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Anatoly Alizaralizar
Editor
December 14, 2016 at 16: 14
Conspiracy theories.
Zomboyashchik
Brain*, Information security
Note.
"Zombification" in this context is the repeated repetition of false and / or inaccurate information.
Among all the cognitive distortions of a person, there is a large group associated with an overabundance of information.
Recall that these distortions are divided into five main subgroups:
1. People notice things that are already fixed in their memory or are often repeated.
2. People tend to notice and remember rather special, bizarre and funny images than non bizarre or unfunny ones.
3. People tend to notice changes.
4. People are attracted to information that confirms their beliefs.
5. People tend to notice mistakes better in others than in themselves.
Read this list carefully and think about who exactly can exploit these cognitive distortions (that is, peculiar "vulnerabilities" of the brain's defense system) for their own purposes.
What is the easiest way to create the illusion of truth and the illusion of frequency?
It is obvious that these effects are easiest to create if you systematically and daily bring the same messages to a person.
In other words, we need a stable, controlled channel for broadcasting messages to a mass audience.
News on TV inspires the illusion that the viewer should be constantly "up to date", that everything that happens is extremely important.
Live broadcasts, 24 hour broadcasts during "important" events like elections.
It is assumed that people watch TV around the clock, monitor every new piece of information.
If there is a plane crash or another accident, then the viewer is kept in suspense for several days, feeding more and more fragments of information piece by piece, interrupting the program with emergency releases, launching a running line with hot news.
When the interest in that topic subsides — something else "extremely important" happens, and the intense excitement persists.
This intense excitement persists constantly.
"Hot news" attracts everyone's attention, and analytical reports with comprehensive objective information are interesting only to rare specialists.
Not just television
Due to the above mentioned features of perception, some information attracts special attention of the audience.
This is "hot news", compiled taking into account the peculiarities of human thinking.
They donot have to be broadcast on television.
You can also use other channels.
The Internet is even more favorable environment for the spread of so called "memes", the source of which is often the same hot news.
Hot news and memes for maximum efficiency should exploit the same cognitive distortions, that is, the "vulnerabilities" of the human brain, which are well known:
systematic error of attention; the effect of the illusion of truth; the effect of familiarity with the object; forgetting without context; the illusion of frequency; the effect of the superiority of the picture; the effect of self reference; a bias towards negativity; a tendency to confirm one's point of view; distortion in the perception of the choice made; conservatism; the ostrich effect.
In a simplified form, for maximum zombie effect, "hot news" must meet several requirements.
a familiar topic that corresponds to a person's beliefs, repeated, confirming the choice made, of a negative nature, preferably with a picture
You can also distribute such information on the Internet.
With prolonged use, "zombification" becomes more effective due to the effect of the illusion of truth and the repeated repetition of lies.
How life will change if you stop watching the news
First of all, I would like to say "no way", because the news on TV does not give an objective picture of the world, does not give important and valuable information necessary for making life decisions.
But in reality, if you stop watching the news on TV, a person's life will really change a lot, and for the better.
You will have more free time
Remember what useful things you did or finished while watching the news.
Most likely, the answer is "None".
While watching the news, people can only passively consume food or do simple manual work.
Creative energy consuming processes are not compatible with watching the news, they are too distracting due to the deliberate exploitation of cognitive distortions ("vulnerabilities") of the brain.
Actually, news is specially designed in such a way as to most effectively attract a person's attention and feed him certain information.
In the post truth era, this may be deliberately false information, since the impact is on an emotional level with the programming of the subsequent effect, which will not change after the refutation of the thesis (post truth).
Each information can be perceived with the condition: how important will it be for you in a week, in a year, in 10 years?
In this sense, "hot news" is often absolutely useless — it is a waste of time.
An effective technique can be reading news with a delay of a day or more.
After this period, it becomes more clear what is important and what is momentary.
By refusing to watch and read all the "hot" news in a row, you will free up a lot of time for more important tasks in your life.
