Influence of information on a person. Television as the main manipulator of public opinion

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The first lecture of the project Teach good from the course "Information security of the individual in the conditions of aggressive mass culture" (14+). It was read out at the Sober meeting in Taganrog in May 2017.

Influence of information on a person

A person in his decisions and actions always proceeds from his own worldview. The way he imagines the world around him influences his behavior. If you think that the world is cruel and the people in it are evil, you will treat others accordingly and get the same feedback. You think that the world is an extremely beautiful and bright place, you will always walk with a smile on your face until you meet someone who considers the world to be evil. Therefore, of course, it is necessary to maintain a positive attitude, but assess the situation as objectively as possible, taking into account both positive and negative aspects. The more objective and holistic your ideas about the world around you, the clearer you will represent the consequences of your actions, and, accordingly, you will be able to predict the situation with a greater degree of certainty.

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At the same time, many actions in our life we do not as a result of conscious volitional actions, but, as they say, automatically. In such cases, we are controlled by our subconscious, which relies on already formed stereotypes and patterns of behavior, and we can say that at these moments we act unconsciously, without thinking, but simply practicing habitual behavioral programs. But before we begin to understand where these behavioral programs come from, let's define what it means to "live mindfully." The word “awareness”, which is popular today, is understood by many in different ways and is often vague. We offer the following image for this word: "To live consciously means to strive to ensure that all your actions bring you closer to your life goals."

Accordingly, it is possible to say that a person lives consciously only when he has formed a certain ordered list of goals and life guidelines for himself and tries to coordinate all his actions and deeds with these goals so that they bring him closer to the implementation of his plans. For example, if one of the goals of a person is to maintain and strengthen his physical and mental health, then he will never use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. That is, in order to live consciously, you need to answer to yourself the question: “Why do you live?”, And then always remember about it.

A conscious life begins with the answer to the question "why do I live?" and creating an ordered list of goals you want to achieve. If you do not have goals, then you cannot control yourself, which means that someone else will control you.

But back to the worldview, which determines the behavior of each person. A worldview is a set of interconnected and ordered images that reflect our ideas about the world around us. If the worldview is adequate to reality, that is, the picture formed in our head is similar to the real world, then the person behaves adequately. If there is a kaleidoscope and chaos in the head, then the behavior will be in the style of "seven Fridays a week."

Ideas about the world around us are formed under the influence of information that comes to us from the outside. In our head, all information is somehow processed and stored, occupying its own niche in that very worldview picture. At the same time, in order to better understand the mechanics of this process, the human psyche can be imagined as an interconnected two-level information system, consisting of consciousness and subconsciousness, in which the subconsciousness is an analogue of a powerful computer operating with huge volumes of various data - visual images, texts, sounds, and so on. … And consciousness has much lower information processing capabilities, and it can simultaneously hold a small number of objects. At the same time, consciousness serves as a kind of analogue of the information input-output interface and the operating system, which in the course of its activity relies on the results of information processing by the subconscious.

For example, a person is learning to drive a car. To do this, he studies the rules of the road for a long time, masters driving - first with an instructor, then himself, focuses on how to change gears, turn and so on, but at some point this whole process ceases to require any serious strong-willed effort and largely goes into automatic mode. That is, in order to learn how to drive a car, you need to load into your subconscious mind a certain amount of information related to this process and get practical skills. In a similar way, a person learns everything in this world - he perceives a large amount of information, and then uses it in practice. But the trick lies in the fact that not all the information that we “load” into ourselves turns out to be reliable or useful. And many, in addition, are in the false belief that there is so-called "entertainment content" that does not need to be assessed in terms of its usefulness or harmfulness at all, since its influence supposedly comes down only to giving positive emotions or helping to take a break from everyday affairs … So or not, let's figure it out further, and now let's answer the question, which external factors most strongly affect a person's worldview, or what information channels fill his inner world and thereby teach him new behaviors and skills?

The main external factors affecting a person's worldview:

• Parents / family
• School / institute / professional field
• Friends / social circle
• Media environment (media, TV, Internet …)
• Other (place of residence, lifestyle, etc.)

