Good Afternoon Amy,
In my first three posts, I talked about “viruses of the mind,” using memegineering to infect people with false memories, how we live in a deliberately designed post-truth environment, and my own frustration at having no influence. I am a problem-solver. I’ve always enjoyed identifying a problem and trying to work out a solution. The first step in solving a problem is to clearly define the problem.
The problem: How can I exert political influence in this post-truth tribal-identity environment? Millions of people have tried and failed using the traditional methods like running for office, backing a candidate or issue, raising money, protesting, and expressing their concerns in a media. I have tried those solutions to no avail. Einstein succinctly stated that insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I am not insane. I have a painfully clear understanding of the problem and of my own inadequacy to affect change as a player. I am aware that in the post-truth cacophony any signal only adds to the noise.
The solution lies in canceling the noise rather than adding to the noise. Society needs to be given noise-cancelling headphones so the truth can be heard. Campaigns, social media posts, corporate media, fact checkers, pundits, Bloggers, talking heads, think tanks, cable news, broadcast news, politicians, etc, are just adding to the noise. Screaming “shut the fuck up” just adds more noise. So how can one little insignificant person “change the world.”
A whisper can drown out a shout.
Tomorrow, I will explore solutions.