Here is a piece of the puzzle. I have not heard of it but I have seen it and now it has a name.
What is it about: Here is an inoculation message.
"The climate is always changing"
If a person hears this they are inoculated AGAINST the idea of climate change.
Combine enough inoculation messages together and make them part of the talk that defines group membership in a group that people want to be part of, the defining language of the group, and you control their minds.
Psychological Inoculation against Misinformation: Current Evidence and Future Directions
QuoteInoculation theory explains how immunity to counter-attitudinal messages is conferred by preemptively exposing people to weakened doses of challenging information.
It seems to me that this tool can go both ways. The research link promotes the idea that inoculation can prevent against misinformation and fake news. Apparently the research was done to test this idea. But it seems to me that the same technique is used to maintain inequality, class difference and minority control by the affluent already. I allege the technique is commonly used to maintain status-quo and minority rule. It has only been given a new name.
QuoteIn Marxist philosophy, cultural hegemony is the dominance of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class who shape the culture of that society—the beliefs and explanations, perceptions, values, and mores —so that the worldview of the ruling class becomes the accepted cultural norm.
Inoculations every day.
And this says so:
QuoteIn 2018, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risks Report named online misinformation as one of the top global risks to the environmental, economic, technological, and institutional systems on which our future depends
Our future. Or is the DAVOS crowd talking about life as they know it. Their future. Not yours
This inoculation technique is nothing new. The best thing is to develop a nose for it and know it for what it is.
Using the technique to protect people from fake news scares me. I don't see the value. People subject to fake news do not think to begin with, so what kind of ideas will they have after an inoculation? The 'right' ones? That is wishful thinking and that thinking denies an infinity of possible replacement ideas. An infinity of possibilities is a more correct point of view. Now they don't believe in giant bugs, but they believe in space lizards. Ooops we did not plan for that.
I'll stay away from half truths and stay with the real thing. The world is built on half truths already. We need the real thing. Please accept no substitutes.
No way around critical thinking. Learn to protect yourself and everyone you know against inoculation. It has been used against you for years.
The world is in overshoot. Spread the word. This is what we have to deal with. Spread the truth. The facts.
Climate denial comes about for several reasons. Inoculation has an influence, but I think Terror-Management Theory is a more powerful explanation.
I understand the temptation to use inoculation theory to fight misinformation. But personally I don't want to sink to 'their' level. I have standards. Sinking to 'their' level also means failure. They have more power to repeat counter inoculation messages so playing by the rules of power means power wins.
Stupidity never seems to stop, but one day the the truth becomes popular and sweeping change results. Quantity becomes quality. It happens when everyone you realize has been thinking the same way you do, and you, are not under an illusion that you are the only one any more.
The method I describe made the Soviet Union collapse. Internal contradictions could not be maintained and the system collapsed without warning. Opposition to the collapse was weak and most people were ok with change. But a week earlier the atmosphere was an atmosphere of compliance. Then public attitudes changed overnight. Once things got moving everyone realized they were not alone.
Raising awareness may not have visible results for a long time. But then all of a sudden change can happen.