That post took the thesis of Masses, Elites, and Rebels and warped it to the point it became dumb. It’d be like reading Oppose Book Worship and coming to the conclusion that you should never read theory.
That work got swung around in that thread over and over again like a bludgeon, practically unopened with pre-loaded takes already pre-justified just by invoking a surface-level summary.
Seemed like a massive effortpost to say “nuh uh, propaganda has no effect on me because I choose for it not to. I believe I am 100% immune to the propaganda I consume. Everyone else should choose the same thing, should know what propaganda is and how to reject it, and it’s their fault if they don’t.”
So, I have a memory of a similar thread where someone was like “why didn’t propaganda reach us?” Which feels like the same thing but more naive.
I think the propagandist understands they are manipulating masses, not individuals, and it probably helps us to think of ourselves as lucky (in a manner of speaking). I freely admit that if I got my degree and a high paying tech job immediately out of uni, my politics would probably be garbage, even though I have nominally the same access to propaganda.
I’ve forgotten what this thread was about. Protest in front of the US Consulate now
In my experience, the most susceptible people to psychological manipulation are the ones who believe they are immune to it. Carnival hucksters have done that for generations: tell someone they are smart, too smart to be fooled, then fool them. Con artistry comes from “confidence” after all.
Same deal with cults. The average cult member is smarter than the general population, at least when it comes to education and IQ measurements. But they are more likely to be convinced that they have come across special secret truths.
I know a guy who fits the latter category to a T. Well, used to. He was into holocaust denial in 2015 and started about half of his sentences with “Well, actually”. No idea what happened to him. He always felt like he got some social currency from being that guy that knows things, despite dropping out of uni multiple times.
That post took the thesis of Masses, Elites, and Rebels and warped it to the point it became dumb. It’d be like reading Oppose Book Worship and coming to the conclusion that you should never read theory.
That work got swung around in that thread over and over again like a bludgeon, practically unopened with pre-loaded takes already pre-justified just by invoking a surface-level summary.
Which thread?
This one. https://hexbear.net/post/814927?scrollToComments=false
Damn, that wound up a lot longer than when I saw it
Seemed like a massive effortpost to say “nuh uh, propaganda has no effect on me because I choose for it not to. I believe I am 100% immune to the propaganda I consume. Everyone else should choose the same thing, should know what propaganda is and how to reject it, and it’s their fault if they don’t.”
So, I have a memory of a similar thread where someone was like “why didn’t propaganda reach us?” Which feels like the same thing but more naive.
I think the propagandist understands they are manipulating masses, not individuals, and it probably helps us to think of ourselves as lucky (in a manner of speaking). I freely admit that if I got my degree and a high paying tech job immediately out of uni, my politics would probably be garbage, even though I have nominally the same access to propaganda.
I’ve forgotten what this thread was about. Protest in front of the US Consulate now
In my experience, the most susceptible people to psychological manipulation are the ones who believe they are immune to it. Carnival hucksters have done that for generations: tell someone they are smart, too smart to be fooled, then fool them. Con artistry comes from “confidence” after all.
Same deal with cults. The average cult member is smarter than the general population, at least when it comes to education and IQ measurements. But they are more likely to be convinced that they have come across special secret truths.
I know a guy who fits the latter category to a T. Well, used to. He was into holocaust denial in 2015 and started about half of his sentences with “Well, actually”. No idea what happened to him. He always felt like he got some social currency from being that guy that knows things, despite dropping out of uni multiple times.
Not like us, we’re mega smrt