Someone says that they watch the news to be "up to date", because "current problems cannot be ignored".
In fact, such a person himself probably understands that this is not true.
This is very easy to check: if a person refuses to watch the news daily for a week or a month, then he will definitely not miss any of the important current events.
Calculate how much time a person spends on this absolutely useless activity.
The daily hours add up to months.
This time can be spent on something really useful.
For example, if a person learned a foreign language instead of watching the news every night, he would absolutely not miss anything from the "current events", but in a few years he would know several new foreign languages at a very good level.
Almost all talk shows and discussions of current events on television are absolutely useless chatter with close to zero information content.
People really like to express their opinion on all issues that they understand at least a little (the keyword is "a little").
Do I need to take the time and listen to an hour long debate of such people?
After all, there are better ways to get information.
Television is definitely not one of them.
For example, if you read a couple of books on any particular topic, then you will understand this topic better than 99% of the world's population.
Even if you spend years watching television, you will never reach this level of knowledge in anything.
All knowledge will be superficial, blurry and largely false.
In fact, remembering the desire of viewers to "stay informed" and "be informed", there is practically no difference between "being informed" and "being misinformed".
Another interesting phenomenon of constantly watching news on TV is the illusion of participation.
The viewer is not indifferent, he worries, sympathizes with the victims, feels sincere indignation at the injustice.
It seems to him that it is impossible to ignore such things, it is necessary to be aware of them, to follow the events.
He seems to participate in them, but this is not so.
In fact, he is completely innocent of what is happening.
His experiences ease his own guilt, but they do not benefit anyone.
It is quite possible that there is a certain replacement effect.
And if a person did not empathize with abstract victims on TV, he would show more sympathy for the real people around him.
The main reason why people watch the news on TV is concern for their neighbors, anxiety, concern about what is happening around them in fact, it turns into its opposite.
The majority of TV viewers in reality do not provide any assistance to the victims they see on TV.
This is a kind of "sublimation of empathy", from which, probably, only others suffer.
It turns out that the main reason why people watch the news is at the same time the main reason why they should refuse to watch it.
You will feel better
A common symptom of refusing to watch the news is a general improvement in mood.
It is difficult to say what is the reason for this effect.
Apparently, the zombie news and the constant exploitation of cognitive distortions ("vulnerabilities") of the brain does not have a very good effect on a person's well being.
Having freed the head from garbage, a person begins to think more clearly, and the overall well being improves.
In fact, after all, the rule of effective zombification involves the choice of the most vivid, extraordinary plots with a negative bias.
They are the best way to attract attention and influence a person.
Roughly speaking, this is a fear trade.
The task is to frighten a person.
A stream of terrible, terrible events related to violence and exploitation of various fears — fear of the future (fear of change), of technology, of corporations, of foreigners, of emigrants, of people of a different sexual orientation or any different people (the archetype of an "outsider" who wants to seize some of your resources is actively exploited in the news).
If you get rid of this flow of fear, it is quite natural that you will feel better.
Knowing about cognitive distortions, we know the rules by which news stories are selected.
Now we can roughly understand why a particular plot attracts attention (what fear is being exploited, what hidden message is encrypted in the topic).
This is very useful knowledge.
Only it should be remembered that even the knowledge of cognitive distortions and the recognition of their presence in oneself does not make it possible to level their effect.
The conducted scientific studies have not revealed evidence that awareness of one's own cognitive distortions somehow helps people avoid them.
In other words, zombification on TV will be effective in any case, even if you are familiar with the techniques used by the authors of the plots.
There is only one way out — not to look at all.
"Now you canot believe anything you see in the newspapers.
The truth itself becomes suspicious when it is presented on these soiled pages…
I look with sad sympathy at many of my fellow citizens who, reading newspapers, live and die in the belief that they know to some extent what is happening in this world…
You can still get the main facts from the newspapers, but you canot rely on the details.
