Human See Human Do: Deception and Why it Works So Well

Human See Human Do

Deception and Why it Works So Well

Introduction

As a species, we humans are very easy to deceive. As if that were not bad enough, certain individual and groups of individual in our species earn their living deceiving others. These include lawyers, politicians, lobbyist, special interest groups, and big business. The individuals and groups of individuals who make this all possible on a day to day basis are collectively referred to as mass media

Before the rise of mass communication, especially visual mass communications (television), it was more or less impossible for a single individual or a small group of individuals to deceive on a grand scale. A single individual or small group might deceive the people of their town, village, city, or region, but that was the extent of how far an individual or small group could deceive.

Today using modern visual mass communications (television), a single individual or small group of individuals such as lawyers, politicians, or robbers in suits can sell the other members of their species almost anything. Please note that the word “sell” in that last sentence was placed there purposely. Deception is essentially selling, usually the selling of an underlying idea that is often hidden on purpose.

Psychology

As human beings we gather quite a bit of our information about life by watching others. If the other humans we observe are competent and have no intention to deceive, the information we gather will usually be accurate and help us lead more productive lives. But what if the other humans we observe intend to deceive? What if they modify their words and actions to sell us on their ideas?

It’s very important to note that it is much easier to fool human beings using visual information than it is to fool human beings using audio information. This is why television marketing is so successful. Indeed, if you want a statement to sum up deception of human beings, this is it: The eyes deceive us.

Most human beings in industrialized societies get most of their information from television, a means of communication that exploits the human vulnerability to visual deception. This present’s a multitude of opportunities for individuals or groups of individuals who wish to deceive us, or, more correctly stated, want to sell us their ideas.

Concrete Examples

Tugging on the heart strings: This method uses strong visual data to get the human being emotional about a given problem. Once the human has gotten emotional, the messenger then suggest a solution for the problem that helps the messenger’s agenda while hiding the real cause of the problem. A common example of this is the television adds that show starving, malnourished children in third world countries. Seeing children in such condition id deplorable and few humans are not affected emotionally when seeing such sights. So then the messenger takes advantage of the emotionally affected human and may suggest, ever so covertly, that the emotionally effected human should somehow feel guilty over this and send in a donation.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to charitable giving. If you have the means, one should give to the poor. However, for this example it’s worth looking at what the messenger does not tell you.

In many of these countries where you see the children dying from malnutrition, the reason these children don’t have enough food is because warlords and corrupt government officials hog all the food for themselves and dole it out to their sycophants. Also, the people in these countries are prevented, by their governments, from owning firearms. Thus, they have no way to remedy the situation.(My solution to world hunger would involve the distribution of simple break open shotguns and ammunition to the starving people, starting with women who have children. Let them make examples of a few warlords and corrupt politicians who hoard the food. Putting fifty buckshot in someones center mass sends a strong message.)

The food the United States and other countries give the poor people of these countries just continues these poor people’s states of dependency. Giving people food does not address the fundamental problem: Why can't they produce and distribute enough food? There is an old saying that goes like this: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.” Maybe we should give the worlds poor the skills and resources to be independent and self reliant. One charity I greatly like who does this is Heifer International. They give livestock to poor people all over the world to help them achieve self-reliance. Their web address is www.heifer.com

Expert fixations: This method uses visual deception to present a picture that the people who are speaking are experts whose ideas and solutions should be trusted. A very good example of this technique is the Sunday morning panel news shows. They have supposed “experts” dressed in nice suits and ties. The “experts” then sit around a nice table and discuss the matter at hand in the most serious tone of voice. The set up implies, ever so subtly, that these “experts” only have everyone’s best interest at heart at that it is impossible for these “experts” to have their own agenda. However, if one looks at the pronouncements of these “experts”, the idea that they are experts and are free of their own agenda becomes suspect.

“Free trade benefits everyone in the United States.” Never mind that when the United States rose to global economic prominence after World War 2, the United States practiced ruthless protectionism and hit foreign products with high tariffs. Never mind the fact that the top one percent on the planet are getting richer while the other ninety nine percent are getting poorer. (See the book Bad Samaritans by Ha-Joon Chang.)

“Illegal aliens do the jobs that U.S. citizens won’t do.” Correction: Illegal aliens do jobs for wages no U.S. citizen would accept.

“Some businesses and banks are too big to fail.” Kinda like the Roman Empire, right?

“We will have to give up some of our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms to protect the United States from terrorism.” Really? I thought that the terrorists, not the U.S. Constitution, was the cause of terrorism.

COMMENT: The use of “experts” is one of the most effective techniques of deception used by visual mass media. Indeed, there are many people in the U.S. today who automatically give someone “expert” status if that person talks about a given subject on a television news show, never mind the fact the person has no expertise. Just because someone is on a tv news show does not make them an expert. Just because someone gets a lot of tv time does not mean they are competent in their field of "expertise".

The Bottle Neck: This method uses a setup similar to the expert fixation in that it employs a highly controlled panel of “experts” to limit the range of choices for the human who is watching. They push other human being towards an intellectual bottle neck.

During presidential elections this method is used to suggest, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly that you only have 2 real choices to vote for in the presidential election. On the television shows that use this method, there will be several “experts” who will tell you why you need to vote democrat and there will be several “experts” who will tell you why you need to vote republican. These shows rarely consider 3rd party candidate’s or candidates in the 2 major parties who are not considered to be in the group that runs everything in the 2 parties

In the last presidential election, Ron Paul, while a republican, was treated like a libertarian (a third party) because of his strong stance on being true to the United States Constitution. Notice how Ron Paul was treated during the republican debates. Notice how he was given much less time to speak than the other republican candidates, and when he mentioned the Constitution, the other republican’s facial expressions looked as though they were listening to some crazy uncle, thus sending the message that Ron Paul was not a real choice.

These three examples are but a tiny fraction of the deceptions techniques perpetrated by visual mass media (television). Given that there are so many techniques of deception, it is good to have a few general rules to apply to protect yourself from deception.

Rule # 1-To the largest extent possible, get your information by reading. Even though reading uses the eyes, it is essentially an audio means of getting information, as most people hear the words in their mind when they read them.

Rule # 2-Get your information from multiple sources.

Rule # 3-If you must get your information from mass visual communication (television), always ask yourself the following question: “Could there be an alternate explanation?”

Rule # 4-Work off the assumption that anyone talking about a given subject has their own agenda. Everyone has a dog in the fight.

Rule # 5-Be wary of the beautiful. Psychology has shown that people who are more attractive are considered more competent than people who are less attractive, even when objective data proves the lesser attractive person more competent. This is why television broadcasters have really pretty women and quarterback type men anchor their news shows.

Rule # 6-Be wary of those on television who try to get you excited. Getting people excited is a basic sales technique. When you get excited clear-thinking leaves the building.

Rule # 7-Avoid being intimidated. People who sell so called “self help” merchandise use this technique all the time. They say things like “Winners do this” or “Losers do that.” And of course, to be a winner you must buy their product or accept their ideology.

Rule # 8-If you are male, be a man and think for yourself. If you are female, be a woman and think for yourself. Other people, especially the so-called experts may have more knowledge and training than you, but that does not mean their judgement is better than yours. The experts may have knowledge, but thats no guarantee they have wisdom.

Rule # 9-Be very skeptical when the mass media bakes broad and general cconclusions.