Several months back, a good friend of mine mentioned how too many people drink the Kook-Aid these days. I replied, “Don’t you mean the ‘Kool-Aid?’”
“No,” he said, “The Kook-Aid.”
“What do you mean by that?,” I asked.
As soon as the words were out of mouth, I knew the answer, but let him explain it anyway, as he mentioned people diving down the rabbit hole following conspiracy theories based on unsubstantiated remarks with no factual basis. He was able to laugh and poke fun as this current syndrome in our world, where people dig for information to confirm their biases. They want to drink the Kook-Aid.
I love the phrase. It reminded me of a recent chess match with another friend. While we played, a blurb from Tucker Carlson played in the background. He wanted to stop the match and listen.
As a journalist, it struck me how the blurbs emitting from the laptop were scripted to push the listener down a very specific path. My buddy “wanted” to believe. I was more critical and pointed out repeated incidents of how the broadcast was designed to take a snippet from here and a snippet from there to buttress Carlson’s perspective. He wasn’t factually investigating anyone. He was pushing people to drink his Kook-Aid.
We all face a challenge to inform ourselves of highly complex issues that for the most part we know nothing about. I remember in college taking one of my favorite courses that addressed public opinion. We were asked to write down any subject we thought we had enough knowledge on to consider ourselves an expert. It was quite the amusing experience, as the professor drilled holes in one student after another as they tried to portray themselves as knowledgeable on something they knew nothing about.
As we listed to Carlson’s opinoncast that evening, I struggled mightily to explain to my friend how those shows are structured to make certain people look bad, not allowing them time to respond when the answer might conflict with the head of the show. This occurred several times, as a person being interviewed was cut off as they tried to answer a question, and then the focus went back to the talking head’s rant.
Failing to open my friend’s mind on that front, I then attempted to get him to understand how 9-second video clips do NOT tell a story. Nor do they create an accurate narrative of an event. Instead, those clips are typically designed to raise your emotions, get you excited (angry, sad), so you start yelling in unison at the television set. Watch a few of those quick clips some night, then analyze them afterwards for content and what you’ve been informed about, and you’ll find that you’re no more educated than you were before the show. Only more agitated.
We need to teach people ways to better understand how the news media (if we’re going to attempt to call electronic communications part of the “news”) use content to manipulate how you think and feel. The dynamic interactions we have with others will benefit from recognizing what we don’t know, and how an announcer’s view pushes us in one direction or another.
If we can gain a deeper understanding of how the media operates and think rationally with a critical mind, drinking the Kook-Aid might just become a thing of the past. And, we’ll all be healthier.
“No,” he said, “The Kook-Aid.”
“What do you mean by that?,” I asked.
As soon as the words were out of mouth, I knew the answer, but let him explain it anyway, as he mentioned people diving down the rabbit hole following conspiracy theories based on unsubstantiated remarks with no factual basis. He was able to laugh and poke fun as this current syndrome in our world, where people dig for information to confirm their biases. They want to drink the Kook-Aid.
I love the phrase. It reminded me of a recent chess match with another friend. While we played, a blurb from Tucker Carlson played in the background. He wanted to stop the match and listen.
As a journalist, it struck me how the blurbs emitting from the laptop were scripted to push the listener down a very specific path. My buddy “wanted” to believe. I was more critical and pointed out repeated incidents of how the broadcast was designed to take a snippet from here and a snippet from there to buttress Carlson’s perspective. He wasn’t factually investigating anyone. He was pushing people to drink his Kook-Aid.
We all face a challenge to inform ourselves of highly complex issues that for the most part we know nothing about. I remember in college taking one of my favorite courses that addressed public opinion. We were asked to write down any subject we thought we had enough knowledge on to consider ourselves an expert. It was quite the amusing experience, as the professor drilled holes in one student after another as they tried to portray themselves as knowledgeable on something they knew nothing about.
As we listed to Carlson’s opinoncast that evening, I struggled mightily to explain to my friend how those shows are structured to make certain people look bad, not allowing them time to respond when the answer might conflict with the head of the show. This occurred several times, as a person being interviewed was cut off as they tried to answer a question, and then the focus went back to the talking head’s rant.
Failing to open my friend’s mind on that front, I then attempted to get him to understand how 9-second video clips do NOT tell a story. Nor do they create an accurate narrative of an event. Instead, those clips are typically designed to raise your emotions, get you excited (angry, sad), so you start yelling in unison at the television set. Watch a few of those quick clips some night, then analyze them afterwards for content and what you’ve been informed about, and you’ll find that you’re no more educated than you were before the show. Only more agitated.
We need to teach people ways to better understand how the news media (if we’re going to attempt to call electronic communications part of the “news”) use content to manipulate how you think and feel. The dynamic interactions we have with others will benefit from recognizing what we don’t know, and how an announcer’s view pushes us in one direction or another.
If we can gain a deeper understanding of how the media operates and think rationally with a critical mind, drinking the Kook-Aid might just become a thing of the past. And, we’ll all be healthier.