[two characters are talking]
Vaccines have saved millions of lives you know
[a blue character points at them proudly]
Heh, look at those idiots over there, they believe in the most obvious propaganda
[the blue character is shown doing various faces]
Anyway, did you know communism killed 100 million people?
I’ve seen that 20% of the people commit 80% of the crime
Our military keeps the world a safer place
Everyone starts with opportunities, you have to earn your place in society, work harder
[sixteen variations of the blue character are shown on a multicolored grid]
Crime is out of control and keeps getting worse
Men are natural leaders, women’s nature is to nurture
Billionaires create jobs
Poor people just keep making bad decisions in life
Migrants are taking our jobs
Socialism is when we all share the same paycheck
If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear
If minimum wages go up, everyone will get fired, it’s math
We brought modernity to the countries we colonized
The wage gap is a myth you’re just looking at it wrong
Immigration mathematically causes crime
Developing countries are poor because of corruption
We are the good guys
If workers were worth more, they would be paid more
Universal healthcare is communism
Patriotism means supporting the troops
[a large drawing of a serious Garfield is surrounded by the infinitely repeating phrase]
YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA
I think I am kinda immune. If I can’t form an opinion about something based on facts, I don’t have an opinion on that.
And kudos for the text-version. People rarely think of disabilities.
You won’t know if you’re being influenced by propaganda. You’ll feel you’re immune if it’s working well.
Propaganda usually works at a deeper level. It can nudge your attention towards some things and away from others, so that you don’t even realize you could have attended to other things. It can frame what you consider important or unimportant. It can subtly influence what facts you’re exposed to, or what you consider a fact from a trustworthy source. It can nudge your emotions and perceptions of trustworthiness, shape your unquestioned narratives and unconscious assumptions, influence how you form associations, mold your incentives, and determine what you’ll never see or hear and never know you’re missing. There are many voices in this world that, by design, you haven’t heard, and others that, by design, you don’t consider worth listening to.
Forming an opinion involves prior beliefs, definitions, and judgements about credibility and what counts as evidence. Propaganda steers these steps, not just the conscious opinion-forming you are aware of. By the time you’re aware that you’re forming an opinion based on facts, propaganda has often already done its work, and if you wind up undecided that might be exactly the intended result.
Not to mention that propaganda is often rooted in facts…just cherry-picked, misleading facts. And don’t get me started on green washing.
Hard to be influenced if one does not consume any (social)media. Sure, nowadays it’s not trivial to distinguish facts from manipulation, but that’s the best I can do without going to whatever the topic is, live there, observe and then form an opinion. If even possible.
If I even want that. E.g. In another comment I’ve been asked on my stance towards taiwan. If I’m neither Chinese nor Taiwanese nor living in one or the other, why would I need an opinion on that? To sound smart when others bring it up? To discuss a matter I have no influence in and will never decide anything. I may tend more towards Taiwan, but I also know the level of my information to form an opinion is maybe 1% of it all? So hence I keep that to myself.
Same applies to all general topics people have opinions about, formed by propaganda in whichever way and form.
I would die on a hill to discuss google being the murder of the internet, just because I was there from day1 to form a stance by observation.
This one right here
What are your thoughts on Taiwan?
I like Taiwan, I like China, I know about the conflict and the points both have and that’s about it. I’m neither Taiwanese nor Chinese and I don’t even live near. My opinion is not only non existent, it would be totally useless. Noone would care and I would never voice it. Unless a friend asks me and knows even less.
Why?
I’m curious about your beliefs (and meta beliefs, like this one) regarding commonly propagandized topics. What are your thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
I don’t like it, obviously, but I also don’t know enough to say “Russia bad!” To which the world mostly lean towards. Both sides drown the world in shitty propaganda I totally ignore. And I don’t know places that offer truth. The only truth available is war footage. And that is naked truth. Ugly, dark and sad. And also not revealing anything else beyond both sides doing horrible things.
I have good friends which are Russian and Ukrainian. And we all don’t care. Wouldn’t matter even if we did. Neither Putin nor zelensky will ever ask for our opinion on the war.
We can talk about it, but it would serve no purpose. You might know more, you might know less, and what you know is most likely also false (even if you were Putins/zels right hand). So you either convince me of your false opinion or I convince you of my false opinion. I’d rather discuss ideas, theories or general opinions than those futile topics.
I will note, that I comment this, to tell it to other people possibly reading these comments. You do not have to care, if you do not want to, I understand.
It should not really be “Russia bad!”, more like “Putin’s dictatorship bad”, or something like that. The fact is, Russia attacked another nation under Putin’s leadership (they say it themselves), and started the war without provocation, to conquer a sovereign nation (they have also said that themselves). Knowing this, makes quite many people not like Russia under this leadership, especially if you are their neighbor, and they have attacked your lands before as well, to conquer them (that is, where my angle is coming from, for the context).
Some random russian from the street did not do it - but you cannot blame ukrainians for defending themselves either. So, in short it is “war bad”, “starting war really bad”, but “defending yourself ok”. Now, what is happening in the actual meat grinder… War bad.
Well met
I’m sorry, I can’t answer that.
no one asked you, so… 😂