I will add that a person who never looks at newspapers has better knowledge than someone who reads newspapers, because he who does not know anything is still closer to the truth than someone whose mind is filled with false and erroneous information.
Anyone who doesnot read the newspapers still knows the basic facts, and all the details in the newspapers are lies."
From a letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Norwell, June 11, 1807
Do you know people who watch the news on TV every day?
Yes, there are such people among my relatives
Yes, there are such people among my friends
I know about their existence by indirect signs
1,439 people voted.
234 people abstained.
Only registered users can participate in the survey.
Please log in.
brainwashing of the population, news releases, constant tension, cognitive distortions, vulnerabilities of the brain, TV
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Comments (300)
Tomcrafd
December 14, 2016 at 16: 28
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I turned off the cable at home 3 years ago.
If you need to watch sports.
that is, the Internet and ace stream.
I donot watch anything else from the broadcast programs.
shadovv76
December 15, 2016 at 08: 53
+2
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how is sports better than news?
TScissors
December 15, 2016 at 10:18 am
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probably for some it is better that there is almost no politics there.
but really, what's the difference?
NINeOneone
December 15, 2016 at 11: 00
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The difference is that there the rules of the game are simple and clear and it is easy for the layman to understand whether they are doing something correctly or not.
In sports, it is easier for people to disagree with a judge than in politics with "national interests", because they have their own opinion.
Noweol
December 15, 2016 at 16: 10
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Remember what useful things you did or finished while watching the news of a football match.
Each information can be perceived with the condition: how important will it be for you in a week, in a year, in 10 years?
In general, sports news, although they lie in a different plane, but they do the same thing as ordinary ones.
ValdikSS
December 15, 2016 at 23: 13
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Please do not use Ace Stream.
I donot want anyone to deliberately install this Trojan.
rPman
December 18, 2016 at 01: 42
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for more information, can I?
and if you fork it?
https://bitbucket.org/AceStream/acestreamplayer
4GT
December 16, 2016 at 10:03 am
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I went to university (2001) So I stopped watching TV.
But I canot wean my parents off.
I could only dilute it by giving them a TV with a 3D effect and a flash drive, now at least they watch movies sometimes.
Ugrum
December 14, 2016 at 16: 29
(the comment has been changed)
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Ahahaha, what a thematic advertisement stuck to this post.
Theodora – All kinds of magic
the healer Theodora.RF
Divination by photo, predictions of the future.
Free consultation.
Well, it's just 100% hitting the color.
LuckyStarr
December 14, 2016 at 22: 42
–1
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Targeted advertising is like this;)
DASpit
December 14, 2016 at 23: 54
0
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You have a strange trail of site visits on your computer.
I have a thematic ad about constructors for children, a home goods store and banking services.
killik
December 15, 2016 at 03: 52
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I also have all three about magic, and I'm only interested in it except for EmDrive.
I just havenot visited anywhere else today, and my browser history is not saved.
So, sometimes dreams are just dreams ;)
Pakos
December 15, 2016 at 10:04 am
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We donot know anything about this user?
It's magic!
We need to advertise magic to him.
Shultzenfegel
December 15, 2016 at 11:54 am
0
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Similarly — all three blocks are about amulets and fortune telling on coffee grounds.
Ad targeting is disabled in the Yandex profile.
Maybe the general trend of the Runet? )))
Pakos
December 15, 2016 at 10:03 am
0
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Something you were looking for interesting — I have a case of sis.
blocks, datakam and for some reason a medical certificate.
Ugrum
December 15, 2016 at 10:22 am
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Only tabs with 4PDA, Tmfeed and Yandex market are always open + I periodically look at currency rates.
Everything.
What is the magic here?
Nipanyatnaaa.
dimm ddr
December 15, 2016 at 16: 45
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From the exchange rates, definitely.
See the exchange rates -> play on the stock exchange -> definitely need a fortune teller to know what will happen tomorrow.
