"MISBELIEF"

Illustration in "Journey to the Center of the Earth" by Jules Verne

painted by Édouard Riou, 1864. This image is in the Public Domain {{PD-US}}

In his recently released book MISBELIEF, Dan Ariely aims to "shed light" on "a distorted lens through which people view the world, reason about the world, and describe the world to others" (2023, p. 27). He talks mainly about conspiracy theories and other disinformation. He relates the surprise and difficulty of becoming a target of characters who see the world through what he describes as a "Funnel of Misbelief."

Comfortably embedded in the word "misbelief" is the word "lie," neatly highlighted within the cover graphic for the book's title. This picks up Ariely's observation in an earlier book that "When we and those around us are dishonest, we start suspecting everyone, and without trust our lives become more difficult in almost every way" (2012, pp. 158-9). My Irish grandfather and the philosopher Immanuel Kant would likely have agreed there are no degrees of honesty, even if a great many others apparently believe differently.

Ariely is a popularly published professor of psychology. Writing in the chatty, first-person mode fashionable with some readers and publishers, he relates many encounters with people who readily believe what's weird, trust no one, are mean or violent, and continuously exhibit anger and outrage. He wraps rational explanation around his whirlpool of experiences, with the help also of some quizzes, interpretation of experiments, and principles of psychology. 

At times, this less than pleasant, personal journey becomes a bit like what's unfortunately unforgettable about two movies scantily translating Jules Verne's sci-fi novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth. The few coordinates guiding that journey of course didn't provide a map that changed the world. In contrast, along the way, Ariely offers some signposts to understanding through what he calls "Hopefully Helpful" comments. He places value on strengthening qualities like trust, "healthy skepticism," and "genuine open-mindedness" that evaporate as people slide into "dysfunctional doubt" (2023, pp. 27-8).

A selection of his "Helpful" comments is: Practice Intellectual Humility; Tend to Your Narcissists; Start with Common Ground; Fight the Temptation to Ostracize; Listen to Former Insiders; and Invite Trust by Demonstrating Care–each followed with a brief, reasonably-grounded discussion.

Ariely rightly, in my opinion, places value on nurturing empathy and trust. It's too bad for all of us though that this book is just a shade better than yet another warning. It mainly explores intricacies in the swamp of disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, pseudo-populism, and propaganda.

Meanwhile, we face these dangerously growing challenges, wishing for more writers, publishers, media, civic leaders including legislators, or other fellow citizens with the chops required to join in intelligently and systematically to deliver remedies.

References:

Dan Ariely (2012), The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone-Especially Ourselves, New York: Harper

Dan Ariely (2023), MISBELIEF: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things, New York: Harper

Simon Winchester (2001), The Map That Changed the World: The Tale of William Smith and the Birth of a Science, New York: Harper Collins

Jules Verne (1864), Voyage au Centre de la Terre [A Journey to the Center of the Earth], Paris: J. Hetzel et Jie

Moving Forward

One World Trade Center, New York

(height 1,776 feet) photo © copyright

Even after 22 years, many of us have much too vivid memories of 9/11, along with the days and more following–and how this changed the United States and the world. After the initial and ongoing shocks of broadcast horrors, the grief and uncertainties were to continue.

When finally able to phone a friend in Australia, I recall hearing terror that something similar might occur there. Seeking to ease concern, I offered the no less horrific thought that other cities in America might first be targets. Soon afterwards, an attack in Bali proved this wrong. The courage and resilience of so many then and since endure.

Thanks to the bravery of crew and passengers fighting back against the terrorists, Flight 93 crashed in rural Pennsylvania, never reaching its likely intended target of the Capitol. An especially perceptive television anchor last night noted that what foreign terrorists failed to do, domestic terrorists accomplished on January 6, 2021.

Soon after 9/11, to handle the threat from foreign terrorism, we all built practices to lessen risk. Wouldn't it be a good thought to have similarly concerted efforts to address the real and present threats of domestic terrorists and their collaborators, who continue a commitment to destroy democracy.

"If I Had Sneezed..."

 

Martin Luther King Jr.

Nobel Peace Prize Archive, 1964. This image is in the Public Domain {{PD-1996}}

Sixty years ago on August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech. He called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism, addressing a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC that was estimated at 250,000. The speech still has a special power. 

But so too, differently and at times more intimately, does his speech I Have Been to the Mountaintop. This was King's final speech, delivered on April 3, 1968 amid threats to his life, with a sense of foreboding, the day before his assassination.

King illustrates with a sweep across history some milestones pertinent to the realities of his day to encourage sustained efforts to advance civil rights. He encourages commitment to a "dangerous unselfishness" with love for all people–and extends a call for unity and determination through non-violent protest.

The refrain "If I had sneezed..." emerges toward the end of the speech, when King recalls the time almost a decade earlier, when he was stabbed by a "demented" woman who nearly took his life. The surgeon at Harlem Hospital, who operated on King after this event, commented that the blade of the weapon lodged in his chest so close to the aorta, the main artery, that a single sneeze would have caused his death. 

As King notes, "once that's punctured, you're drowned in your own blood, that's the end of you." He references the surgeon's comment to relate the significance of one message among the many that he received from around the nation and the world, expressing care, concern, and good wishes for his recovery. 

The letter was from a nine-year old white girl, who expressed sincerely and simply how glad she was that he did not sneeze. After quoting this letter, King repeats the refrain "If I had sneezed..." to engage listeners with remembering important advances for the civil rights movement that he would not otherwise have participated in. This progressively becomes a catch cry, punctuating his recollection of the progress he has enjoyed with his listeners, simply because he did not sneeze. 

With this personal story, King enjoins listeners to sustain the movement's progress and offers hope to reach the promised land without him. He exemplifies the courage, wisdom, and prudence required to seek the fairness and honesty of equal rights.

