Just assume that everything you hear and everything you see is an attempt at manipulating you. Maybe it is benign as making you spend your money in a certain way. Maybe it is more sinister.
I don’t mean the fucking Russians and the fucking Chinese. If you see “the Russians” etc. as the bogeyman you’re intellectually weak and pathetic.
Of course these things exist. So what? Grow up. You’re still missing the point about life, who you are, what is important to you, and what is within your power.
What’s the easiest way to sense attempted manipulation? Your own emotional response. Is it intense? Does your mood change noticeably? Do you want more of it? It’s probably propaganda. Analogy: drugs. What is your reaction?
Subtler methods of manipulation are at work. Long, persistent, slow seeding of despair about The World Today, or Them.
What’s the defense? Two things come to mind:
- A skeptical-by-default perspective.
- Dunbar’s Number.
Skeptical by default
Skeptical by default is learning how to make your own brain question everything.
Good scientists, detectives, trial lawyers, and many other people learn this skill. You can, too.
But . . . the person to be most skeptical about is yourself. This is a hard and lifelong quest.
I know for myself that I am apt to accept everything I hear. I am gullible.
If I wait for a little while I will start to build nuance and questions. So I know to postpone judgments where it is important.
Dunbar’s Number
Dunbar’s Number means that you surround yourself with reliable people. People you know personally. There is an upper limit to the number of people you can know personally.
They need not have the same opinion as you. In fact, they should not. Don’t build an echo chamber of people with the same blind spots as you. Just find people as fiercely committed to the same Quest as you.
But you must know them personally at some level and have judged them to be of moral character and acceptable intellect. Your judgment will probably be wrong at times. No matter.
These are your canaries. These are your scout outposts warning of attack. These are your filters.
Strong people are harder to kill
I like the Mark Rippetoe quote and I think it applies here. Get your mind strong. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Get physically strong.
Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general.
Mark Rippetoe
I’m also thinking of the lyrics to the old Popeye song. “I eat all the worms and I spit out the germs. I’m Popeye the sailor man.”
You’re going to eat worms. Learn how to spit out germs.