Saying one thing and doing another — what is the point?
When I try to analyze the information coming in now, I realize that we have entered a time when most sources no longer provide truthful information about what is happening, but instead issue contradictory and mutually exclusive data. Sometimes, this even happens within a single message. It’s starting to resemble horoscopes: you find what you want, and you perceive what you like. I understand that this is a very difficult time, when the people we are used to trusting due to their positions in society either do not want to, or cannot, tell the truth. So then, why say anything at all? After all, to mislead is not right. Although, of course, it all depends on the original intentions.
You can exclude sources that provide conflicting information, but they just repeat what our newsmakers are conveying. When does the need to confuse someone arise? When there is a need to get them out of a state of critical perception of reality. How can you maintain a clear mind when everything is changing so fast? What was white today, becomes black tomorrow. What was right yesterday, is no longer right today. At the same time, there is no shortage of information; the streams surrounding us are rather excessive. This is called overload. When a huge flow of contradictory information falls on you, you lose the ability to perceive it critically. In this state, it is easy to be manipulated.
It turns out that the goal of the current organized information tsunami is to bring us to a state where we are easily manipulated. Where we will readily accept what we considered unacceptable just yesterday. In fact, there is an attack on our consciousness with the aim of implanting false, yet beneficial to someone, patterns, values, and beliefs. As is known, our behavior is a consequence of our beliefs! Thus, it appears that the goal of this disinformation attack is to change our behavior. And it seems that this is not at all in our true interests.
How can you protect yourself from this kind of manipulation, how can you avoid losing your true self, how can you maintain your agency? Of course, it’s difficult for one person to resist the influence of mass manipulation tools, especially when there is a targeted attack. What can help? How can you distinguish manipulation from information, how can you tell that information is truthful? I use several rules for myself. 1. If the information contains judgments, I try to remove those judgments and perceive the information without the author’s assessments, leaving room for my own evaluations. 2. If there are contradictions within the same text or message, I stop reading—it’s clearly manipulative. 3. If I see a call to action that I did not want or intend to take, I block that source—this is also a sign of manipulation. 4. Every few months, I review my goals, record changes, and try to establish causal connections that led to those changes. Is it my own decision or not, does this change make something better for me or not? 5. I discuss controversial issues with several people whose opinions I trust. In discussion, there’s a chance to look at the issue from different angles and choose the option that’s closer to me. Two heads are better than one, and more are even better. 6. If the information I receive makes me feel humiliated, insecure, inadequate, or worse than before, then it’s toxic. You need to throw it out of your head and not let it influence you.
And how do you cope?
