This is the intra-individual equivalent of clickbait headlines. Alexander speculates that memetic virality mechanisms are also at play within the individual mind, but if you don't have Incest OCD or whatever, you're probably more strongly affected by, say, the dogwhistle people claiming to find "dogwhistles" showing that politicians are secretly racist or whatever in every public statement. Or, here in South America, people blaming every political event on the CIA.