An article in Salon* proposes that disinformation serves an evolutionary purpose, citing examples in the animal world of creatures using deception to survive. Deception is, of course, a factor in the ruthlessness required for Survival of the Fittest (the Social Darwinist position of Republicans), "fittest" being a state of optimum ability unhampered by considerations of morality.
Some species thrive as individuals, some in herds. Humans are definitely of the herd variety. Even hermits shun behaviors that would sully their reputations as members of the bona fide hermit class - use of deodorant, teeth whiteners, LED lights, or bling. (In their case the belonging is more ethereal than interactive.)
With regard to interactive groups the article states,
"You identify three functions of information sharing:
1. group mobilization for conflict,
2. coordination of attention,
3. signaling commitment."
The information need not be true.
Reading this it occurred to me that an exciting lie is more effective than a boring truth. Especially in this society where entertainment is a bigger industry than education.
The trouble with rational arguments is that if the argument is accepted, it leaves the previously deceived with no herd to join. The categorization of the alternative herd as "libturds" is superglued to their prefrontal cortex . So maybe we should tempt them to form a new herd by waving a currency they can relate to: conspiracy theories.
But before injecting our own benign blarney into their ether, we need to cut off the competing sources - the merchants of mendacity, the corner boys of crock, the candy mans of canard, the mongers of fishiness. Of which the most guilty is FOX "News" - the prime Hawker of Cognitive Harmaceuticals.
FOX needs to be discredited in their eyes. So stuff your rational arguments into the Goodwill bag. We need to climb in through the cellar of their brains with our Trojan Trove of Truths. Hiding inside a giant hollow replica of a Foxy Moron.
Yes, a FOX character ubiquitous as a sleazy snake oil salesman in graphic novels, TV shows, social media, and merchandise - e.g., a talking stuffed animal that (like Kevin McCarthy blurting out the real reason for the Benghazi hearings) says things like "I like dictators! Dictators are click baiters!"
Then once FOX "news" has been removed from the chessboard of anything worth paying attention to we swoosh into the vacuum with our aforementioned Benign Blarney narrative.
For example:
Somewhere in a secret fortress lives a hybrid clone of (Karl Marx & Nurse Ratched? Chairman Mao & Bride of Chucky?). Its goal is to kill off true patriots. We can give it its own pronoun, hert (he/her/it), and start with easily accepted propositions:
Hert wans to outlaw sex. Cloning doesn't require this transaction.
Hert wants to ban country music and Nascar racing. Just because.
Hert wants to control your beer intake. (We can get Kavanaugh on board with that).
Hert's opponents need to form a brigade, The Lite Brigade, with divisions named Miller, Bud, Coors etc. They should wear yellow cowboy hats like the guy in the Curious George books.
Hert uses facial recognition software, so a mask? Don't leave home without it
Now that we've gotten them to take off their red hats, they might be open to the idea that hert is responsible for the Corona virus. Aren't true patriots the ones who are dying from it? Hert has other viruses in the chute. Its method of dissemination is through gun powder. So it's okay to keep your guns, just don't fire them.
Hert must be destroyed.
Since hert craves smog like Garfield craves lasagna, hert must be deprived of it. Clean air is its kryptonite. The only way to find the fortress is to lower the sea level by reinstating the icebergs. Sounds impossible but America can do anything it sets its mind to!
* https://www.salon.com/2021/08/08/a-terrifying-new-theory-fake-news-and-conspiracy-theories-as-an-evolutionary-strategy/
TODAY'S QUIZ
Which of the seven foxes looks most like a snake oil salesman?
