How language is twisted into propaganda messaging
The surprising observation that “medium confidence” in a scientific finding means we have no confidence at all and high confidence means we have only moderate evidence and medium consensus.
Effective propaganda posters that do not actually mean much
TL;DR Summary President Obama selected as the most admired man in the world, per Gallup Poll of U.S. residents. Analysis: True! And it is good that the US President is selected for this, in this poll. Almost every year since 1946, the current sitting President has been identified by this Gallup poll as the most admired man in the world. Doesn’t matter who is in office (except for Gerald Ford – it sucks to be Gerald Ford, apparently). This works…
Do more people go to jail than to college?
TL;DR Summary This type of quote is known as a “glittering generality”. The clearly implied assertion is that more people go to jail than to college but this is false. The quote makes for good propaganda but it is a lie. Comparing “instant in time” measures, there were 20.6M in college in the fall of 2012 to about 2.4 million in prison or jail or detention. 41% of those aged 18-24 are in college! Poster source: Occupy Democrats Even though the quote is…
Denmark Fairy Tales: Is Denmark the happiest country because of this? No.
Almost every item on this social media propaganda poster is false. Yet this poster was widely distributed on social media and nearly everyone who saw, liked or shared it believes these items are true. First, the much publicized World Happiness Index is not based on any of the items on this propaganda poster. Second, Denmark does not have a minimum wage law nor does it have a 33 hour work week. Denmark does have free university but not for any of the reasons you probably are thinking of. Denmark has subsidized child care, not free child care. The only item that is almost correct is about health care that is free at point of service (paid for by high taxes) but does not cover dentistry, vision or all prescription costs.
Pre-propaganda – not all propaganda messaging comes with a "to do" list
TL;RD Summary A positive message, albeit, a “feel good” glittering generality. The message is honest . The design of the poster could be better by suggesting some action to be taken but in some ways, this might be viewed as “pre-propaganda” which is messaging that preps the target for later propaganda that calls for action. The poster was on FB and came from BlueNationReview.com. It uses the methods of “testimonial”, “appeal to authority”, “celebrity endorsement” and a “glittering generality”. The…