4 ms·
I find it interesting that the list of propaganda techniques linked is mostly a list of (informal) logical fallacies. In other words, your standard internet pol
by IsaacL 16y ago
I find it interesting that the list of propaganda techniques linked is mostly a list of (informal) logical fallacies. In other words, your standard internet political rant is 'propaganda', but it seems strange to call it that; although the ranter is trying to change people's opinions, they aren't deliberately using underhanded tactics.
For me, 'propaganda' implies people arguing in bad faith, that is, using arguments they know are fallacious/manipulative, to promote a cause they do believe in. I'm more tempted to believe that average levels of rationality are low and that the people you describe as propagandists actually believe everything they say is sensible and logical.
- mkr-hn 16y agoThe most effective propaganda is self-propagating among its unwitting targets.
- espeed 16y agoYes, and this is how propaganda is designed to propagate (it's like viral marketing). The Internet can be a vehicle for propagating truth or distortion, and I believe the most effective way of reducing propaganda online is to cut it off at it's source, which right now is primarily the major news networks, and the new Propaganda Project (http://www.propagandaproject.org/ http://www.propagandaproject.org/) is being designed to do exactly that -- influence our major news networks to remove propaganda from their news programs.
- stcredzero 16y agoThen the transcendent propaganda move is to dumb down the populace and the popular discourse to a level where fallacious and manipulative discourse is just the accepted norm. When all everyone expects is smoke and mirrors, no one is going to be looking for the substance underneath.
- espeed 16y agoYou're right -- surface-level politics today is more like theater than genuine debate.
- lairdwilcox 16y agoSeveral years ago I published a collection of 1,125 selected quotations on PROPAGANDA,PERSUASION and DECEPTION. It's available as a free downloadable PDF file at several locations on the web. It deals primarily with political propaganda but is useful in a number of contexts, including advertising and entertainment. Laird Wilcox Propaganda, Persuasion & Deception Over 1,125 Selected Quotations for the Ideological Skeptic. Compiled by Laird Wilcox. 124 pp. ISBN 0-9761337-0-9. 2005. http://www.overalltech.net/pub/Quotations-Propaganda.pdf http://www.overalltech.net/pub/Quotations-Propaganda.pdf