As I've said multiple times in the thread, my own viewpoints are very close to the professor's! Public opinion of people who are not already in the system, however, is a different game, and you should always go with the safest bet if doing propaganda. It's critical.
As far as I can tell, the way most people decide this is: if I don't like it, it's propaganda
I don't think that "most" is accurate.
It is not hard to recognize propaganda, even when it coincides with one's established views.
In elementary school we had many quizzes and drills on this sort of stuff as part of our civics courses. The problem is, I doubt schools teach this stuff anymore, even though this kind of very basic critical thinking is very important for a functioning society.
Sure, I didn't mean to come at this with a view that it's propaganda. Rather, they're trying to instill values that make you a good citizen. Looking back on my comment it does come off as rather cynical. Probably because I had a rough time in English class and I spent most of my time making summaries rather than making insights.
Yes. Someone stating their honest-to-god opinion and how they came to it is not propaganda but organised attempts to push certain narratives are. Individuals can definitely shill for their side, but then they wouldn't be very popular with the audience.
Nothing new here, seriously. Propaganda from both sides before elections has existed for as long as there were political debates and political campaigns. The fact that we have now systems to make Propaganda more targeted may make it more effective than before, but that's all. In the end, believing or not in Propaganda is the individual's responsibility.
I haven't followed this enough to objectively assess how this is being portrayed, but consider whether "most" of the propaganda you've been seeing is not a representative sample, but has been tailored to engage you.
Your opinion is directly influenced by the extremely effective methods of propaganda currently under discussion. Thank you for making the point as clear.
It is. It's possible to have two completely valid, objective, and opposed positions in an argument where multiple different groups have a vested interest in one position being more popular than the other.
Which one is propaganda?
The one you disagree with?
The one that doesn't fit with your preconceived notions?
The one that doesn't fit with your personality profile?
Both positions? Neither position?
Do we just shut down all thinking on the internet?
Who watches the watchers?
Oh right. I find this so transparent that I find it difficult to even begin to use the word propaganda. But I could be dangerously out of touch with "the common man" or whatever.
Basically, if someone tries to tell me something is bad and it's not a paper on PubMed, I don't really buy it. But I guess most people believe secondary sources.
Funny, I was exposed to more propaganda in university than anywhere else. Are you saying that only humanities majors are educated enough to recognize propaganda?
I mean, it's not "just" propaganda; but that is a possibility that certainty muddies the waters and would benefit people wanting the topic underdiscussed.
Though generally I just refer to these people as Reptilians.
Sure, but it is equally likely that your old perspective was the result of propaganda and your new one is a rational adjustment in the face of new information. Or that both are propaganda, I suppose.
As someone who definitely doesn't agree with the mainstream opinion about all this, it comes across as fundamentally un-serious when you casually refer to the opposing argument as "propaganda" without any elaboration. I've used that kind of rhetoric probably too often and it is counterproductive. If you are genuinely interested in communicating what you believe to be good information to those who don't agree, please consider avoiding that kind of language.
Happily, I really appreciate your opinion, your part of the conversation.
I said "There are so many 'people' online", implying that there is a lot of propaganda being passed off as opinion. How much? How real? Well, I was giving my opinion on that.
I'm not saying that YOU are this propaganda, but challenging you to defend your point helps to fight, and weed out, the propaganda I'm talking about. Sounds like you might have read it?
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