Each of these factors plays a huge role in human life, but we will focus on the one whose importance is increasing every year and, most likely, in the 21st century - the century of information technology - will gradually come out on top. We are talking about the modern media environment, which is also called the "media space". Its main components.

The main components of the modern media space:

• The television
• Cinema
• Music industry
• Computer games
• Advertising sphere
• Other (radio, glossy magazines …)
• Internet (combines all of the above)

All of the above information flows affect the life of each of us. Even if you completely shield yourself from televisions, computers and radios, their influence will still reach you through your friends, acquaintances, and work colleagues. Therefore, we must learn to interact with the surrounding media environment, understanding what impact - good or bad - it has on us, and what technologies are used. To this end, we will analyze popular media content, starting with the most significant item - “Television”.

Television as the main manipulator of public opinion

In the video presented, an experiment with a Bobo doll and small children is given as an example of the influence of television, but it must be understood that television also affects adult viewers.

Experiment by psychologist Solomon Asch

In 1951, the American psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of simple but highly revealing experiments. He seated groups of 8 people in the audience and showed them 2 pictures. One line was drawn in one picture. In the second picture, three lines were drawn, differing in length. It was necessary to say which of these three lines coincides in length with the one depicted on the sample. They differed noticeably. The trick was as follows. In each group of 8 people, there was only one real subject. The other 7 were decoy ducks. The subject was told that the purpose of the experiment was to test visual perception. Although, in fact, conformism was studied, that is, a person's tendency to agree with the opinion of the majority.

The real subject always answered last in line. That is, he had previously seen and heard the answers of the other seven participants. There were 18 attempts in total. And in the first two attempts the decoy ducks gave correct answers. The subject could thus be convinced that his eyes did not fail him, and felt himself a fine fellow. But in subsequent attempts, the decoy ducks deliberately gave incorrect answers in chorus, claiming that two obviously different lines coincide in length. The subject heard 7 such identical answers, which unanimously contradicted what his own eyes see, and then his own answer came.

What did the results of the experiment show?

The results of the experiment showed that 37% of the subjects gave the same answer as the group! The experiment has shown that a huge part of people are ready to even disbelieve their own eyes, just to agree with the opinion of the majority. And television, in the perception of viewers, most often just presents its position as the opinion of the majority, or as an expert opinion, thereby motivating the audience not to think about many issues on their own, but simply to accept the broadcast point of view. Now let's see a few more videos that reveal the goals that popular Russian television shows are working to achieve. The videos were made at different times and by different people, so they differ noticeably in the quality of video and sound, but at the same time they are still united by a single analytical approach.

Structureless control

As you may have noticed, the term "propaganda" is constantly used in all videos. And what does it actually mean, and is it appropriate to use it? In fact, in the materials of the Teach the Good project, it is always said about structureless management, but this is done in an accessible and understandable language for a wide audience, for which they use well-known vocabulary and, in particular, the term "propaganda", which implies the management of social processes by disseminating specific information. But let's first understand how the management process can proceed.

Management can be structural, that is, it is like in the army - when there is a boss and a subordinate, and one gives orders and controls the other. An army or any other system with a similar hierarchy is the structure along which information processes flow and tasks set from above are solved. But it is also possible to manage without structure - by forming such an informational environment around the object, which will stimulate it to act in the way the customer needs. The simplest example is advertising. She does not directly tell anyone “go and buy such and such a thing”, she acts differently: she creates an attractive image for the product and tries to form a new need in the viewer, the answer to which will be a purchase. There is no order or structure, but a person goes and buys the goods imposed on him. But after all, it is possible to advertise or promote into society in a non-structured way not only objects, but also models of behavior, ideas, outlooks on life, life guidelines, values. So, the purposeful and systematic promotion of some ideas in a non-structured way - in the terminology familiar to a wide audience, this is “propaganda”, which is carried out by all mass media without exception, although many journalists do not even realize this. Therefore, in order to be well versed in matters of propaganda, it is desirable to know the basic provisions of the theory of management and understand how the processes of unstructured management in society proceed. At the end of the course, we will recommend you a list of books that are useful to read. You should also try to move to using the correct terminology. In particular, the media are inherently means of formation and management of public consciousness, and when appropriate, it is better to call them that.

