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Outfoxing the Influencers

 


I used to start every year of 10th grade English with a unit on advertising, as a way to teach kids to think about persuasion. While we’re all aware of ads, we often don’t stop to think about how they convince us to buy a product. What we looked at back then could be useful now, in this time of confusion about what is true and what isn’t.

When someone makes an argument, for a cause or an idea, ask yourself:

1.      What is being “sold”? In advertising, that’s easy, but in other areas, it’s more difficult to see what you’re being offered. Solutions to a problem? A person or platform to vote for/support? Just as you have to decide whether you really need butt deodorant, you also should think about what politicians, from national to local, are trying to sell you. Right now, in many cases, it’s fear: fear of the unknown, fear of the future, fear of those who are different.

2.     Who is making the claim? Knowing a person’s goals and motivation helps us understand why they say what they do. Recognizing that no one is right about everything is essential to looking past the sales pitch to find the truth. Your mother, bless her, was wrong about some things. Your pastor, as earnest as he might be, is wrong sometimes too. Even your English teacher from tenth grade can be wrong. Who knew the Oxford Dictionary would ever tell you that alright is “acceptable English”! But I digress. The point is that we need to take into account who is presenting an argument.

3.     How do they approach “selling” you an idea? Politicians who are in office like to report all the good they’ve accomplished, while they hide their failures as best they can. Those who aren’t in power do the opposite, predicting disaster if we don’t change course soon. It’s interesting how they do the same things on the opposite side when the power structure reverses. Interesting, but not helpful in terms of finding truth.

4.     Why are they trying to “sell” you? That’s the biggest question, and often the hardest to answer. Too many times, it boils down to power. The older I get, the more I believe that trouble arises from people either wanting to get power or fighting to keep it. They want the power to tell others what to do. The power to keep certain people down. The power to have what you have. (Along with that comes jealousy, but that’s a post for another time.)

As citizens, our greatest defense against tyrants is truth. Demand it. Look for it within the storm of words we’re battered with every day. Seek it out by reading and listening and–most of all--thinking. Ask yourself those questions: What is being sold? Who is selling it? How do they frame their argument? Why do they want this?

It’s a complicated world, but if we pay attention, there are places where reasonable people can agree on a main idea and then discuss/negotiate the details. We don’t have to destroy what we have that’s good in order to consider and even accommodate a range of ideas.

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