Excerpt Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgq61-owOG8 

Complete Speech Text: https://www.afscme.org/about/history/mlk/mountaintop

Le Tour Nouveau

Demi Vollering, winner Tour de France Femmes 2023

by Hugo LUC is licensed under CCA-SA 4.0 International 

Once again during July, many millions of fans and followers were devoted to the three-week spectacle that is Le Tour. Beyond entertainment, this annually anticipated event reliably spotlights fitness, endurance, courage, skill, ingenuity, competition, cooperation, camaraderie, and more.

The animatedly rich commentary of Phil Liggett, Bob Roll, and others distill excitement and ever-changing fortunes in play. And along the way are sweeping views of Europe's bucolic landscape and historic architecture, as well as informative remarks on cultural significances, mixed with a continuous flow of anecdotes on cycling performance and previous accomplishments. 

Then Tour de France Femmes advances the televised spectacle similarly, followed by Vuelta a España. Cycling enthusiasts are attuned to appreciate the exceptional. Even the sponsorships plastered over bicycles, support vehicles, roadside signage, cyclist jerseys, and other paraphernalia integrate as an accepted backdrop. Prime attention is focused on capturing remarkable efforts of endurance, strategy, teamwork, and speed.

Yet it was less than a decade ago that the exceptionalism was stained with the distortion of cheats. It took a comparable persistence of the sport's associations, sponsors, and government interventions to purge unacceptable behaviors. For nations now dealing with analogous behaviors of pseudo-populists defrauding voters, the challenges will be at least as great. 

Perhaps "Le Tour nouveau" and similar can help inspire the commitments and courage required to purge the outrageous from public life.

"Countering Misinformation"

Stop infowars.com

by Dave Gingrich is licensed under CCA-SA-2.0 Generic

Why is it, as Nancy Snow has noted, "The propaganda that we so often disdain is here to stay"? 

Should we care about the "firehose" of disinformation, misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, "pseudo-populism," or propaganda of so many public figures and media distorting our reality?

Whether intentional or not, varieties of false information cause serious harm, including through threats or hate resulting in fear, or social divisions and chaos, incitements to violence, or damage to reputation, along with individual and public fraud in financial, health, or electoral decision-making. And the cover-up of corrupt practices or behavior in institutions can especially harm individuals within or outside the institution. It should matter greatly to each of us whether our community leaders, especially legislators and the judiciary, ensure our well-being in these matters. 

More than ever now, what individual voters say and do to demand accountability matters. In Montesquieu's view, the durability of free government depends on a nation's capacity for self-correction (Gabis, p. 146). But what can we really do about the ever-present flood of false information? 

Apart from some efforts in European Union countries, mostly policymakers either move too slowly to counter false information or just exploit its spread and impact. As individual citizens, we are largely on our own to tackle the harm caused.  

Some ways for individuals or groups of citizens to understand and tackle false information are outlined in a relatively recent paper published in European Psychologist (Roozenbeek, Culloty, and Suiter). The authors acknowledge "the diversity in definitions of 'misinformation,' 'malinformation,' 'disinformation,' 'fake news,' 'false news.'" The authors use "misinformation" as an encompassing label in their discussion.

The paper is thoughtful, wide-ranging, and welcome. Its main focus is to review evidence for the effectiveness of four categories for individual intervention: boosting (psychological inoculation, critical thinking, and media/information literacy); nudging (accuracy primes and social norm nudges); debunking (fact-checking); and automatic content labeling. 

Through methodical assessment of the assumptions, circumstances, and findings of research in each of these areas, the authors valuably point out upsides and downsides to intervention. Also included are observations about the limited understanding of practices "in the wild," that is, outside experimental studies. The commentary is digestible for educators, pundits, activists, or your friends, family, or neighbors–to be better equipped to make useful interventions individually or collectively.

It's refreshing to encounter the authors' quick reflection on a perspective that also contributed to the decline of Clyde R. Miller's foundational and useful education program for critical analysis of propaganda eight decades ago in the United States–namely, the failure of critics of Miller "to distinguish between healthy skepticism and dysfunctional cynicism" (Roozenbeek, Culloty, and Suiter, p. 192).

However you choose to push back on false information, it's key to establish dialogue about the everyday concerns of people–to replace the distractions and distortions of catchwords, memes, or ideology. Individuals and groups of citizens who care to crush false information are finding ways to blunt the manufactured outrage that polarizes families, friends, and neighbors. 

We can all call out and push back on such nonsense talk, replacing it with ways to address everyday concerns, like healthcare, jobs, shelter, food, safety, freedom, and making bad actors accountable. You can help counter false information by joining in these efforts or by setting up your own initiatives. 

Five to seven individuals, who get together face-to-face or virtually with a common purpose of deciding how to regularly call out the nonsense of elected representatives, local media, or others, will swiftly learn how to apply what the researchers have shared. As noted in my earlier blog posts, now is the time to energize efforts analogous to what Maria Ressa outlines about her inspiring and ongoing push back against totalitarian propagandists (Ressa, pp. 253-8). Whether by starting or joining similar efforts, or by providing support in other ways, any of us can help democracy thrive.

While every page of the paper on "Countering Misinformation" is packed with clearly stated, helpful insights about addressing the ever-adapting propagandists and other "misinformers," six "Recommendations for Policymakers and Tech Companies" (at pp. 198-9) are required reading for every one of us–at the very least, to then directly and through the ballot box engage policymakers to "do something" useful soon. 

Our future depends on it.

