Saturday, June 24, 2017

Propaganda

It is worth re-reading Bernays on Propaganda, one of the many Wilson employed as Government workers to press his cause for War. As Bernays starts:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet. They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number...

The Government, either the elected or the "Deep State" has mastered the means to control, not just influence, the opinions of the masses. What is especially interesting is that scientists, whose life is supposedly dedicated to questioning, all too often fall into the line of the echo chamber, the desired propagandist focus. Kuhn in his work on Scientific Revolutions looked at this as the paradigm trap.

One should spend more time reading Alice in Wonderland and question the Rabbit Holes, and that nothing is necessarily what it appears to be.

Propaganda is a trade craft practiced by nations, the US as well as Russia, China, and even ISIS. One should always question, especially scientists. Yet there seems to be a lemming effect at play.

Suggestion: step back and examine the "facts", and ask if they are even the true "facts".