< / sarcasm>
stalinets
December 15, 2016 at 20: 04
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Well, the principle that targeted advertising does not guarantee that only targeted advertising will be displayed.
Obviously, there is an admixture of random advertising.
The advertiser of such advertising believes that his advertising will be interesting to everyone.
And in general, a person is difficult, people are all different.
For example, I have a familiar sysadmin telecom, who believes in omens, the power of baptism, devilry, etc.
ruwebstyle
December 16, 2016 at 10: 00
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I am amazed at how many people still sit on the Internet without protection.
Namely, Ublock Origin, Adguard, Disconnetc, etc.
Ugrum
December 16, 2016 at 11:16 am
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My ad blocker is disabled only on TM.
And the result is sometimes hilarious.
Light Metal
December 16, 2016 at 11:29 am
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But what about the good old jokes about IT people dancing with a shamanic tambourine?
Well, about the accompanying mysticism and magic.
So much for targeting ads on a relatively CA resource.
Ugrum
December 16, 2016 at 11:37 am
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Good move.
It is accepted as a working version.
lex infohunter
December 19, 2016 at 09: 08
(the comment has been changed)
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witchcraft in the trend means.
swarggg
December 14, 2016 at 16: 30
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I donot watch TV at all!
I quit this business because of the simply unbearable amount of advertising!
And I donot understand people who are ready to watch some content flavored with tons of advertising, if there is an opportunity to watch without it.
Well, then the realization of the things described in the article came, plus the quality of journalism fell, plus censorship…
kvinn
December 14, 2016 at 19: 00
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I will add to this that the information (any) in the TV is not served at the time when I am ready to perceive it.
It is impractical to adjust your schedule to the mailbox if there are more convenient sources of information.
As for the news, it is quite possible to draw facts from them if there are a sufficiently large number of sources.
And you need to do analytics yourself, relying on a suitable methodology.
As an option — listen to those analysts who rely on a suitable methodology.
The criterion for the validity of the methodology is morality.
killik
December 15, 2016 at 04: 25
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It's not even the advertising itself that is annoying, but the stupid drumming of a couple of dozen commercials from day to day, especially the announcements of the programs of the channel itself.
Actually, it's the same with the news — if you just look at the feed on the site and new messages are visible, then the same stories are repeated in the zomboyashchik every issue.
In general, brainwashing should be treated more carefully, I think.
Pakos
December 15, 2016 at 10:07 am
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Watch in the record, squandering ads.
New seasons of discovery broadcasts that are not available anywhere on trackers.
Navij
December 15, 2016 at 13: 23
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I stopped watching Discovery a long time ago, looked into the program for today and realized that it was not in vain.
Fraudsters, Warehouse Hunters, Container Battles, Gold Rush and all this around the clock.
But such a good channel was once!
gsaw
December 15, 2016 at 14: 52
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Similarly.
Probably, what is the demand — such is the supply.
It is probably difficult to make a normal scientific transfer.
What would be interesting and understandable to the general mass was.
Really probably, but then you need to fill the channel around the clock, where do you get so many topics?
It is necessary for a person to be more or less in the topic, an operator, an editor, write a script, go to a research institute or get out into nature.
KostaArnorsky
December 15, 2016 at 15: 49
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Now it's Discovery Science.
At least I was I havenot looked for a long time.
Pakos
December 15, 2016 at 16: 00
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Wheeler Dealers is quite at the level of all kinds of auto channels, especially since they are quite a lot of years old.
shifttstas
December 14, 2016 at 17: 00
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Judging by the survey, many relatives watch a zombie movie, in order to reduce the impact, you can block all federal channels and instead set up CNN and similar channels on the same buttons, the withdrawal usually takes place in a month, and then there are fewer blackheads there at times.
norlin
December 14, 2016 at 17: 14
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And what to do if relatives are against this approach?
shifttstas
December 14, 2016 at 18: 10
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If it is absolutely desirable for the age — we can say that the channel was rebranded, if the age is such that they are most likely not to be led — they will refer to the poor quality of reception (and advertising) or any other reason.