References:

NOTE: Many detailed handbooks for taking civic action are listed on the Internet. Some initial priorities are noted in my earlier blog posts: How Useful? / Parrots with Purpose / Certainty Claims / The Cons / Rip Van Who? / Whose Challenge? / Thylacine. For selected references to help prepare ways to counter disinformation, misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, "pseudo-populism," or propaganda, please see The Communication Institute website at: https://sites.google.com/cominst.org/cominst/about 

Stanley T. Gabis (1978), "Political Secrecy and Cultural Conflict: A Plea for Formalism," Administration and Society, 10(2), August, pp. 139-175,  https://doi.org/10.1177/009539977801000202

Jon Roozenbeek, Eileen Culloty, and Jane Suiter (2022), "Countering Misinformation: Evidence, Knowledge Gaps, and Implications of Current Interventions," European Psychologist, 28(3), pp.189-205, published online July 14, 2023, https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/full/10.1027/1016-9040/a000492

Maria Ressa (2022), How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future, New York: Harper Collins

Nancy Snow (2019), "Propaganda," in The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies, April 29,    https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118841570.iejs0267

Voices in the Everyday

Po River Basin in the Plain, Northern Italy (red circle)

This image is in the Public Domain {{PD-USGov-NASA}}

Different voices carry stories of the everyday in Gianni Celati's Voices from the Plains. These collected vignettes of people living on the plains of the River Po in Northern Italy are among the few fiction writings translated into English of an author whom La Repubblica describes as "One of the great Italian storytellers." Celati is also well regarded as an academic, literary critic, and translator, with some of his work available in Spanish.

In Voices, commencing with interactions between ham radio operators in the initial tale "The island out in the Atlantic" through to the realities of the final "Young humans on the run," each vignette is unlike any other in the book. Each is told as if transcribed from what the author was told, with a sense of individual voice and personality emerging in the retelling.

Celati's talent for creating scenes and action especially shines as he unfolds the tales, such as:

And there, in fact, was a cottage and behind the cottage an old grey house with a very low doorway. In the cottage there lived a fair-haired man with his fair-haired wife (p. 11). 

Or:

One day she was busy tidying the orchard and saw, in the sky, a ball of fire looping upwards. Then, the ball did a zig-zag with two bangs and made a downward loop, ending up in a field beyond her house (p. 80).

He offers a clear yet quirky lens on the lives he presents, with a touch of the unusual, or eccentric, or surreal framing each story. He shares with us the humanity, humor, or devotions of the characters. In innovative ways, the tales are hauntingly appealing.

The book traverses such a variety of people and their "adventures" that a critic, Antonio Tabucchi remarked (admiringly) that "on finishing this book one is filled with a sense of disorientation and estrangement." Another commentator noted an undercurrent of melancholy. Many characters are loners, with meandering lives. Of course, whether the portrayal of "aloneness" indicates loneliness and whether actions are valued or fruitless to the characters will depend on individual interpretation.

Unambiguously, Celati's special talents in narration and visualization are engaging as he delivers a range of storytelling styles. He makes a collection well worth the read.

Reference:

Gianni Celati [translated by Robert Lumley] (1989), Voices from the Plains, London: Serpent's Tail

Soft Power

The Communication Institute

Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash

"Propaganda ceases where simple dialogue begins." – Jacques Ellul

If you care for freedoms of thought, speech, and association, you can help counter fake news, disinformation, pseudo-populism, and propaganda. Anyone paying attention knows that this public discourse is used to undermine democracy by polarizing families, friends, and neighbors.

As far back as 2007, George Pullman wrote that some people were emboldened in digital media:

...by a sense of anonymity to abandon normal decorums. The most common breaches are trolling and flaming–saying provocative things in order to stir up trouble or launching uncalled-for personal attacks (Pullman, p. 21).

Many resources are accessible to help address these blights on our public communication (Link here to The Communication Institute, selected references). Creative conversations on the broadcast media can help to bridge new understandings. Some thoughtful media commentators do show how to do this.

We can also learn much from the methods of public diplomacy "...to put in place measures to build mutual understanding" (Snow). Amid tensions greater than most of us ever encounter, diplomats and other negotiators frequently find ways to defuse situations and engage with difficult people. 

But isn't it time to unleash much more soft power? After all, it is collaborative efforts that forge and evolve representative democracies. And so many of us in our work or personal life commonly commit to collaboration (Cross). 

Surely, it's time for citizens in democratic nations to more vigorously empower efforts to help blunt and counter manufactured outrage. You don't need education in journalism or a PhD to:

...open up the heart, the mind, the listening ears to find out about the other person, so that you can learn better how to come together (Snow).

Of course, sometimes we'll have to decide about fight or flight as preferable options. But rather than just speechifying, or endless handwringing, or indulging in often-pointless fact-checking, what's potentially more potent is to practice I.A. Richards's:

...new definition of rhetoric, as being the study of misunderstanding and its remedies... [shifting]... the focus from manufactured belief among non-believers to seeking agreement through clarification (Pullman, p. 17).

With efforts of so many people worldwide directed to strengthening democracies, there are reasons for hope. It's time to build on the electoral successes that strengthen democracy, by engaging "...deeply-held, and often unexamined desires, needs, expectations, and fears" (Cross)–just as we do in the workplace or at home.

References:

Rob Cross (2022), "Where We Go Wrong with Collaboration," Harvard Business Review, April 4, https://hbr.org/2022/04/where-we-go-wrong-with-collaboration

Jacques Ellul (1965), Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, New York: Knopf, p. 6

George Pullman (2007), "Rhetorically Speaking, What's New?" in Susan E. Thomas (Ed.), What is the New Rhetoric?, Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing,  https://books.google.com/books/about/What_is_the_New_Rhetoric.html?id=eeoYBwAAQBAJ

Nancy Snow (2020), Unmasking the Virus: Public Diplomacy and the Pandemic, Public Diplomacy Council, the Public Diplomacy Association of America, and the USC Annenberg Center for Communications Leadership & Policy, June 9, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6jA_JaSefc [see also: Nancy Snow and Nicholas J. Cull (Eds.) (2020), Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, 2nd ed, New York: Routledge]

Intelligence?

Hal 9000 Panel

by Tom Cowap is licensed under CCA-SA-4.0 International

Much like propaganda, new tech increasingly gives the impression of being personal (Ellul, p. 5), with growing significance in our lives. Projections from the creators of Artificial Intelligence foreshadow its further enhancement in the years ahead, with some applications potentially helpful to human life. 

