The other day, I was enjoying listening to someone critique a commercial. “All the kids in this commercial are skinny.” “What does blowing bubbles have to do with eating a hamburger?” She was identifying forms of manipulation. The effect of her clarity was an outward rolling of her eyes but internally, she had an intellectual vaccination against the powers that say, “You must buy now!”
This person could not have provided a better example of the power of critical thinking. We live in a world full of noise and this kind of disciplined mental work ensures wise action instead of gut reaction. Without it we are sitting ducks when it comes to tactics of persuasion. We could believe any idea that sounds good at the time or trust something as fact because the person delivering the message “seems” so honest. If all we have is our gut, we are prey to anyone with an agenda.
Critical thinking: a set of intellectual skills used to make reasonable, fair, and accurate conclusions. This form of discipline requires a full understanding of the context, drawing from observations, experience, reason, and reflection. Once those elements have been analyzed and synthesized, the meanings impacts beliefs and direct behavior.
While it may be easier to be wary of political pundits or advertisers, there is one person who is least likely to raise suspicion. This person seems like such a trustworthy source, yet if we look closer, this person is just as needy, motivated, and biased as the professionals. That person is you.
Why are we so believable?
According to Elliot Aronson, an expert on effective propaganda, there are several elements that encourage blind obedience:
- Credibility. Research has shown that people tend to trust information when it appears to come from an experienced and trustworthy source. It seems illogical to think that we would want to deceive ourselves or want something other than what is helpful. If there is no perceived agenda, there appears to be no reason to question the source.
- The more familiar the message, the greater the appeal. A billion dollar marketing firm holds no candle to our internal tapes. Where marketers have to figure out when their audience is available, our tapes have uninhibited access to our minds. Over the course of a lifetime, the messages and roles are so common, so consistent, they don’t even raise suspicion. Our conditioning goes without notice and is accepted as the norm.
- Emotional messages are more convincing than purely logical messages. Because this is an internal system, the time between message and emotional response is only milliseconds. To the undiscerning eye, the two are experienced as inseparable. The emotions, the corresponding body reactions, and the thoughts then all seem to be in agreement. Talk about validation!
Question the message and the messenger!
As you can see, we seem so trustworthy and best intentions, we are doing the best that we can. However, we must not forget that we are still fallible. We have been given messages (often inaccurate and dated) that encourage us to see the world in certain ways. We have lenses that tend to emphasize some pieces of reality and discount others. We have conflicting needs and impulses that could be ruthless without the application of morals and reason. Worst of all, we may not have all the facts to begin with. How many times has a reaction occurred, only to find out later that it wasn’t the whole story!
Luckily, with awareness and discernment, we do not have to be sitting ducks to our own rhetoric. Step back and observe the bigger picture. Ask questions to gain understanding. Allow time to process and consider the pieces. By recognizing our own vulnerabilities, we get to enjoy the same resilience as my the person mentioned above. Become better prepared, less reactive, and able to make wise choices.