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from the By-the-inch,-it's-a-cinch-but-a-mile-takes-a-while dept.
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: 2) by inertnet on Sunday January 16 2022, @01:15PM (4 children)
It would be evil if educational standards are intentionally lowered down. Sorry for bringing him into the discussion, but Hitler once said, after taking (I think it was) Ukraine and was met with resistance from intellectuals, that their local school system had to be changed. He said: "as servants they only need to be able to count up to 100, so they will be too stupid to revolt".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 16 2022, @04:09PM (3 children)
Given the thread, don't you think you should have provided a citation at least for the quote, or were you just making a point by not doing so?
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Monday January 17 2022, @12:25AM (2 children)
It's in ISBN 342116607 on page 76. The quote was actually written by Bormann, but he just wrote down Hitler's ideas: "Die slawische Fruchtbarkeit is unerwünscht... Bildung ist gefährlich. Es genügt, wenn sie bis hundert zählen können".
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 18 2022, @05:04AM (1 child)
(Score: 3, Informative) by inertnet on Tuesday January 18 2022, @07:49AM
ISBN 342116607
Title: Die letzten Notizen von Martin Bormann. Ein Dokument und seine Verfasser.
Author: Lew Besymenski
The book was originally written by Russian historian Besymenski. The Russians were the first to enter Berlin at the end of the war, and they brought a lot of documents to Russia. Their historians had a lot to work with. The book was later translated to German and I bought it for some research I did. The "count to 100" quote was actually meant for all Slavic people including Russia. But if I remember correctly it was because the Germans met some resistance by Ukrainian intellectuals and concluded that intellectuals are undesirable among "Untermensche".