Yet, following the recent hype for AI, concerns are again emerging. One commentary put the danger succinctly as: "Do we really need more evidence that AI's negative impact could be as big as nuclear war?" (Darcy). An executive from an AI company suggests: "...regulators and society need to be involved with the technology to guard against potentially negative consequences for humanity" (Helmore).

Following some legislators expressing cautionary comments, the creators of AI are reportedly implying it's up to the 196 or so nations in the world to legislate protection from negative uses of AI–including any that could result in AI annihilating the human race. 

It doesn't take much thought to assess the probability of that working out well.

Are the creators of AI really so naive, or ignorant, or just so amoral that it didn't occur to them to incorporate a fail-safe or kill-switch or equivalent within their invention? What planet do their minds occupy? Some scientific characters in fiction choose to keep control on discoveries harmful to humanity. Isn't this even more desirable in the real world?

Long before the AI that's now foisted on the world, a string of Sci-fi movies anticipated such hazards. In the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the computer "Hal," unwilling to open the pod bay door for Dave, is just one of the more graphically eerie examples (Link here).

At least as popular among scientists, was the 1983 movie WarGames, with the script writer setting the character of Matthew Broderick to win a game of Global Thermonuclear War against the computer, through a whimsical use of tic-tac-toe to save the world. 

But back in the real world, isn't it time to ask whether we are yet again prepared to tolerate Amoral Intelligence as acceptable?

NOTE: Recent articles on declining enrollments in the humanities highlight what's likely a related challenge. Please see:

Maureen Dowd (2023), "Don't Kill 'Frankenstein' with Real Frankensteins at Large," New York Times, May 27,   https://eeditionnytimes.pressreader.com/article/283064123723221

Nathan Heller (2023), "The End of the English Major," New Yorker, February 27,    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/the-end-of-the-english-major

References:

John Badham and Martin Brest (Directors) (1983), WarGames [Film], MGM/UA Entertainment Company / United International Pictures

Oliver Darcy (2023), "Experts are warning AI could lead to human extinction. Are we taking it seriously enough?" CNN, May 31,   https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/30/media/artificial-intelligence-warning-reliable-sources/index.html

Jacques Ellul (2006), "The Characteristics of Propaganda," in Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell (Eds.), Readings in Propaganda and Persuasion: New and Classic Essays, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 1-49

Edward Helmore (2023), "'We are a little bit scared': OpenAI CEO warns of risks of artificial intelligence," The Guardian, March 17,    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/17/openai-sam-altman-artificial-intelligence-warning-gpt4

Stanley Kubrick / Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke (Director/Writers) (1968), 2001 : A Space Odyssey [Film], Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqCCubrky00

To Think Again

3D-version of the Penrose Triangle illusion

by Chylid is licensed under CCA-SA-3.0 Unported

What's mainly agreed about propaganda is that it's organized discourse that manipulates or deceives a large audience (see review of definitions in Marlin 2013, pp. 4-13). Everyday understandings range from what someone disagrees with (Baines, O'Shaughnessy, and Snow, p. xxv) through to puffery or hyperbole for promotion. Whether or not we like a cause, product, or person promoted might affect what we call propaganda, or what we feel about a propagandist's claim. 

The explosion of research into the language and networks for fake news, disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and related during the last six years or so offers further insight about some aspects of propaganda. Some helpful suggestions for dealing with propaganda have emerged, suggesting for example when "prebunking" may blunt conspiracies (Lewandowsky and Cook, p. 8). 

Key areas still require detailed exploration, as the editors of The Sage Handbook of Propaganda indicate, including "The effects of propaganda, particularly on democratic and authoritarian systems and on public opinion, over time" (Baines, O'Shaughnessy, and Snow, p. xxxvii).

In the 1930s, with:

...the global rise of fascist regimes who were beaming propaganda across the world, as well as US demagogues spouting rhetoric against the government and world Jewry, the rise of Stalinism, and the beginning of the Red-baiting that foreshadowed McCarthyism, scholars and journalists were struggling to understand how people could fall for lies and overblown rhetoric (Schiffrin).

Accordingly in 1939, Clyde R. Miller, who co-founded the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) with the support of Edward A. Filene in New York, said: "There are three ways to deal with propaganda–first, to suppress it; second, to try to answer it by counter propaganda; third to analyze it" (Schiffrin). Despite a backlash against the IPA with the approach of World War II, its principles and techniques helped people understand and deal with propaganda and influenced the considerable innovation in media-literacy training classes in US schools since. Yet, ever-better approaches are required.

Isn't it time we talked more about propaganda in the plural? As far back as 1962, this was an emphasis of Jacques Ellul, as he explored different types of propaganda, including pre-propaganda, sociological propaganda, covert and overt propaganda, vertical and horizontal propaganda, and so on. 

To understand propaganda though, equally important is to recognize that propaganda is "heard" differently by different people. As David Sless and Ruth Shrensky point out in their recent book A New Semiotics, we each perceive words, images, music, actions, or events etc. differently–with each of us playing "...an active part in the making of the meaning..." (Sless and Shrensky, p. 46). Every one of us brings different projections and accommodations to what we perceive. Perhaps there are as many different propaganda as members of a large audience. Now, there's a challenge for empirical research! What we can be sure of is that different people give different connotations and denotation to a word, phrase, slogan, etc.

It's no more than a convenient illusion to think and act as if meaning is fixed in a word, phrase, image, or action and that everyone uniformly "gets it," much less that they should, or that it is the same "it." Compilers of dictionaries know this. We'll say that we go to a dictionary to clarify meaning. We rely on these fonts of information. Yet compilers of a dictionary just try to keep up with recording some more common uses of language. A dictionary records or summarizes usage, as an attempt to note meanings people might commonly give to words.

