The world is going unhinged, and my concern is that it will likely get a lot worse before it gets better. Fixing that takes a collective effort, though.
There is so much going on in our socio-political discourse
Let’s explore how we've got here...
Plenty of blissful ignorance is rampant around the world, which by the way directly and indirectly affects us in the United States of America (if you live here in USA). I cannot personally ignore all the rather bizarre events that have been unfolding in recent history. Some of these are politically motivated, some are self-inflicted wounds based on a categoric misunderstanding on how the hard realities of what happens elsewhere are linked to us. Like it or not, the world is interconnected more than ever before. And I am not just taking about the obvious reach of globalization and the internet. And don’t get me wrong, crazy things also had happened throughout history. But now, we are able to gain a lot more information in an expedited manner than ever before. And the double edge from that sword means that there is also a huge opportunity for misinformation to be proliferated. And in misinformation is where adversaries thrive.
If you have read some of my previous installments of “I Love Ranting and Today in America,” you will see that there is a common trend. People who let their emotions dictate their decisions, despite factual evidence that would mitigate a misunderstanding in the first place. A lot of these emotions derive from cults of personality. And this can be very damaging when you consider all the problematic ramifications that a simple misunderstanding can carry – if obediently followed by a group of people. This is especially true if his group of people are adamant about their perception, even if erroneous, and would justify often irrational actions whist stubbornly refuse understanding any information that is contrary to their emotional response.
And this does not mean that a person who is being incredibly stubborn about a certain narrative is a bad person. In fact, that’s what makes it more dangerous – even if that seem counterintuitive to most people. The crux of this paradigm is that these stubborn people are very vulnerable to exploitation. In their minds they might think they are invincible and that they hold the ENTIRE truth. Spoiler alert, that’s exactly what a person who wants to exploit their minds wants them to think. Make them think in a cynical manner and immediately discrediting any “dissenting” view. Why you think is that?
It is because, if a person is already convinced, they are right – especially if they are wrong, and they find somebody to “agree” with them in this false narrative, then they will very much gravitate towards that “friendly group” who seems more adept to share that misguided narrative. Then an interesting phenomenon occurs. Because the person who is convinced of this false narrative will also have a doubt, albeit very deep inside of them. They have this fleeting feeling that is questioning if what they are doing is correct or not. Call it instinct, call it intuition, or whatever you will. Most people have an intrinsic understanding of right and wrong. And many of them are not willingly choosing to make a “wrong” decision. Most people will make the best decision they can, based on the information available to them. Not everybody though, the truth is that there are some tools out there a well.
And that’s another layer when things can get contentious. Whomever controls the flow of information to these followers will likely be able to push a specific narrative onto them. And of course, this also means the censoring, redacting, spinning, or otherwise attempt to weasel their way out of facts that would compromise the integrity of whatever is that they are trying to push to their group of followers.
© 2021 Marcelo Baqueroalvarez / HLC | graffiti at Limassol Cyprus 2021
“Leadership” can be used for good or evil
Are some of the followers of a toxic cult of personality are already pretty terrible people? Statistically yes. Some people are just awful, but there are a lot of people who are in that type of groups that were conned into following a false narrative. This happens all the time. Especially when it comes to people following somebody in a leadership position, or otherwise a position of power. But those are not the only ones, anybody who has a platform, being a brand, a company, a gathering, even a family… as long as there are people involved in some shape or form; there is a possibility that people inside a group get conned into a false narrative. If – that is the intent of whomever is controlling the narrative.
I’ve written about this before. A leader or an ideology are only as strong as those who are willing to follow them. It is worth repeating.
Another issue in society is that some bad leaders and ideologies tend to gain a lot of traction very quickly. I’ve always found it interesting how fast something can be destroyed, despite the fact it took a long time to build. Likewise, some toxic or negative ideas then to flourish very quickly if they find individuals vulnerable enough to be receptive. And it is a human trait, bad habits tend to be easier to assimilate than good habits. Also, misery loves company, and when you get people who are unhappy – this unhappiness for some reason becomes a sense of belonging, and even a feeling of community. They will assert: “All these like-minded people, they can’t all be wrong, right?”