Here's the truth, if a person is disconnected from federal channels, then after about 2 months when viewing them, he will have a persistent dislike.
norlin
December 14, 2016 at 18: 34
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No, not elderly.
Quite adequate conscious people, more or less technically literate.
They just donot support the point of view about "zomboyashchik", they watch some programs on the "main" channels, etc.
shifttstas
December 14, 2016 at 19: 26
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If they are not interested in news — provide convenient access to the content VOD or put together a file server themselves
buggykey
December 14, 2016 at 20: 26
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According to the second paragraph — I absolutely support it!
Several (about five years, it doesnot matter) years ago, I myself felt that I could not watch the news on TV.
I stopped looking.
I bought a new TV, it will exclude and based on the need for a large monitor, just a stupid TV.
Now everything that looks looks through KODI (XBMC), downloaded from the network.
Sometimes, when guests come, you have to turn on terrestrial TV and news I see that it's an empty matter to look for at least some grains of truth there: everything that is broadcast is always served in the same, specific context.
Moreover, this is checked by a simple call to relatives or friends in the country that is being discussed in the news.
And one more example from life: an old friend from Novokuznetsk came to us (we ourselves live in St. Petersburg).
He tells me.
Relatives from Ukraine came either to him, or to his wife, to Novokuznetsk.
They came home, they were sorting things out, the TV was turned on in the background, as usual, in the room.
Suddenly they come running to the kitchen, shouting: "They show this on TV about us and Ukraine!
How can this be — we have just come from there, there is nothing like this at ALL!".
They were slowly calmed down, explained what was what, everything calmed down.
This friend, the owner of the apartment himself left for a couple of weeks.
I came back, he says, I donot understand anything: these same guests are beginning to gradually, but increasingly, to agree with the Russian news!
And, characteristically, they do not sit on purpose, do not watch TV and news, it just works in the background, but it penetrates even those who know exactly what is really happening, but continue to be exposed to it.
Even implicit!
PS
I would not like this comment to be perceived by anyone in a political context — I am not talking about politics here, but about the depth of the impact of TV on people's opinions.
Skerrigan
December 15, 2016 at 04: 11
(the comment has been changed)
–2
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Okay, "our answer to Chamberlain" - relatives have also arrived, their brains have been brainwashed to the fullest by the fact that "you know who is to blame" for all their troubles.
What is this... in short, exclusively "their" (our neighboring country) point of view on the topic of "who is fighting there".
And only after living with us for a few weeks, they moved away a little and became sane.
And then, according to the first one, we were almost "accomplices of evil"with them.
Or else, a friend of the master from Tomsk went there in 2014.
A few months later, he was gone.
Such are the cases.
And I also saw friends from those places of life where the contact lines are.
Live here, who have already arrived here.
Therefore, I do not know what exactly was discussed in your case, but yes, there is quite a real meat grinder going on there.
P.S. on a professional line, I continue to communicate with Ukrainians on the topic of testing automation.
Both sides of the dialogues carefully do not touch on this very sensitive topic.
Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult to communicate, because the tension is felt even through correspondence.
buggykey
December 15, 2016 at 14: 18
+2
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As for the meat grinder, no one, in my opinion, doubts that it is the real one, but to give the initial minimum objectivity to views on this issue, it is enough just to remember on whose territory this is all happening.
Let's, as we wanted, not go into politics, but discuss, in this case, the tool itself, and not the forces that use it.
You have just confirmed what I said: there is no need to watch the news either "there" or "here".
As it was said in a children's fairy tale: "Do not drink from the hoof, you will become a goat!".
Both you and I have come to the conclusion that regardless of who uses it, the influence of television on people's opinions is very effective.
It seems to me that if there is a desire to free relatives and friends from this effect, you need to completely switch them to an extraneous context, for example, find the same series to your taste, or pump up some educational films or programs, completely disabling the ability to turn on the air.
As written below,
