Are all bad ideas eventually abandoned as a natural course of meme-tic evolution?

Question

That is to say, do bad ideas get dropped or shunned by society as a whole? Or at the very least by a general majority of society? For example, slavery was once widely practiced and was eventually abandoned as an inconscienable system; a bad idea if you will. Is it then a logical conclusion that all bad ideas should or will ultimately be abandoned as a matter of course?

Answer 1

Bad question. Simply to say!

Answer 2

You also have to remember, with slavery there was also a war. Many people in the south did not concede slavery as a "bad idea" this was a way of life and beliefs that many southerners were born into. To them it was not a bad idea, but a way of life. Am I saying slavery was right? Heck no, I don't believe any man woman or child regardless of who they, what they look like, or where they come from should be forced to live as a slave. One can only hope society as a whole will stand behind abandoning these "bad ideas" Unfortunately, there will always be one or two patrons who do not agree with the rest of society.

Answer 3

First of all, whether or not something is a bad idea is a matter of opinion. Pompeii, for example, was a beautiful little place to build a town.

But seriously, I don't believe that bad ideas will always filter out of society even if most believe they are bad. The best example I can think of is the fact that America has not and will not convert to the metric system. Even though most Americans would acknowledge it is a superior system.

Answer 4

Unfortunately civilisations in history have had a habit of developing and decaying (for example the Roman) when advanced ideas have been lost with a return to barbarism. At the moment we see this with a return to torture (arguably) by the US and a loss of some civil liberties which were thought to supersede bad ideas. There are some who want us to adopt a world where women are completely covered up, petty thieves have their hands cut of and adulterous women are stoned to death. Can we say that these kind of ideas will not prevail because they are 'bad'? Unfortunately it is hard to fight fanatics hell bent on their will prevailing at any cost and basing their arguments on an ancient document which can be interpreted in a variety of ways as they wish in furthering their ends.

Answer 5

No. Bad ideas resurface decades later and embraced as brilliant thinking. For example, fashion. Compare the styles of today with the 70's. Some of the styles were considered 'bad ideas' because they were hard to care for and were uncomfortable. Some styles were dangerous, such as, platform shoes.

Answer 6

You make the joke, yes?

Deceit, theft, robbery, torture, sexual crimes, murder, and war are still with us after approx 7,000 years of recorded history. Are they then good ideas since they have not been abandoned as a matter of course? On the other hand good spelling and grammar must of necessity be bad ideas, as they are being abandoned?

Answer 7

yes many ideas had been dropped and changed by society but our human nature does not allow us neither will make possible for us to reach perfection ever . remember we made mistakes yesterday and will make many more tomorrow . we will continue to try to find our way , but as far as we are humans bad ideas will continue to happen . it is in us to learn by doing mistakes . mistakes are the result of bad ideas and good ideas are the result of us learning from our mistakes . what we do wrong today will help others overcome many situations but yet many will comeback to the same we are facing today .

it is just who we are .

Answer 8

Are you kidding me? Have you been reading the questions people have been asking?

Answer 9

humans forget things...or they are ashamed to admitt things.