Surprisingly, even some crazy narratives might not seem all that off-the-mark if they are given a very narrow scope of understanding. By limiting the rationalization to very narrow scope of knowledge, then it is a lot easier to push people into an echo chamber. It even goes further, because once a person finds themselves in the echo chamber and are cozy living therein; then those in said echo chamber will become vectors to discredit anything that goes against that cozy reality they lived in. Especially if the echo chamber crowd is in fact getting more and more divorced from reality.
And this divergence from actual reality is very easy to encounter. We are all vulnerable to falling into an echo chamber. It is part of human nature, and of course this can be exploited by those who are very well aware of how these human traits come together. For example, in Marketing they very much follow some of those principles. Although it is mostly to try to sell you something and develop some brand loyalty. However, this principle can also be used for propaganda and to instill a visceral response to a target audience. And yes, it works. You’re exposed to that every day, and possibly not even realize it. It becomes normalized, and in some instances, we feel as though it is part of our intrinsic identity.
Next time that you feel very adamant about a particular narrative, stop and ask yourself: “Who is actually benefiting from my undivided loyalty?” This question might seem self-answerable on the surface, but it is not. It is instead calling for introspection. And introspection means understanding that free thinker that lives inside each one of us. Instead of been that parrot of what we have been conditioned to believe; but rather what we have as a human virtue – the gift of rationality. There are many human values that make us more similar than different. There is lot fearmongering out there, and those are tools designed to divide us.
There is always a lot more to the story. And somebody might be trying to manipulate you. An easy way to figure out if somebody is somehow manipulating you, they will not let you read or see an uncensored version of whatever adversarial information has to officially say about them. They will be specially against sharing stories that are not editorialized. They would prefer to have somebody “explaining you” what you’re seeing, and what you’re supposed to be understanding. Just never the full context. Anybody who wants to control you will not even encourage you to seek more information on your own about anything that even approaches something “controversial” against the ideology they are selling you. On the contrary, they will “protect you” from getting this information that is otherwise freely available, because it is not convenient to them. People who want to manipulate you want obedience and would put themselves as the source of all you need to know.
I want to invite you to open your mind. Look at dissenting opinions and narratives. That does not mean that you’ll become astray and start following narratives you don’t agree with. What it means is that you’ll be able to enact your own critical thinking. Who knows? Maybe your own doctrine is indeed the correct one, or perhaps somebody has been gaslighting you while you’re cozy in your golden echo chamber.
And if you find that you were indeed a victim of a false narrative, don’t worry. It can happen to anybody; learning and important life lessons will often come from a place that used to be a blind spot. We all have blind spots, every last one of us. Nobody knows everything, and we all can fail. But also, we all can learn and become better for it. We cannot change the entire world, but we can change ourselves – and that is a great start. And yes, change is inevitable, and we can all change to be better. Anybody who thinks they are perfect right now, by definition are imperfect. If you find yourself agreeing with a narrative that makes you want to discard any other narrative, dare yourself to look at a different point of view. You might go back and forth for a while as your research progresses. That’s good, because you’ll start identifying all the gaslighting that is out there. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
If it seems too simple, there is likely a lot you don’t know about the subject. This does not mean that everything around us is just a big lie. That’s not at all what I am saying. What I am saying is that if there is something that could create a visceral response and emotional attachment to a particular topic or personality, it is worth slowing down and analyzing it as pragmatically as possible. There are all kinds of entities competing for our attention. Remember, if somebody wants to manipulate you it will prompt you to move their rhetoric into an action that could potentially get you in trouble. And this process could be very gradual and be imperceptible.
The context in this article will be important for future articles I’ll be posting in this site. Also, I’ve written a few manuscripts and having an open mind will help you make the most of it. As I said, there is a level of complexity to everything. Thank you for hanging out with me! Keep exercising your critical thinking and intellectual honesty. HLC