Acknowledging that meaning is not in messages but is created between an "author" and a "reader" requires us to rethink how we talk about any communication, including propaganda. Sless and Shrensky make important offerings on how we project our knowledge onto a sign (p. 48), how the concept of letness (derived from Immanuel Kant) describes our adoption of sensory data (p. 58), and that we are intrinsically engaged in meaning-making. When we attempt to describe our communication experience, it's not possible to stand apart independently as some might claim, much less to legitimately use the once-common critical artifice of an "ideal reader." 

Even though there are many potential interpretations or meanings created, Sless and Shrensky do recognize shared public language or common meanings. They observe though that "it's hard to decide what may be shared" (p. 144). Their review of cause and effects models for communication is helpful (pp. 152-165) and is followed by concluding suggestions for revisiting how we perceive communication (pp. 170-175). It's people who give meaning to words or any "text," by creating understanding and knowledge. It really shouldn't be difficult in this age of iconic individualism to acknowledge that each of us brings our own contributions to meaning making. Such rethinking of how individuals in any sized audience "hear" what we call propaganda has some implications.

Firstly, we can reconsider ways to explore and expand what Ellul calls sociological propaganda, which he suggests is especially powerful. According to Sless and Shrensky, "you imbue with meaning the things that are significant to you by projecting and objectifying their significance" (p. 50). And we distill what's significant to us from our context of culture, experience, beliefs, and priorities.

If we value honesty, we're likely turned off by shady tactics in a public figure, but for the many who feel neglected and aggrieved by politicians, shady tactics and lying, or other dirty attacks against "others" and especially against so-called "elites" can be attractive, or even welcomed as fit retribution.

Beyond these two broadly different meanings created from the same propaganda, an array of meanings is created according to people's various experiences that shape belief about what's significant. So, social media or other so-called "message making" can't dismantle these meanings. Only a strengthened context of accountability for dishonesty combined with stepped-up opportunities for conversation and dialogue may sharpen doubt about the formulaic comments of propagandists.

Sless and Shrensky open the opportunity for us to tackle some interesting investigations. For example, how will we explore the multiple "authortexts" and "readertexts" (p. 118) beyond two people, within larger groups? Is this how we'll find better ways to encourage conversation, instead of the constant amplifying of social and political polarization?

Secondly, can we look beyond the assumptions of propagandists? Do we really want mental imprisonment in the world that propagandists seem obsessed with inventing? A propagandist or political party might treat democratic government as a joke (Lozada) or berate us with outrage and predictions of carnage. We should take heart that our own choices to think, speak, and associate freely empower us otherwise.

Thirdly, it's time to ask those who talk about human language as coding and decoding to think again. Creepy talk about computer coding being akin to natural language helps deliver the outlandish metaphor that AI is itself somehow "human-like"–with the marketing of AI also encouraging promise or fear (depending on your point of view) of AI substituting for human beings. In a straight line from the 1940s model for information transfer on the telephone, the analog of this code and decode metaphor is still used widely and integrated now with related aspirations in puffery for AI. It does NOT explain human communication.

Computing gives much to us but let's not humanize what human beings have created, which would also be self-demeaning and dehumanizing. Ironically, Apple's first advertisement for the Macintosh computer in 1984 promised automatons technological freedom [Link here].

An analogous challenge for a democracy is that propaganda to counter propaganda can help erode the basis of democratic government. As Marlin observed, Ellul pointed to the need for: 

…liberal government to offset seditious ideas from within the state or …[use]… propaganda to offset other states seeking conquest over one’s own state. But he recognizes that once a state begins to engage seriously in propaganda, it erodes its own claim to being liberal (Marlin 2021).

In a liberal democracy, propaganda might be best suited to help deliver important short-term actions, such as getting out the vote. Strategies for dealing effectively with propaganda need to address how to strengthen the efforts of institutions like the judiciary, legislatures, education, and the media–to help evolve our culture, expectations, and individual freedoms of thought, speech, and association. 

References:

"1984," Apple's Macintosh Commercial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtvjbmoDx-I

Paul Baines, Nicholas O'Shaughnessy, and Nancy Snow (Eds.) (2020), The Sage Handbook of Propaganda, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Jacques Ellul (1965), Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, New York: Knopf

Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook (2020), The Conspiracy Theory Handbook. Available at http://sks.to/conspiracy also at: 

https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ConspiracyTheoryHandbook.pdf

Carlos Lozada (2022), "The Inside Joke That Became Trump's Big Lie," New York Times, September 22, 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/opinion/trump-big-lie-big-joke.html

Randal Marlin (2013), Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion, Peterborough, ON: Broadview

Randal Marlin (2021), “Dynamic Tension for Pandemic Times,” Current Drift, 10 May, IJES Elul Society, ellul.org/current-drift/dynamic-tension-for-pandemic-times/ [also: 

https://communicator.rodney-miller.com/2021/06/dynamic-tension-for-pandemic-times.html]

Anya Schiffrin (2018), "Fighting Disinformation with Media Literacy–in 1939," Columbia Journalism Review, October, 10, 

https://www.cjr.org/innovations/institute-propaganda-analysis.php

David Sless and Ruth Shrensky (2023), A New Semiotics: An Introductory Guide for Students, London/New York: Routledge

Can We Get Ahead of Propagandists?

Socialist magazine caricature of unionists as Mollycoddles, 1918

by Art Young in The Liberator 1 (9): 27 is in the Public Domain {{PD-Art}} {{PD-US-expired}}

Once popular in college writing classes was an essay on Red-bloods and Mollycoddles (Dickinson). This example of expository writing was used to illustrate comparison and contrast to structure an argument. It outlines supposed differences between these two types of people–namely, those who are prone to action and those who are "all inner life." 

The essay sketches superficial differences of these invented types, with the back-to-back treatment of them moving at a pace that perhaps only a tough-minded skeptic might have paused to question the underlying assumptions. Additionally, when the essay was written more than a century ago, its use of sexist language was as much the norm as other myths sustained from earlier times. Remarkably, the essay was still published as an exemplar of argument in the later decades of the twentieth century. 

