The war against ‘fake news’, propaganda and B.S. is so overwhelming that mostly we are reduced to describing the symptoms of the ‘disease’. We rarely look underneath these symptoms to examine the causes.
This is not because we have a choice. The flow of false narratives, false context, misleading content, imposter content and outright fabrications and manipulations is unrelenting. On any given day, we at BOOM Live leave more on the table than we publish online.
Because I’m not a fact-checker (who nevertheless works at a fact-checking organisation) I have the mind-space to focus on such questions. In fact, one of the aims of Media Buddhi is to understand and describe the causes of our informational problems.
But where to begin?
The answer: begin with ourselves. What makes us believe stuff that is clearly not true? Why is it so difficult to change our minds even when facts tell us that our beliefs are wrong?
It turns out, that we are biologically designed to be this way. We are not wired for facts, but feelings. The easiest way to turn our minds toward a particular belief then would be to create a particularly compelling story or narrative. The merchants of ‘fake news’, propaganda and all-round bullshit know this intuitively.
I attempted to make this point through three short videos. The longest one is 100 seconds long, the shortest is 60 seconds.
Video 1: Facts are not as powerful as stories. From Jahanpanah City Forest, New Delhi.
Watch on Instagram.
Transcript:
Let me ask you a question from Jahanpanah City Forest, New Delhi. It’s another overcast day and it looks like it will rain. I think even the birds know it.
Anyway, let’s assume that you have some strong beliefs about a particular community. Let’s say it’s a political, religious or caste-based community. Let’s say you believe that this community has received unfair benefits or has been unfairly targeted.
Now let’s say a fact-checker comes to you and says, “hey you know you’re wrong! I have a lot of facts and data to show that what you believe is not true. You can check for yourself!”
Are you going to believe this person? Chances are, and unfortunately so, 7 times out of 10 roughly, you will not believe the fact-checker. And why is that? Because there is something more powerful than a fact. It’s a story. A narrative. We hold narratives and stories very, very close to our hearts and it becomes very difficult to change our mind even when we are presented with the truth or facts. That’s why ‘fake news’ and propaganda is so powerful.
And really one way to counter any story or narrative based on untruth or based on lies, is to create another narrative, but this time, based on the truth. Grounded in facts. We’ll talk more about facts and stories in the next video.
Video 2: What do we mean by ‘story’? From Rose Garden, Hauz Khas, New Delhi.
Watch on Instagram.
Transcript:
Hi! From Rose Garden, Hauz Khas, New Delhi. Now in the last video, I spoke about how facts are powerful yes, but stories are even more powerful, and that ‘fake news’ and propaganda is so effective because they come with a story or narrative that people find easy to believe.
Now you might ask this question, what do you mean by story? What do you mean by, a WhatsApp message comes with a story or narrative? Shouldn’t a story be long? Shouldn’t it have a beginning, middle, and end?
The answer to that question is: a story or narrative gets formed in our heads by repetition. By repeated use of the same message. Again and again. Relentlessly. From all corners and at all times of the day for months and years.
So when we receive a WhatsApp message…it may be just a single line…our emotions are instantly triggered and that message is reinforced.
I’ll give you an example.
Let’s say you believe a particular community should not have access to reservations or affirmative action. You might believe or have a belief system that goes something like this: people should be fairly compensated. They should not get something out of turn. People should not receive preferential treatment. And so on. Now a person who believes something like this will not be convinced even if you present facts that suggest otherwise. Changing a belief system takes a lot of effort and sometimes it takes a lot of time as well. That’s why propaganda is so widely believed, and it’s so difficult to change our minds.
Video 3: Feelings, not facts, are the force behind stories.
Rough transcript:
The earth is round in shape, but there are people who believe that the earth is flat. Famous people as well, like this guy.
Even if you tell them that there isn’t one but hundreds of ways to prove that the earth is round, they might ask you to do ‘get proof’ or ‘do research’.
I’m sure you’ve come across such people — not on the topic of the shape of the earth — but all other areas. People who just won’t believe facts.
Why is that?
Now I’ve shown you that stories are more powerful than facts. But there’s one thing more powerful than stories, in fact, they are the power behind stories: feelings, or intuitions.
That’s why when you ask people to go against their feelings, they will start looking for reasons to doubt your argument or conclusion.
They will look for facts that confirm their feelings, disregard facts that go against their feelings and even look for absurd justifications
This is called confirmation bias.
Do you know such a person? Are you that person?
Am I that person?