"Doesn't affect me"

Many will say: “Well, what are you, I watched the Comedy Club!” I laughed at their obscene jokes, but after that I did not go to the pub and did not cheat on my wife. It turns out that your unstructured management or propaganda does not work for me? Firstly, the fact that you did not go straight to pick up the bottle does not mean that the TV show did not affect you in any way. For example, after watching content like TNT, a person at least becomes more tolerant of vice, because the natural feeling of indignation and disgust is gradually replaced by humor and the positive emotions associated with it. In addition, information poisoning occurs gradually and imperceptibly. The same ad must be shown to the person multiple times for the person to finally make a decision. Likewise, the effect of television in imposing patterns of behavior may not manifest itself immediately and with its own specificity, inherent in an individual, because television always works with a mass audience. He is not interested in you personally, he is interested in the impact on society as a whole. With the help of critical thinking, you can block the identified destructive programs that they are trying to impose on you, and protect yourself from overtly degrading content. But in order for your filters of critical perception to be constantly active, you need to remember very well that no information passes without a trace and always somehow affects a person. If the next time you hear from the staff of the TV channel that their main task is to entertain viewers, then rest assured that under the guise of entertainment these people are simply hiding their destructive goals.

It is necessary to remember forever that no information passes without a trace and always somehow influences a person.

Information = food

To better understand this, the process of watching a movie, TV series, show or any other media product can be compared to the process of eating food. No one doubts that food is one of the main factors affecting human health. This influence does not appear immediately - you will not die from one hamburger and will not even notice the harmful effect, but it is worth introducing fast food into your regular diet, as diseases will not keep you waiting. The principle of influence is absolutely similar in the case of information that a person consumes. If food affects physical health, then the information directly affects his mental and spiritual state. All the products of the Russian TV channel TNT, and many other entertainment TV channels, are poisoned food, these are the same hamburgers that destroy you spiritually, gradually turning you into subhumans, and in the case of young people and children, initially blocking their ability to become full-fledged people. An abundance of vulgarity, perversion, flat humor, cynicism and stupidity - these are analogues of flavor enhancers that are used in the food industry. It seems to society that it is only being entertained, while in fact it is being programmed. Let's watch another video on this topic.

In the same way that television promotes alcohol, other harmful behaviors are promoted in a similar way.

Distorted stereotypes of behavior formed by modern television:

• Being vulgar, cheeky, ready for a show-off life is the norm.
• Selfish, "major" lifestyle is the norm.
• Mercantile spirit and obsession with money is the norm.
• The image of a stupid / "fatal", accessible woman is the norm.
• The image of a reveler seeking a fickle relationship is the norm.
• The propaganda of vulgarity, shamelessness, perversion is the norm.
• The promotion of alcohol and tobacco is the norm.

It would seem that since the TV is so bad - refuse to watch it, here is all the "information security of the individual" for you. But it's not that simple. After all, television poison itself is very attractive. A kind of free cheese in a mousetrap. And other areas of modern mass culture for the most part do not bring anything good. Therefore, the point is not to remove the TV box from the house and start consuming similar content from the Internet, but to, firstly, learn to distinguish good from bad, and for this you need to know about the influence of information on a person and be able to identify real goals for the achievement of which such media content works, and secondly, you need to want to remove the bad. It's like giving up alcohol and tobacco - nothing seems to be complicated, just stopped buying them and poisoning myself with poisons, no one is forcibly forcing, but, as practice shows, this “wanting” is not at all easy. The problem is that in the head there are already a large number of models of perception and behavior programs formed from childhood through the same TV set, and their revision takes time and work on oneself. It is necessary to gradually revise and re-evaluate many information blocks that seem so familiar to you that you perceive them as something close and dear, but at the same time you have never really thought about their influence on your life. We will strive to ensure that you stop wasting your time on all harmful media content, clear your worldview of information waste and move on to a conscious life, analyzing in detail in other lectures what modern popular TV series, films, cartoons, musical groups and much more.