Why does it work? People who like people should have a much richer social network that should have a much bigger draw. They should be able to tell society what to do. Of course propaganda prevents that, but why does it work? An ad shouldn’t cancel the opinion of somebody whom I trust.
“People who like people” is an extremely imprecise term. Depending on upbringing and early life experiences, even folks with a “rich social network” aren’t guaranteed to be empathetic/compassionate people. Such people may have a better chance of hitting that ideal on some level, but they’re at risk of duplicating the status quo (maybe with slight improvements?) unless they were able to have meaningful social experiences that humanized a diverse swath of people from their wider community, thereby reducing blind spots. If they only saw people like themselves all the time, then what they really have is just a social advantage (connections) that they may well take for granted or treat as the “norm.” On the flipside, people who had a hard upbringing or severe trauma but were able to work through healing their traumatic wounds to a certain extent? They can end up becoming the most emotionally wise and compassionate people around. It’d be cruel and ridiculous to expect that from everyone though, so I liked a suggestion I heard from a researcher a while back to have mechanisms to address potential deficits in a politician’s likelihood to care about their constituents.
All propaganda is part of an ongoing war of ideas (and identity, really). If people only hear from one side all the time and other viewpoints aren’t even debated but just get socially discouraged or outright suppressed, most are liable to just believe what they hear the most &/or what reinforces (or flatters) their personal idea of who they are. Even if they see good evidence of errors, omissions, or fabrications in the most widely accepted narrative, if people feel like they’ll become an outcast or that they’re losing a part of their identity by questioning what they’re told, most will give in to the natural inclination to run for what’s “safe” and comfortable in the moment. It takes a lot to pry people away from even small parts of the conventional wisdom they’ve heard non-stop from family, friends, news, entertainment, their employer, their colleagues, etc.
Why does it work? People who like people should have a much richer social network that should have a much bigger draw. They should be able to tell society what to do. Of course propaganda prevents that, but why does it work? An ad shouldn’t cancel the opinion of somebody whom I trust.
“People who like people” is an extremely imprecise term. Depending on upbringing and early life experiences, even folks with a “rich social network” aren’t guaranteed to be empathetic/compassionate people. Such people may have a better chance of hitting that ideal on some level, but they’re at risk of duplicating the status quo (maybe with slight improvements?) unless they were able to have meaningful social experiences that humanized a diverse swath of people from their wider community, thereby reducing blind spots. If they only saw people like themselves all the time, then what they really have is just a social advantage (connections) that they may well take for granted or treat as the “norm.” On the flipside, people who had a hard upbringing or severe trauma but were able to work through healing their traumatic wounds to a certain extent? They can end up becoming the most emotionally wise and compassionate people around. It’d be cruel and ridiculous to expect that from everyone though, so I liked a suggestion I heard from a researcher a while back to have mechanisms to address potential deficits in a politician’s likelihood to care about their constituents.
All propaganda is part of an ongoing war of ideas (and identity, really). If people only hear from one side all the time and other viewpoints aren’t even debated but just get socially discouraged or outright suppressed, most are liable to just believe what they hear the most &/or what reinforces (or flatters) their personal idea of who they are. Even if they see good evidence of errors, omissions, or fabrications in the most widely accepted narrative, if people feel like they’ll become an outcast or that they’re losing a part of their identity by questioning what they’re told, most will give in to the natural inclination to run for what’s “safe” and comfortable in the moment. It takes a lot to pry people away from even small parts of the conventional wisdom they’ve heard non-stop from family, friends, news, entertainment, their employer, their colleagues, etc.