Trigger Warning: If you are easily offended and/or perpetually offended then you may not want to read this post. If you can’t manage your emotions and are unable to think rationally, then do yourself a favor and go here.
Hey for a deeper discussion on this, check out my last post, The Great Escapism. This isn’t going to be a deep dive into anything. I felt like writing something today and after a conversation with a friend, this idea popped into my mind and seemed more interesting than what I had started writing earlier this morning.
Y’all notice that people are just mad about everything? Or want to be mad everything? Or get mad when other people aren’t mad about what they’re mad about? It just seems like everyone is pissed off for some reason or another. I’m pretty sure you’ve noticed. Maybe you’re one of them…
I have been one of those people in the past. I used to get angry about what I saw on the ideologically driven propaganda channels and websites cable news channels and news websites. (Anti)Social media also made me angry and caused me look at people a certain way that wasn’t healthy or right. So I stopped interacting with social media as much and I stopped watching the “news”.
I get that changes are happening in this country that are not what we want and that the nation is starting to look like something completely different than how we want it to look. If two different people read that last sentence, they could both be upset right now because they have views that are polar opposites. Both people could think that their view is the right one…
So who’s right? I don’t know, but I do know that it doesn’t matter because what they are usually mad about is outside of what I call our “geographic sphere of influence”. The stressor is outside of their bubble and there is nothing that they can do about it unless they are willing to move their bubble to where they can influence whatever it is that they are mad about and people aren’t usually willing to do that.
So why all the anger? Well I have an idea what the source could be.
At the risk of crashing this post, being unfollowed by all of my subscribers, or causing the internet to burn down… allow me to mess with your emotions in order to illustrate my point by using the following statement, “Covid-19 vaccines are safe and mandatory vaccination is what saved the planet from spreading one of the most deadly viruses the world has ever known and thank the Lord for President Donald Trump because without him there would be no covid-19 vaccines when they were needed. We should also be thankful when President Biden issued the selective lockdowns and mask mandates, because they kept us safe from being infected with the same deadly virus while going to church while still allowing the correct groups to protest and allowing us access to essential items such as alcohol, porn shops, and strip clubs”. I’m pretty sure that statement is enough to affect the emotions of pretty much the entire country. There are enough emotional elements in that statement which different draw in certain groups of people and push others away at the same time. How did that make you feel? Did I just spin up your emotions? No?
Now… this part is very important. I don’t care what you believe either way and should you decide that you need to comment, either for or against any part of that comment, then I win and you lose. Why do I win? Because I have intentionally and successfully manipulated your emotional state and depending on your point of view, you will now be more willing to listen to what I have to say, which then opens you up to more influence which may actually be counter to what you believe.
Now you may be wanting to ask me what it is that I think about that statement mentioned about. The answer is simply that it doesn’t matter what I think. My goal in writing this was not to have an open discussion or debate about any of that. My goal was to affect your emotional state, it was to manipulate you, cause division, and then get people on my side. Did me doing that make you mad? Is this something that you already know and are questioning why I even took the time to write this?
If my goal is to manipulate you into believing what I have to say, subscribing to my substack page, buying a thing that I make and sell, or voting the way that I want you to vote, all I have to do is appeal to your emotions and then I can own your thought process. Anger and fear are the easiest emotions to manipulate.
This is how the news media functions. They craft a story in such a way that will reach their target audience, not the general public. The story is crafted in such a way that it will either make you afraid or make you angry and then they show the story over and over again. Then they get “experts” to verify the story to help sink the story further into your mind. Once you are hooked, you keep watching. The ratings go up and now they can charge more money for advertising time. The news media is a business before all else and they are beholden to their stock holders.
Here’s an example that shouldn’t cause too much drama and that will demonstrate my point. Go check out a weekly forecast of your area at the National Weather Service website and then go do the same at the The Weather Channel website. The forecasts are going to be almost the same because the data comes from the same source but the graphics are going to be much more vibrant and the stories much more dramatic on The Weather Channel, even more so when you use the App. In fact, compare the radar images from the website to those on the app. The radar images on the app are more vibrant and issues “alerts” which are constantly informing you that something weather related is about to come wreck your world. They are trying to hold your attention and they are trying to manipulate your emotions so that you will stay tuned to their channel and get all of the “updates as they come in” about the “dangerous winter storm” that may or may not impact your area… It’s weather… there is nothing new about weather. People have been predicting the weather fairly accurately for a very long time, but they haven’t been make much money off of it until fairly recently.
Social media works similarly but I covered that in another post.
Ok so what’s the point in writing all of this? The point is that we have been manipulated for a long time and because of that manipulation we have neglected to look for truth and understanding. The effect of all of this is that people are looking at each other as the enemy and we don’t realize that if we would see each other as people first and not enemies then those who have the power over us would lose that power. Regular folks are not our enemy, the state and those who seek to have control over us are and if we continue to allow them to divide us and manipulate our emotions then they will drive people to do unspeakable things.
But that requires humility and a willingness to be wrong. It requires us to develop the ability to think critically and the willingness to understand where others are coming from. Ultimately we have to realize that there are no perfect answers and that there will be no utopia or nirvana here on earth. Every single person is valuable and every single person has immense worth and we won’t see that in others if we are continually angry and emotional.
Just out of curiosity, did you pick up on the trigger warning at the top as being a way to attract your attention and manipulate you as well?
Well that’s it for this one. Not sure how I feel about this post as it may not work quite as I envisioned it. This may be one of those things that didn’t work out as well as I thought it would… Let me know what you think in the comments, unless you want to comment about that statement made earlier… just keep those comments to yourself. If you’re interested in what I write and wrote then please free to subscribe. It’s free and you can leave whenever you want. I hope that you have a blessed day.
Fair winds and following seas,
Nate
Well written Nate. Look forward to reading more of your stuff. I thin we see the world in a similar light.
At the risk of triggering some, I might add that your description provides a very accurate understanding of how BOTH sides are covering the war in Ukraine.
So true Nate. Most people are much less likely to do their own research therefore they accept quickly the first opinion put in front of them. I shake my head at most headlines. They are usually half truths and not worth the time!