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In The Shadow of a Recession, Context is Key
Here at the Puck, it’s our job to tell you where the world is going. And the answer is, recession, recession, recession. That may seem obvious to most of you but if it is, it is despite the propaganda blasted your way from various sources, ranging from politicians, to stockbrokers, to realtors, to crypto proponents. You are the arbiter of what you consume, and you must use whatever critical thinking ability you have to determine what exactly everyone’s angle is -- is it substance or self-serving perspective? You also have your very own built-in bias. I’m not sure where the following quote originally comes from, but my brother likes the statement “that which you most fervently desire, you most easily believe.“
It was with this background that I want to share some wisdom I encountered when listening to the Mark Groves Podcast. He interviewed Renee Hobbs who recently completed the book Mind over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age. Her perspective on polarization and how to improve it is very interesting. Rather than waiting for the media (social and traditional) to get it right, she offers tools to us so that we may regain control of the narrative.
In the past when we wanted “news”, we had to go out and search for it. But now Renee explains the news is “sent” to us and it is algorithmically programmed to keep us engaged. The media now taps into what we already know and is not challenging our beliefs. We all for the last ten years have been living in unique and different informational worlds. Our friends and relatives only see the same news that we do if they have our same beliefs. Think about that. We have created echo chambers and we have become trapped in our own information bubbles.
These algorithms are designed to feed our bias. Economically this generates more money for the media companies because the more time we are engaged the more ad dollars they can earn and even capturing more subscriptions. While we have a basic understanding of this process, when we are asked to determine what is propaganda, we don’t recognize it because it tells us what we emotionally want to hear or by triggering our anger and fear, causing us to react emotionally as opposed to rationally.
One thing we must understand is the importance of “language”. The words we choose to use shape our reality. Word choice is the most effective tool in the war of persuasion. When we use a word to label someone, it can create a gap and distance. When we understand that we are being manipulated, we can then begin to ask questions and look for the bias and manipulation. This of course requires that we overcome our exhaustion and develop and exercise curiosity.
To get past polarization, we must adopt intellectual humility, and then in discussion with others ask people why they are using specific words and open ourselves to learning something new. Why not attempt to approach people with less fear and more curiosity to solve our current polarization? Renee remains optimistic that we improve polarization by building bridges and by asking more questions.
The trap occurs when we see ourselves as right, because it allows us to isolate and not seek out other opinions that help us get better at critical thinking. Stereotypes and mental short cuts let us view our understanding of the world in the most simplistic ways. There is some value to this in a complex world, but it can lead to blindness on a daily level and our ability to be manipulated is increased. We are tribal by nature and when our tribalism is manipulated it can be very dangerous. We must embrace complexity. Conspiracy theories are sometimes true, and so we can’t just reject them out of hand. But, we have to actually do the work of understanding something different.
Propaganda to one person is just persuasion to another person. Lobbyists are often successful at getting things done and sometimes that’s a good thing, but it depends on what your perspective. Even reading the NY times if you look carefully, you can find the bias of the PR firm who helped place the article or pieces. We can’t escape our self-interest, but we can try and climb out of the bubble. We have to push back on not asking questions and the impetus to make snap judgments. Slowing things down like a master….when we unplug we take a media shabbat then we can more easily see the bias. It allows the nervous system to regulate.
Just like with meditation, reflection can be cultivated. Why is this language making me feel this way? Why am I feeling angry? We have to start witnessing ourselves. Renee says even if we are media literate, we still are vulnerable, but we can work to develop more objectivity.
Dear Puck Readers, In light of the coverage of recent mass shootings – for to say “in light of the recent mass shootings” would imply that there haven’t been 337 mass shootings in the US to date this year, killing a total of 387 people and injuring another 1,405, that have escaped our attention or care – I would like to forward along a David French piece that engages with the concept of “Lost Boys” slipping through the cracks of our society. It is important, as we attempt to address such massive issues as the epidemic of “murders via gun in the US,” that we check in on one another, and explore some of the psychological hypotheses behind what is happening so we can come up with a holistic solution to this unprecedented slew of catastrophes. While the piece is thought provoking, French obviously doesn’t engage with the actual subject of “gun control” or the vast misinterpretation of the 2^nd Amendment, nor does he engage with the other – and perhaps greater -- social ill of America’s endemic obsession with guns in the first place.