3 ms·

I slightly fear how much of my own thinking is there just because some corporation or another big entity wanted me to think like that and spent considerable res

by vegai_ 5y ago

I slightly fear how much of my own thinking is there just because some corporation or another big entity wanted me to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen.

hermannj314 5y ago
I recycle, get vaccinated, care about global climate change and am concerned about police brutality all because large entities convinced me to be. Without them, I am not sure I would have enough personal experience to know these are things I am supposed to care about. Manipulating the public opinion is a tool to make change happen. It isn't inherently good or bad.
steve_adams_86 5y ago
It’s almost certainly true, but an accessible and rational strategy to combat that is to critically consider why you think anything that you do if you haven’t yet. Maybe that seems obvious written out, but it wasn’t to me at first. I felt a deep sense of being a product of my environment in a negative sense. I think what happened was that I began to see holes in my knowledge or understanding of things I thought I knew and it was a little unsettling. These days I just try to stop myself and ask: why do I think that? How far down the chain do I need to go in order to find concrete information? To some people this is probably very intuitive. And it is for most of us when it comes to matters of science. But what about your opinion of companies, products, or even people? I think we all get into habits of being influenced here - it’s literally in our genes and can be very covert. I guess in a sense this is like personal epistemology. It’s important to study on a macro scale, but also on a micro scale in individual day to day operations.
AnthonyMouse 5y ago
> I slightly fear how much of my own thinking is there just because some corporation or another big entity wanted me to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen. Now consider how much of the thinking of the people who believe the opposite is there just because some other big entity wanted them to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen. The one thing you can't outsource is critical thinking. Sorry, you have to do it yourself.

by vegai_ 5y ago

I slightly fear how much of my own thinking is there just because some corporation or another big entity wanted me to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen.

hermannj314 5y ago

I recycle, get vaccinated, care about global climate change and am concerned about police brutality all because large entities convinced me to be. Without them, I am not sure I would have enough personal experience to know these are things I am supposed to care about. Manipulating the public opinion is a tool to make change happen. It isn't inherently good or bad.

steve_adams_86 5y ago

It’s almost certainly true, but an accessible and rational strategy to combat that is to critically consider why you think anything that you do if you haven’t yet. Maybe that seems obvious written out, but it wasn’t to me at first. I felt a deep sense of being a product of my environment in a negative sense. I think what happened was that I began to see holes in my knowledge or understanding of things I thought I knew and it was a little unsettling. These days I just try to stop myself and ask: why do I think that? How far down the chain do I need to go in order to find concrete information? To some people this is probably very intuitive. And it is for most of us when it comes to matters of science. But what about your opinion of companies, products, or even people? I think we all get into habits of being influenced here - it’s literally in our genes and can be very covert. I guess in a sense this is like personal epistemology. It’s important to study on a macro scale, but also on a micro scale in individual day to day operations.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

> I slightly fear how much of my own thinking is there just because some corporation or another big entity wanted me to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen. Now consider how much of the thinking of the people who believe the opposite is there just because some other big entity wanted them to think like that and spent considerable resources to make it happen. The one thing you can't outsource is critical thinking. Sorry, you have to do it yourself.