Defeating Propaganda and Winning the Information War
Propaganda requires ignorance and consent to be successful.
What is the antidote to propaganda and the societal damage that results? The answer is not censorship, and it is not overtly political. Education is the answer. Education can mean different things to different people. Education, as it currently exists in our school system and universities, teaches young people what to think. This was not always the case. Education exists to instruct people how to think. The difference between how and what in this case could not be more pronounced. In an age of propaganda, via false news reporting, university brainwashing, and government sanctioned lawfare, one might say that education is difficult when information is tainted to the extent we see today. That might be true, however we must remember where absolute truth originates. Truth is in God, and it is revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Without the universal standard from a higher power, we leave the interpretation of truth to this planet of flawed human beings that will arbitrarily create their own truth. There is no absolute morality without God.
Now, we will have a closer look at propaganda and how we can minimize the negative effects that it is having on society. Fake news, misinformation, propaganda, whatever you want to call it, is only effective on a feeble mind. Conditioning your mind and your emotions is necessary to prevent this vulnerability and maintain a clear head. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. This sounds simple but is quite difficult if you are not already programmed this way. Watching or listening to the news is great and it can server as a tool to keep you up to date on world events, but you should watch it with a particular mindset. As you collect the information start to run it through your mind to see if it passes the smell test. If it seems plausible at first glance, start to run it through a more abstract process in your mind. Look for multiple angles, while acknowledging that there might not be a single answer. If you feel like nuance is complicating things, start breaking it down and looking at the human element if there is one. Look for the effects of human emotion and motive for one’s actions. This is how news should be consumed. Obviously, some might use different methods, but my point is that information should not be taken at face value. It should go through a logical process, where oversimplification should be avoided while nuance is acknowledged and taken into consideration when interpreting incoming data.
Manipulation of the mind can only occur if one allows it to happen. Much of the psychological vulnerability that exists currently appears to originate in the average person’s proclivity to social acceptance and the human predisposition to strive for this acceptance, even when it is counterintuitive to do so. To appropriately process information, you need the ability to think independently and not be easily influenced by others. Rather than trying to censor inaccurate information, why not educate our children at home, so they are smart enough to recognize the deceit and not allow themselves to be manipulated by those that wish to mislead the masses.