy panic. Kind of similar to the trend of overlaying the diagram of Osama Bin Laden's hiding place over similar images.
The other bit of humor is probably as you said, a juxtaposition between the scientist and the demon core, with the scientist being replaced by people who are emphatically not scientists, or even not human like cats or what have you. In addition to what you pointed out, I expect there is an element of in-joke here. Where unlike most jokes, the dark humor of this one makes it funnier by being explained. You have a seemingly innocuous activity, messing around with metal spheres, and someone viewing doesn't get the joke. It is funny because they only see the innocuous part, and the choice of participant is likely to enhance that feeling. The meme looks cutesy and nice. And then someone explains in the comments the really dark history of it, which has a degree of humor, but I think also is perversely a fascinating teaching moment. I think people have a somewhat counterintuitive love of learning what are perceived to be dark secrets, and learning about Slotin's history through a meme I think would trigger that, and probably encourage them to share it.