To TRULY control the narrative is a lot more abstract than most people think. In fact, some indicators would be akin to playing poker by showing your cards.
A potential propagandistic factor
“First with the truth” – this was the official rationale that communication methods used to push a story. The premise is that whoever is the first one with to speak up, they are the first ones to “control the narrative.” I am here to fly the BS flag. That might feel idealistic and make sense on paper – but the human mind is a lot more complex than that oversimplified concept.
For example, there are folks who believe the world is flat, or that the moon landings were fake. There are literally millions of resources to prove the validity for the world being round and the fact that mankind went to the moon, but misguided skepticism will prevail on their minds. In fact, some people who think the world is flat or believe the moon-landing conspiracy are probably pretty upset when reading this article.
That proves my original point, that controlling the narrative is extremely subjective. And quite frankly, great numbers of people will choose to believe what they WANT, and that WANT is not necessarily tied to empirical reality. This phenomenon is actually more tied to bias exploitation, and the fact that people hate being called out for being wrong – and would prefer to cling to any mistake than accept they were wrong.
But news flash! We ALL can be wrong at some point – in fact we all make mistakes. It is part of learning. Two things in life you cannot buy are talent and experience. The way to build talent is through experience, and the way you build experience will have a substantial amount of trial and error. That’s fine and expected. Yet some people struggle with that simple reality.
Not everything is at it seems, and yes – sometimes reality might seem counterintuitive to a casual observer (even if they feel they are keen observers) – if you see it from a flawed vantage point, then YOUR PERCEPTION of reality will be skewed. Case in point, flat-earthers. They don’t have a first-hand vantage point to rationalize the physical planetary reality, and when presented with actual scientific methods to debunk that misperception – if they accept that science was actually correct, then that will imply that the flat-earthers (for this example) were incorrect – and if they were wrong about this, in their minds the struggle will be… what ELSE are they wrong about?
This is terrifying for anybody who already has an exploited bias. This is because it [sometimes unconsciously] would make them feel that their entire life was a farse, and they were exponentially foolish – especially if they were adamant at spewing [or arguing and debating otherwise] basic science and debunkable points with people who spent their lives studding and making a living on those scientific fields.
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How can this be exploited through propaganda?
I said it before, and it is worth repeating. People hate being told they are wrong. Especially if somehow, deep inside, even if they try to conceal it – they have no iota of perception that they might very well be wrong. Most people have this internal barometer, kind of like an instinctual guide to know if we are on the wrong track.
One way to know if you’re wrong is if somebody challenges you and your natural response is going ape s–t about it (even if you try to keep your composure). In reality you’re angrier at yourself, and you are reflecting that frustration on the person who points that mistake out to you. Much like if you’re in a toxic relationship and your sibling tells you that your significant other is cheating on you – you’re likely going to snap at your sibling, and cling and doble down in favor of the toxic relationship.
Deep inside, you probably know that you’re being cheated upon, and that this relationship is going nowhere fast – but you are just NOT READY to DEAL with it RIGHT NOW. Hence, mental gymnastics will spin until hopefully things work themselves out and try to give you another glimpse of being in the right place. This is by the way why people look for a confirmation bias in their cozy echo chambers. I know, mind-blown, huh?
Therefore, when you’re trying to control the narrative – if you are dealing with a group that is already compromised, the reality might not mean jack s—t to them, because they are not ready to accept it. If anything, they will double down on the fallacy. But if you’re actually a person who has not been compromised, then these indicators – if they are intended for propaganda – will seem extremely obvious.
In my books Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, and Woke & Proud the Charlatans’ Inconvenience, as well as the several dozens of articles I am offering for you for free in all my official platforms – are intended to teach you how to identify propaganda miles away. And how to flip the authoritarian propagandist narrative on its head. We’ll be talking more about this topic, because it is actually an existential threat, and like it or not we are all in this together. Why? Because we live on the same planet, that’s why. HLC