Wise synthesis of a growing problem. Author says "I've decided to 'opt-out' of this war entirely." What mental gymnastics does he use when watching a YouTube ad for example? The subliminal effect of much advertising is pernicious and cannot be entirely avoided, it seems to me.
Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
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Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#52It is insufficient to ignore blatant advertising. For example, if you live in the US, then you are part of a society that has been subjected to ~ 100 years of corporate propaganda. > The prominent business analyst Roger Babson remarked in 1921 that "the war taught us the power of propaganda. Now when we have anything to sell the American people, we know how to sell it." Edward Bernays, too, noted that the "astounding…
Get 'em while they're young, before they have the mental tools to defend themselves.
Explains why socialism is so popular round these parts. (trollgrin)
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#53I am immune. The trick is to become conscious of the process. Put another way: the immune mind operates on a higher level of abstraction and can objectively see lower levels - you allow the memes to run in brain cycles but you are su and kill them. It's like when you are watching a movie and at some point you realize (feel) it is fake reality, then you learn to do it on purpose everytime: you watch the movie layer fr…
Whoops, it looks like you forgot to su and kill the Unix memes you are infected with.
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#54Related, though less about brands, I really liked "This Video Will Make You Angry" by CGP Grey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc - Thoughts/memes as germs trying to reproduce and spread, battling for attention and thriving when people endlessly argue as part of an us/them dynamic.
Oh, that's super good. I'll definitely include that in the post. The funny part is that this itself is a meme but it's like sharing a vaccine rather than a pathogen. I really like the disease analogy. Thank you!
> The funny part is that this itself is a meme but it's like sharing a vaccine rather than a pathogen.
No, it's like those informational commercials raising awareness for muscular dystrophy. Just because you now know it exists doesn't mean you've cured it or even treated it. This stuff works whether you know about it or not.
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#55Wise synthesis of a growing problem. Author says "I've decided to 'opt-out' of this war entirely." What mental gymnastics does he use when watching a YouTube ad for example? The subliminal effect of much advertising is pernicious and cannot be entirely avoided, it seems to me.
> What mental gymnastics does he use when watching a YouTube ad for example?
No ads on youtube here so no mental gymnastics required. Probably one of ghostery, ublock or umatrix takes care of those for me.
The only way they can reliably serve those is when they splice them onto the actual video but that hasn't happened yet. On some sites pre-roll ads do cause the main video to be paused for as long as the ad would run otherwise.
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#56I've learned to always consider speakers' agendas. I'm also very careful to avoid viewing ads. Online, I use AdBlock Plus. In meatspace, I just don't look. And when that's not possible, I always focus on deconstruction. It helps that I've worked in both academic science and litigation ;)
>In meatspace, I just don't look Honestly that sounds impossible, practically dangerous. Just go out in a park, people are walking billboards. Clothes, shoes, accessories they all seem to be plastered with logos. Along the road, billboards, many of them electronic flashing messages. Oh and logos over everything, everywhere. Big yellow arches. Communications companies love sticking their corporate image on every surfa…
When I notice a logo on someone, my first thought is "What a git!" ;) I remove logos from my stuff, or nuke them with waterproof black marker.
I don't look at billboards. And anyway, looking at billboards while driving is dangerous.
But yes, it's often impossible to avoid seeing ads. But as I said, it's my practice to focus on deconstruction. I also tend to imagine how to revise them for humor ;)
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#57I am immune. The trick is to become conscious of the process. Put another way: the immune mind operates on a higher level of abstraction and can objectively see lower levels - you allow the memes to run in brain cycles but you are su and kill them. It's like when you are watching a movie and at some point you realize (feel) it is fake reality, then you learn to do it on purpose everytime: you watch the movie layer fr…
Whoops, it looks like you forgot to su and kill the Unix memes you are infected with.
Nothing wrong with such memes, they are like good bacteria. We are talking about memes that want you to take actions (coercive memes) like spending your money on one product/service, or join a religion and then bomb the temple of another religion.
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#58I am immune. The trick is to become conscious of the process. Put another way: the immune mind operates on a higher level of abstraction and can objectively see lower levels - you allow the memes to run in brain cycles but you are su and kill them. It's like when you are watching a movie and at some point you realize (feel) it is fake reality, then you learn to do it on purpose everytime: you watch the movie layer fr…
Unix meme aside, that's what I do.
Awareness of manipulation reduces its effectiveness.
Bringing in another meme, "I see the fnords!" ;)
Hofstadter's stuff has also been instructive.
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#59I am immune. The trick is to become conscious of the process. Put another way: the immune mind operates on a higher level of abstraction and can objectively see lower levels - you allow the memes to run in brain cycles but you are su and kill them. It's like when you are watching a movie and at some point you realize (feel) it is fake reality, then you learn to do it on purpose everytime: you watch the movie layer fr…
Unix meme aside, that's what I do. Awareness of manipulation reduces its effectiveness. Bringing in another meme, "I see the fnords!" ;) Hofstadter's stuff has also been instructive.
Indeed! GEB has been a bible in this regard (pun intended).
Re: Your Head as a Battleground, Dueling Memes
#60Related, though less about brands, I really liked "This Video Will Make You Angry" by CGP Grey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc - Thoughts/memes as germs trying to reproduce and spread, battling for attention and thriving when people endlessly argue as part of an us/them dynamic.
This reminds me a lot of The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Selfish_Gene ). That book actually coined the word "meme". Mindblowing book if you haven't read it.
Susan Blackmore's The Meme Machine is the book that brought the ideas home for me.