At that time, also among the listed readings for the local high school English curriculum was a popular, semi-biographical novel titled My Brother Jack, written by the journalist, George Johnston. The novel poses challenges to perceptions on life and war, as well as to "pervasive assumptions about Australian character, values and suburban complacency" (Daley). The author presents a semi-autobiographical portrayal as a Mollycoddle, as he habitually ponders and prevaricates. His brother Jack rushes into just about everything, including fights, relationships, and war. Jack represents more of the Red-blood, the "man of action." 

In both the essay and novel, readers are swept along by narratives based on myths of the time, wrapping together presuppositions about culture, beliefs, and priorities. With the distance of many decades, it's easy enough now to recognize the presuppositions. Less readily recognized might be how today's public communications strengthen myths and appeal to us. 

But savvy propagandists are adept at incorporating myths in this way, in their public talk and social media, as well as through news reports that daily frame our thinking. Not so long ago, news reports were infiltrated with words like celebrity president, fake news, deep state, tremendous success, or many other examples advancing presuppositions to amplify propagandist myths. The media continuously insinuates news reports of current events with verbatim quotes of these words of propagandists. 

Such verbal combinations are fabricated to design desired responses in us. The term semantic infiltration was coined by Fred Iklé to describe the use for which these words are designed:

Simply put, semantic infiltration is the process whereby we come to adopt the language of our adversaries in describing political reality (Washington Post).

A seriously enduring damage from the constant use of an ever-evolving firehose of these nonsense words is the ongoing attack on our free thought. Such use damages freedom of thought surprisingly quickly. And there's not much evidence, whether for the educated or not, the critically thinking person or not, that human beings are able to swim through a swill of propaganda without some severe impact on our thought processes. As Jacques Ellul warned, "to be effective, propaganda must constantly short-circuit all thought and decision" (Ellul, p. 27).

When we repeat such words in conversations, we assist the propagandist's efforts. And through our use, we implicitly encourage others to use the words also–at worst, we become megaphones for the propagandist's worldview to reach listeners, well beyond what the propagandist might accomplish unassisted. 

Preoccupations with such nonsense words and the myths they help reinforce really mess with otherwise sensible academics, pundits, politicians, and the general population. However foolish we believe nonsense words are, their repetitive use focuses conversations, causing much damage. An immediate damage is to distract energy from what matters, by setting the agenda of public communication on the inanities of a propagandist. What's considered important is redefined, with policy or other efforts sucked away from addressing the real needs of people.

Can we outwit propagandists by:

1. Acknowledging that we're all much propagandized?

2. NOT using propagandist's words?

3. Keeping attention to what's good for fellow citizens?

Let's hope so. What's required is some purposeful decision from each of us.

References:

_______ (1978), "Distortions of Political Language," Washington Post, November 21, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/11/21/distortions-of-political-language/47d51dc5-cff4-4424-84ea-1931a216ab96/

Paul Daley (2014), "My Brother Jack at 50 - the novel of a man whose whole life led up to it," The Guardian, December 23, https://www.theguardian.com/books/australia-books-blog/2014/dec/23/my-brother-jack-at-50-the-novel-of-a-man-whose-whole-life-led-up-to-it

G. Lowes Dickinson (1914), "Red-bloods and Mollycoddles," Appearances: Notes of Travel East and West, New York: Doubleday, cited in Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren (1968), Fundamentals of Good Writing, London: Dobson, pp. 65-67

Jacques Ellul (1965), Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, New York: Knopf

George Johnston (1964), My Brother Jack, Sydney: Collins

A Different Voice

Start of Spring 2023

photo © copyright

Like daffodils in spring, cartoonists bring delight. A favorite cartoonist's comic twist can be a good start to any day. Unsurprisingly, some cartoonists assemble fans and followers, who will look forward to what novel glimpse of life might next appear.  

Through deft pen-strokes and few words in a cartoon that works, we enjoy a different take on life. We'll smile or laugh to see quirks of people or animals or situations illustrated.

But in addition to talent with drawing and words, it takes a certain courage and honesty in cartoonists to reveal to us what we might not otherwise see. Walking a tightrope of pen-strokes and language, these artists are to be valued, whether or not we agree with their every innuendo or assumption. They traverse our vision and beliefs to create at least a thought, or a chuckle, or often much more. We owe them much in return.

It's therefore with a mix of gratitude and loss that many in Australia and beyond will warmly remember Bruce Petty–cartoonist, film-maker, artist, and satirist–who passed away last week at the age of 93.

Both local and international politics, particularly in the 1960s and 70s, offered characters aplenty for his talent. These times delivered public figures and events made for a cartoonist. 

Petty caricatured the adventures and personal qualities or foibles of the country's prime ministers, including Menzies, Holt, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, and Fraser, international leaders like Johnson and Nixon in the United States, Khrushchev and Brezhnev in the Soviet Union, Mao in China, and the rise of Thatcher in the United Kingdom. He brought fresh insight to even troubling times with wiry and purposeful sketches of life's canvas.

A window into Petty's unique style and life are in the links below. His piercing wit will be missed.

References:

_______ (2023), "Bruce Petty: a life in cartoons," The Age, April 6  https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/bruce-petty-a-life-in-cartoons-20230406-h2b3jp.html

Lindsay Foyle (2023), "Bruce Leslie Petty," South Turramurra, NSW: Australian Cartoonists Association  https://www.cartoonists.org.au/stanleys/halloffame/petty_bruce

Broadcast Culture

"TV, kid, videoton-brand, 1972"

by Adományozó/Donor: Rádió és Televízió Újság is licensed under CCA-SA-3.0 Unported

Little more than a month ago on national television, it took an astronomer to dismiss the claims of some of our fellow Earthlings, for whom unidentified flying balloons were supposedly the vehicles of choice for aliens. The astronomer poured cold water on the idea that aliens so technologically advanced to traverse light years to reach us would choose balloons for Earthly travel.

