How to detect propaganda

I think an important thing in life is to remain rational and not being caught in all sorts of fear/war/whatever propaganda. The key to that is being able to detect propaganda. In fact, I’m amazed that propaganda still works really good in today’s world because access to information is so much easy. Access to information and education is key to eliminate propaganda. Well informed people are less likely to believe things that doesn’t make sense because they can make their own objective opinion from things they’ve read or seen. With Wikipedia and all the information available on the internet these days, you don’t have any excuse anymore to be misinformed.

Wikipedia defines propaganda as follows:

Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience.

Propaganda can take the form of, but not limited to, leaflets, posters, TV and radio broadcasts and Internet websites. Any medium that has access to mass population can be used. Propaganda is a very cleaver principle and works mostly by appealing to your emotions while making you believe it is appealing to your reason. In fact, it tries to make people act like animals more than rational, self-thinking persons. The most common form of propaganda is fear propaganda, but there are numerous types. The thing they all have in common is that they are appealing to your emotions and not to your brain. It’s really easy to figure out why it works so well with fear: What’s your reaction when you’re afraid? You’re acting under impulsion and not with your brain; that’s also what animals do. You make people fear something so they approve whatever agenda you may have as long as it resolves the issue. War on terror anyone? Also, what do you do to people not agreeing with you when you’re afraid? You reject them, creating a community of “believers” and clearly separate Good from Bad. Of course you’re always on the good side, never on the bad side. Then you become Self-righteous and the propaganda wheel is in good shape!

So, how to detect it? It’s really simple, when a group of people in charge (Government, at work, school, etc.) tries to justify actions they have intentions to take by appealing to your emotions/feelings, there’s good chance they have a hidden agenda or want to start a propaganda campaign about something. Another good clue is that they won’t make reference to any rational/scientific/proven argument just to make sure you’re not self-thinking. The part where it gets tricky is if arguments are made up to make you believe they’re right. That’s where information and education enter the game. If you’re well informed, you will be able to detect those lies because you can think in a rational way and make links with things you’ve read and experienced.

A good thing can be to observe existing propaganda campaigns and note their similarities. You’ll notice that war, end of the world, UFO, etc. propagandas campaigns all make reference to your most primitive emotions and doesn’t make reference to any scientific/proven/valid arguments. It’s all about emotions and feelings while making you think it’s rational by the ways it’s put!

It’s a very short, straight to the point article about propaganda but I think it’s a good thing to know. Also, if it gave anyone the “drive” to be more informed about their world well it’s a success.