Truth or wishful thinking?

A hundred years ago, newspapers and leaflets used to form public opinion and condition the worldview of the population at large on the topics that are outside of the immediate experience of the majority of people. Public speeches and speaking tours around the country were among the primary ways to spread the message and promote the desired worldview.

Then radio came along. FDR took advantage of it and became almost a member of each household. Soviet propaganda utilized the radio too.

In the USSR – even as late as 30 years ago – each house was required to have a cable radio. The justification was that, in the case of a war, this line of communication between the government and the people might become the only one. In Stalin’s time, one was not allowed to turn it off, so in each home, the radio was talking (even if very quietly) from 6am until midnight. It delivered news and good music (it was actually good). Many people used it as an alarm clock. It started at 6am by playing the national anthem. I have used to it so much that even today mumble the words of the anthem sometimes at the back of my mind when I have to get up very early – the habit apparently wired in me after many years of exposure. This tiny background sound – all day, every day for years – definitely was able to mold public opinion.

Then TV came along, and Kennedy (and Soviet propaganda) utilized it to his advantage. The imagery is very effective.

Today Google is added to the arsenal of tools that are used to bring the message to the masses (and to manipulate public opinion), and the new 45th American president tries to use Twitter the same way FDR used the radio. At first, Google ranking algorithm was very helpful in finding the most relevant information, selected by the references – it usually correlated with the quality of the information. Then people, companies, and states started exploiting it to bring up the rating of their ads and other information.

Now there are many bots out that coerce us into certain ways of thinking, distorting the truth, and shaping our world views. It becomes increasingly more difficult to discern between a new revealing revolutionary truth and the most outrageous lie or fantasy. It is easier to do after the news become not new, but in the heat of the dialog, the muddy waters work in favor of the boldest liar. The good quality info is drowned in the sea of lies, half-truths, and honest mistakes. The criteria for accepting something as true on the spot is based on the gut feelings. It is heavily influenced by the “feeling good.” The confirmation bias rules.

For hundreds of years, the religious relics were spread across many churches in great numbers. So many pieces of “true cross” are on display today that one could build many crosses from them. And yet, every believer and often even non-believer feels “something special” in the presence of a relic. Who knows? Maybe this relic is the true one?

Today “fake news” term is used by everybody against everybody. To add some stats, recently, Facebook estimated that between 5-6%  (40-50mln) of its accounts are fake. Other estimates this number as high as 27% (200mln). They are used for various purposes, including dissemination of the views that would exploit your desire to confirm your world view. Would not you prefer to feel correct and vindicated over the need to re-evaluate your point of view and learn opinions of your “enemies”?

Well, if your answer is yes, then you can be sure that this your preference can be exploited, too. So, you better be aware that not all of your “friends” are acting in good faith, not all of them even real people, and those real and sincere ones can be under the influence (pan was intended), including me, of course.

Is it possible to form an “independent opinion” in the area where you do not have an expertise and cannot verify the fact yourself? I don’t think so. But is it possible to decrease the chance of being deceived? Yes, I think so.

Just keep an eye on the quality of your sources. This proverb remains a very useful guideline: “If a man deceives me once, shame on him; if he deceives me twice, shame on me.”

I also find that writing about something helps me to correct myself and to understand the topic better. If you never did, try it. There is a good chance you will be very surprised.

P.S. After I have written this, I noticed a new development in Google search: Google adds fact-check findings to search and news results and Google is teaching search algorithms to better spot offensive, factually incorrect results. I hope it will bring the fruits soon, although it will increase control over the accessible information and the ability for its (and our) manipulation. We shall see.

– I guarantee you that in five years we will live better than in Europe!

– No kidding?! What will happen to them?