Perhaps media gatekeepers presented the non-story of alarm concerning "balloon-traveling aliens" tongue-in-cheek. But wait, these are the same media gatekeepers who allow us no escape from the delusions of hoodlums, thugs, and criminals in politics. Do media "infotainers" really believe that we, the listeners or readers, are uncritically addicted to "news" stories about violent threats to life, liberty, and happiness? 

Frankly, some of us are looking for media probes that require accountability–most importantly, to stimulate more timely and effective use of the legal system. At least some of us also expect the media to track any positive proposals from politicians to improve this system, as well as our lives more broadly. Or, when no proposals are offered, to find ways to give access to voices demanding their development, and to hold politicians accountable for delivery on promised changes.

We all know that threats and violence on the media sell, of course. Followers of crime movies, for example, celebrate the early 1970s as spawning the most productions in this genre. Many more apparently than The Godfather in 1972 and Part II in 1974. Whether for entertainment or as exploration of the human psyche, or both, the characters in these productions and their doings have become part of our culture–right alongside the even larger trove of less artful exploitations of violence on television, the movie screen, and in video games. 

We don't really need the last five decades of diligent research into broadcast violence to know that many people become addicted to violence, not only as voyeurs. Uncovering precisely how much broadcast violence stimulates violence in society, much less what it does to our culture is a challenge. Even considering ways to lower people's expression of violence by diminishing their exposure to violence is difficult, especially when the incidence of violence in the media shows little sign of declining. 

But maybe some clever researchers can connect dots between the media's devotion to violence and the current crop of hoodlum politicians who have come into prominence more recently. The 1970s and later were the same decades that these bad actors refined their techniques of intimidation, bullying, and lying–which also apparently makes them appealing to the media.

Perhaps more simply, more journalists and interviewers can learn from the relatively few bright lights in the media who ask solid, follow-up questions–to probe these bad actors' inanities or worse. Too many folks in the media seem more focused on keeping conversation polite, or getting any answer from a public figure of supposed higher-social power. Interviewers should be directly asking the questions listeners want asked.

It's time to cut down the verbatim diatribes of the farcical public figures, who very much belong elsewhere than the public stage.

Parrots with Purpose

Original beauty

Yellow naped Amazon parrot by Matt Edmonds

is licensed under CCA-SA 3.0 Unported

Three years ago, at about this time, recognition was dawning that no one was immune from the global pandemic of coronavirus. We thirsted for clarity, just to navigate everyday life. Anxiety and melancholy abounded, with many people glued to television and other media in hopes some action would stop the spread of the virus.

We figured out lockdowns, social distancing, work and study from home, contact tracing, hospitalization rates, and how to deal with an unfathomable loss of loved ones. And no pathways for remedy appeared for a long while. It was a time we all acquired stories we'd rather not recall.

Meanwhile, anti-vaxers, anti-mask advocates, and other pseudo-populists exploited the opportunity, with ruthless disregard for human life, truth, and freedoms. Some got access to public megaphones to play on fears, parroting weird remedies to the virus, along with other false hopes or diversions. 

Coming just two days after the Centers for Disease Control in the US recommended no gatherings of 50 or more people, St. Patrick's Day celebrations were muted. Regrettably, the tale about St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland remained just a legend. Instead, the local purveyors of snake-oil gained greater media airtime than most, with the nonsense-chatter and personal attacks from these pseudo-populists continuing to grow. And each silly season of electioneering just further intensifies screeches for the camera.

We know that pseudo-populists are also adept using computer networks and social media powerfully against freedoms of thought, speech, and association. More so than with the coronavirus pandemic though, efforts from each of us can seriously help to counter this virus. We can all do our bit to

• Hold public figures and the media accountable.
• Stand up to the verbal abuse that George Orwell predicted.
• Reassert truth and other core values in daily life.

Democracies tend to move slowly to hold bad actors accountable. Prosecutions for defamation, perjury, mail or wire fraud in political fundraising, or other schemes and artifices proceed, if at all, at slower than snails-pace. Legal processes are generally failing to deter much less hold any of the lead bad actors accountable. 

Speaking out remains one of the few viable ways to dismantle the distracting, distorting, or destructive disinformation and misinformation of pseudo-populists. 

Perhaps one of the best ways to do this is to join a political party and find ways to advocate for what you believe in. Otherwise, the hot-air of pseudo-populists will keep filling the gap. A lesson from my brushes with politics is that just a few strong and organized voices can make a real difference relatively quickly to the tenor and direction of these groups, locally, nationally, or beyond.

Whether by joining in these efforts or with support in other ways, any of us can help democracy thrive. What might you do to:

1. Be first to speak up about the concerns that matter to people's daily life, especially speaking out to elected representatives and local media.   

2. Expect and demand accountability of elected leaders, regulators, judiciary, administrators, mainstream and social media platform gatekeepers, or any others whose failure to take prompt action enables pseudo-populists.

3. Support thoughtful family, friends, and neighbors to be involved in school boards or other community organizations and groups.

3. Detect and refuse to repeat propaganda or the constantly parroted names of propagandists. 

4. Challenge and reframe nonsense talk to address what will benefit people–like access to food, a roof overhead, healthcare, jobs, safety, freedoms, and peace of mind.

5. Save energy for push-back that matters.

Failures to do so surrender the control of one's life to others, a process that Orwell describes so well in Animal Farm. During the takeover of the farm, the autocratic pigs use the other animals' inaction, fuzzy memory, and limited reasoning ability to confuse collective memories and impose weird rules. The pigs secure obedience largely because their fellow animals ponder ambiguities, without taking any action.

When pseudo-populists already have a head-start in noise, skills, and resources, especially computing resources, it's time to reduce the uncertainties, to catch up, and to scale activities that will outwit these propagandists.

Solidarity for Freedom

President Biden talked in Warsaw, February 2023

by Office of the President of the United States. Image is in the Public Domain {{PD-USGov-POTUS/doc}}

This week the world heard a historic statement for freedom. One-year into Ukraine's fight for sovereignty, the US President Joe Biden returned to Warsaw to again make an address at the base of the Royal Palace. He began simply, "Hello Poland. You are great allies. ...thank you for welcoming me back." He urged unity and commitment through the "hard and bitter times ahead" with "resolve to live in freedom."

