Memes, media viruses, and cultural inoculation

By Douglas Rushkoff, David Pescovitz, and Jake Dunagan. April 24, 2018.

Political campaigns have always relied on values, visions, narratives, and ideologies to win votes. Whether virtuous or cynical, this effort comes down to propaganda: the leverage of social and psychological biases to promote a particular point of view.

Since Woodrow Wilson hired Walter Lippman to create the Creel Commission and win public support for our participation in World War I, social philosophers of all stripes have been debating the merits of manipulating people for political agendas. Lippman called for a “council of experts” to decide what would benefit the public, and an army of public relations specialists to convince them of what was in their own best interests. His protege, Edward Bernays, took an even more cynical stance, arguing that the public was just too stupid to make informed choices. Elites should figure everything out, and treat the masses like Pavlov treated his dogs...