Of course: that’s another quote from Edward Bernays’ “Propaganda” (p. 135). Apparently even 100 years ago, there was nothing easier than to accuse the mass of men with leading lives of lacking motivation. It seems that throughout time the slogan “Just Do Something” would also have been less popular than to “Just Do Nothing”. Yet… Continue reading The great enemy of any attempt to change men’s habits is inertia
Tag: ASS
Nuances in Milieus
The state university prospers according to the extent to which it can sell itself to the people of the state. Edward Bernays, “Propaganda”, p. 124 Many millennia ago, not a single human activity was remunerated — (perhaps) simply because the concept of money had not yet been invented. Today, there seems to be no human… Continue reading Nuances in Milieus
Rational – Irrational – Differently Rational
I find it very difficult to write about this topic, because most people seem unwilling to see my point of view. For most people there is only the dichotomy “rational” versus “irrational” — “differently rational” is not a category they feel comfortable with. [1] It is evident that the successful propagandist must understand the true… Continue reading Rational – Irrational – Differently Rational
AI = PR
Today, “propaganda” is closely associated with dictatorship. It is the boot stamping down on faces. Here in Germany I hear it mentioned time and again in messaging about historical facts together with historical footage — usually Adolf Hitler screaming into a microphone. Yet propaganda also has a more innocent-looking face, which is (perhaps) in fact… Continue reading AI = PR
Economics of Information 2.0: Advertising
Traditionally, the field known as the “Economics of Information” has mainly been focused on how market prices happen (in the “supply and demand” scheme of things). I do not aim to discount the very significant work that has been done here in the last half century (give or take a decade or two). Yet I… Continue reading Economics of Information 2.0: Advertising
Online Interventions
A significant part of “the meaning of life” is to intervene in some way — to make a contribution, to have an impact, etc. (cf. Viktor Frankl’s notion of so-called “logotherapy”). I choose to intervene online. I don’t need to march around, get into a car, drive somewhere, or get into a plane to travel… Continue reading Online Interventions
bruh-space: faces + names vs. words + ideas
Are you familiar with this face? You might be — if you are of a particular generation, if you have somewhat of an artistic bent, if you pay attention to popular media, and so on. [1] This is an image of a musician performing on stage as part of a duo that created a bunch… Continue reading bruh-space: faces + names vs. words + ideas
The Irrational Frontier
One thing I haven’t talked about (perhaps even haven’t considered) enough is the “no man’s land” that separates rational media from irrational media. [1] This is nothing new. Shakespeare quite obviously invented “new” (and improved?) words. Strings like “Anthropic” and / or “Perplexity” might be meaningful to you (or not) primarily depending on which linguistic… Continue reading The Irrational Frontier
Fifth Meditation on Social Media: The Future of Social Media Technology
Yesterday, a friend asked me who I view as my role model. My immediate response (in the context of that discussion) was Wittgenstein. Now that I reflect on it with a little more distance, I would perhaps name Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in his autobiography that he aimed to imitate Jesus and Socrates. There are… Continue reading Fifth Meditation on Social Media: The Future of Social Media Technology
Fourth Meditation on Social Media: Natural Evolution is Better than any ASS Model Insofar as it Doesn’t Collapse
Nature is nice. Even when dinosaurs go extinct, it nonetheless makes humans who are able to write stories about them. There are long traditions of comparing theories of natural evolution with those of so-called fundamental laws of economics. A while back, for example, I wrote an entire post about ideas spread by Pareto (see “More… Continue reading Fourth Meditation on Social Media: Natural Evolution is Better than any ASS Model Insofar as it Doesn’t Collapse
