We've previously discussed ( https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=21/12/11/1847236 ) how it becomes impossible to reverse the polarization of a community once their differences become too great, and how that plays out both here at SN and in the wider world. Science Blog has a piece ( https://scienceblog.com/527745/computer-model-seeks-to-explain-the-spread-of-misinformation-and-suggest-counter-measures/ ) about a PLOS paper titled "Cognitive cascades: How to model (and potentially counter) the spread of fake news" ( https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261811 ) which uses an interesting computer model to explore how this actually happens.
The model demonstrated that if the new information is too much at odds with a person's existing belief, it will be ignored. Furthermore, if that belief is connected with the person's identity, their current belief will be strengthened as a defense against cognitive dissonance. Interestingly, though, a succession of new information that gradually nudge the person to adjust their beliefs can, over time, cause the person to adopt a belief that is very different from the one they started with. This sounds like how psy-ops manipulate targets to accept extreme views.
What was the gradual change of ideas that have led national political parties to be ever more different from one another, and who fed them those messages?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Sunday January 16 2022, @12:18PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_rule [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Raj [wikipedia.org]
Social decoherence is a model of local stability induction by system compartment. It is a kind of braking by friction or turbulence in a domain of social processes.
When opposition/uprising/rebellion to governance occurs somewhere in a well-fragmented society, by the added costs of passing ideas through the barriers of decoherence, any chances to unite the movement to be strong enough to form a successful systemic change (revolution) are significantly lowered.
So, the real question is: What were you prevented to achieve?
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.