Disinformation, Misinformation, Propaganda, Distraction

In 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I started watching Perun's weekly in-depth analysis videos (on Sundays) because the information he presents is frequently intrinsically interesting and broadly applicable to understanding geopolitics from a macroeconomics perspective.  In Perun's 16-Apr-2023 video, Perun cites this paper and a few others that indicate at least 30 million American citizens (about 20% of the population of the USA who vote in elections) reposted the false information created and circulated by the Russian Internet Research Agency troll farm.  The problem with social media appears more complex than my (admittedly naive) understanding. The issue is not only with the troll farms and bots.  The issues are with the delivery, timing, and (Aristotelian) rhetorical quality of the information delivered, as well as the capability of social media consumers to think about the information itself.  We are not adequately educated or trained  in persuasion techniques, skepticism, critical thinking, the history of ideas, or enlightened approaches to understanding our world.  

I have therefore further tempered my (strong opinion) that we should always empower and trust people to make self-interested decisions based on access to all information and should never control access (freedom of the press).  Now I am convinced we need more responsibility for fact checking and journalistic integrity assigned to media and social media entities until we can repair some fundamental issues in our public education and society.  However, I don't think governments or regulation should be involved because all governments and the majority of regulations always make situations worse.  I don't know how to return journalism to its roots of chasing truth, sifting evidence, lack of evidence, and following evidence wherever it leads. And I have no idea how citizens can re-discover our civic duties in a republic.  Mandatory civics lessons in schools probably won't work.

Another problem I perceive is selective secrecy used to dis-inform and misinform. Whistleblowers like Snowden, and other revelations of secret information have changed the objective truth of  a few recent historical events.  There is also an alarming decrease in the release of data (e.g. Pfizer). 

Valkyrie & Critical Mass by Craig Alanson

There are two volumes and two titles, but the first book ends in a ridiculous cliffhanger where everyone (literally) is seconds away from death.  So the two volumes are really one book (with a beginning, a middle, and an end).  And the plot is fun but the reduction in awe-and-wonder mystery of space opera, along with the usual lazy writing deus est machina arbitrary changes to the magic system are grating.  However, like many readers of Alanson's books, I have become comfortable with all the characters and universe of the stories so I am willing to suspend disbelief.  I plan to finish reading all the others and go back to the other series by the author in this universe. 4/5 Stars.

Mitch is on nostr

Public Key:  6d02616805101764c9347c1ad08c46bca7d4f2b88b2705c3a4bd2dba4513c8a3

Interface by Neal Stephenson (1994)

Surprised I missed this one.  I really enjoyed it, 5/5 Stars.  The book is still very relevant today.

Breaking History by Jared Kushner

Tight, well-written political history from an outsider brought into the inner-circle of the whitehouse during the dark times of the "Trump" years.  Fun details of the drama, power struggles, and "leaks" that politicians use to attack each other. The author appears to be a bright person who read a lot of political books to take on his role. This insider's account of the creation of the Abrahamic Accords is worthwhile. 4/5 Stars.

Racing the Light by Robert Crais

Another "impulse borrow" from the library.  Fun read with unexpected plot twists and great characters. 5/5 Stars.

The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham

Fascinating look at the rise and fall of the Dixie Mafia with thrilling legal drama and great storytelling. 5/5 Stars.

Power, Faith, & Fantasy, America in the Middle East 1776 - 2011 by Michael Oren

"I am not a great man. I am a failure, and you have made me one."  --Jimmy Carter to Yasir Arafat, July, 2000.

This well-researched and insightful history book fills in some important gaps that other historical fiction and history books I have read on this topic leave out. The book is long but still manages to omit an enormous amount of context and concurrent events to those described.  I wish professor Oren had added more references and made the book longer (it is very long, but still fantastic).  The main theme of misset expectations, culture clash, and lack of empathy among the leaders is well-presented.  If you are at all interested in America in the Middle East, I highly recommend the book, 5/5 Stars.

Armageddon by Craig Alanson

This chapter in the never-ending story is better than some of the others, and continues to develop all the characters.  It drops direct hints of a bigger, awe-and-wonder, galactic-scale mystery and kills off some of the characters who were with the reader for 8 books.  The creative, bizarre, desperate schemes always eventually work out in the end, so this cliff hanger "formula" is getting tiresome.  I am hoping we can get more and better political stories among the space aliens.  4/5 Stars.

Detecting Deception

In Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers, Gladwell has some fun anecdotes explaining how experts and trained professionals were deceived by liars.  Gladwell champions some relatively weak theories explaining how and why we are so terrible at detecting deception.  Recently, researchers at (you can't make this up!) the "Lie Lab" have published a fantastic comic, a youtube video, and research paper explaining that going deep into details is the most reliable method of probing for deception.

Comics are underrated as the most approachable and effective communications medium.