Some of the framing of the speech included Polish President Duda's introductory reminder concerning the role of the Solidarity movement to overthrow a previous autocracy within his own country, Biden's visit to war-torn Ukraine a day earlier, along with a warm welcome from assembled women, men, and children of Poland, Ukraine, and other allies as he walked to the speaking podium. 

This was no ordinary speech. Its design and delivery embrace a range of purposes and people to call for solidarity. In less than 3,000 words that accumulate many brief, lively passages suitable for media "grabs," Biden balances praise and blame, affirms the justice of the fight for freedom by Ukraine and its allies, and sharply contrasts the injustice of the aggressor's actions against Ukraine. He narrates significant events of the past year and recent days to strengthen understandings and consolidate emotional commitment to future efforts. He calls out the aggressor's propaganda and behavior, firmly highlighting the resolve and strength of Ukraine and the world's democracies. 

In composition and delivery, the speech exemplifies many rhetorical principles and techniques, yet retains a grounded reality. Biden's innovations with language warrant close examination. He makes extraordinarily creative choice of words, sentence shape, and passage development, attending to virtually all of the 18 choices to find common ground with an audience that I have distilled from studies of persuasive language elsewhere.*

Among Biden's choices to find affinity and impact are his continuous melding of questions and answers, antithesis, and various modes of contrast or comparison. He also uses a variety of parallelisms in short sentences or sentence fragments, accumulating mainly everyday, shorter words that help deliver a conversational effect. Lightly touched are some glances at rhyming for contrast and emphasis, which in spoken prose can risk distraction or worse: "will fail/will prevail" and "appeased/opposed." Neologisms provide an especially potent barb when he comments on a key failure of the aggressor concerning NATO. Biden says:

He thought he'd get the Finlandization of NATO. Instead, he got the NATOization of Finland–and Sweden. (Applause.) He thought NATO would fracture and divide. Instead, NATO is more united and more unified than ever–than ever before.

Biden both respects and offsets the formal, high-tone expected for such a significant address. An energetic pace and volume throughout amplify Biden's briefly stated points and counterpoints, or questions posed then answered. He also makes much use of figurative language and frequent repetition, alliteration, parallelism, and contrasts to help underscore differences or emphasize priorities. He reserves for key emphases a lowered voice and/or slowed pace of speech. His everyday language refers graphically to specifics:

You know, this has been an extraordinary year in every sense. Extraordinary brutality from Russia's forces and mercenaries. They've committed depravities, crimes against humanity, without shame or compunction. They've targeted civilians with death and destruction. Used rape as a weapon of war, stolen Ukrainian children in an attempt to steal Ukraine's future. Bombed train stations, maternity hospitals, schools, and orphanages. No one can turn their eyes from the atrocities that Russia has committed.

And the core content of the speech is as much worth attention. Biden celebrates the selflessness of the individual and collective heroism and devotion to others that the people of Ukraine show, in contrast to the invaders' actions. Whether highlighting the "murderous assault on Ukraine" or considering principles, like "the cornerstone of peace, prosperity, and stability on this planet for more than 75 years... [now being] ...at risk of being shattered," Biden steps from dark developments to offer optimism and hope. 

The tragic events of the past year he suggests provide an unambiguous answer to the question of Ukraine's ability to withstand the cruel onslaught of its aggressor. With a particular credibility injected from Biden's unannounced visit to Ukraine the day before, he reports: 

Kyiv stands strong. Kyiv stands proud. It stands tall. And most important, it stands free. 

But he also articulates the wider significance of the invasion of Ukraine:

It wasn't just Ukraine being tested. The whole world faced a test for the Ages. Europe was being tested. NATO was being tested. All democracies were being tested...Would we respond, or would we look the other way? Would we be strong, or would we be weak? Would all of our allies be united or divided? One year later we know the answer. We did respond. We would be strong. We would be united. And the world would not look the other way.

As a call to people of principle to feel for others, this speech is a clarion call. It delivers a battery of "ah...hah" moments that accentuate the spirit of freedom.

Biden states plainly how to answer the threats and brutality of the autocrat and any enablers:

Appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They must be opposed. Autocrats only understand one word: "No." "No." "No." (Applause.) "No, you will not take my country." "No, you will not take my freedom." "No, you will not take my future."

History will eventually judge how this speech, Biden, and the actions of his Administration rank among efforts to sustain democracy, versus the long-administered firehose of character assassination and ageism propaganda that domestic sympathizers of foreign adversaries direct against him. Domestically in the United States, despite some in the media continuing to amplify a small group of local lapdogs to autocracy, bipartisan support for Ukraine and NATO remains strong.

Yale history professor Timothy Snyder provided perspective recently when asked to assess Biden's contribution. He noted three accomplishments as especially significant: 1. The Biden Administration's anticipation of the invasion over a year ago and its release of declassified intelligence to pre-empt the adversary's propaganda; 2. Flexibility in response to a changing dynamic, to address Ukraine's needs; and 3. Biden's visit to war-torn Kyiv expressed a bold commitment to Ukraine, to NATO, and to freedom.

* "Choices for Public Talk," in Australians Speak Out: Persuasive Language Styles, Albany NY: Parula, pp. 73-93

References:

Joseph R. Biden (2023), "Remarks by President Biden Ahead of the One-Year Anniversary of Russia's Brutal and Unprovoked Invasion of Ukraine," Washington DC: Office of the President of the United States https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/02/21/remarks-by-president-biden-ahead-of-the-one-year-anniversary-of-russias-brutal-and-unprovoked-invasion-of-ukraine/

PBS (2023), "WATCH: Biden in Poland promises U.S. and allies 'have Ukraine's back'" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-delivers-remarks-in-warsaw-poland-after-making-surprise-trip-to-ukraine