Ted Talks: Briefs Changing Our World For Better and For Worse

TED Talks are something so sophisticated, yet simple. Informative, yet controversial at times. Short in length, but powerful in information and delivery. They cover a variety of topics from medicine to engineering to sports to human trafficking. Truly, there is not much off limits when it comes to TED Talks. We have seen TED Talks from some of the most influential people in the world and virtually no names off the street who have a powerful message and something unique to say.

TED Talks most definitely have a purpose and serve a purpose in our world today. It sheds the light on a collection of issues and topics in a much simpler and shorter way than sitting in a class or reading an entire novel for hours at a time to retrieve information. The model started as a conference in 1984 and has been held annually since. However, the model has expanded and many conferences and forms of Ted are now hosted including podcasts, shows, and various other forms of media which allow information to be shared and stories to be told.

Photo from Wikipedia.org

While each medium TED uses is effective in its own right, the short brief system speaking to an audience seems to be the first thing people think of when it comes to TED. Oftentimes, people will also think of the terms persuasion and propaganda when it comes to TED, with persuasion being a more likely fit.

“The scientific study of the process of social influence” (Cialdini, 2004) is a strong definition of exactly what persuasion is. Propaganda can be defined as “the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not, it’s all propaganda,” (Vocabulary.com, 2021). Meaning, just because the word propaganda does have a negative connotation in many people’s eyes does not mean propaganda is only used for negative purposes.

In the case of TED, propaganda is used for true and sincere purposes. The tactics also tie into persuasion because the speaker is trying to persuade social change or a re-examination many of times of how we think about the topics or issues that are being presented in the TED Talks or using any form of the TED model.

One thing TED unquestionably stands for is trying to get rid of the people that fall into the third-person effect category. These are the people that think a lot of things in life do not affect them and become more of a bystander than taking action on something they think needs fixed. One way to change these individuals perceptions is to show how it affects them or someone close to them.

Third-Person Effect And It’s Appearance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The third-person effect is something that is prevalent in our lives today and has been for a very long time. With the expansion of media and opportunities to persuade and share propaganda, people can see the third-person effect taking shape in increased ways.

What this effect boils down to is certain individuals believe that the messages from the media do not apply to them, or apply less to them. These people believe the messages only apply to others around them or apply to them in a much more serious way (Salwen & Dupagne, 1999). These people believe that others will be more influenced by these messages and want less of these messages to be seen and heard because they do not think it applies to them.

“In the view of those trying to evaluate the effects of a communication, its greatest impact will not be on “me” or “you,” but on “them” the third persons. From the standpoint of a propagandist or other persuasive communicator, on the other hand, the third persons are those who are in some way concerned with the attitudes and behavior of the ostensible audience. Indeed, the propagandist may try to manipulate the behavior of these third persons by apparently seeking to influence someone else,” (Davison, 1983).

When thinking about it, I have indirectly been talking about the third-person effect all semester long. I am a person who is consistently a third-person that propagandist and media want to sway. I fall in the middle and stay out of situations and debates that do not involved me. Obviously, the two juggernauts of the political world of the United States hate this. They want everyone on their side and try to make advances on the middle.

This is exactly what Davison says in his quotes from his writing as he says they try to get to the third-person by affecting or directly reaching out someone who is in the life or the community of the third-person. Truly, it seems like the third-person can be applied to the third-parties from my opinion. There is the Green Party which wants all sorts of environmental changes in policy in the United States. There is the Libertarian Party which wants government to stop playing such a huge role in so many of our decisions and actions. There is also the Tea Party which seeks to limiting spending by the government overall. Pretty much, these are the third-person the two major parties would want to influence and change.

However, the bigger picture to be focused on is the concept itself. This idea of the third-person effect has reared its ugly head so many times over the last couple years in a variety of forms. People who are not getting the COVID-19 vaccines and boosters because they believe their health is so great, people voting for Joe Biden and his campaign who are rich just because he presented himself as nicer person than Trump and Biden’s policies would not affect them, and this idea has even come out when it comes to unemployment. They see their co-workers and others out in the world struggling and they continued to sit on unemployment instead of going to make a difference in the world.

Easily, the most traceable example takes the form of COVID-19. How many times have we heard and see people say they are not taking it because they believe it is their right and their health is just fine? There are too many to count. These people have utterly ignored if they know people who have died, if they know people who have survived and gotten super sick, and even ignored the wishes of family members, doctors, and employers to get vaccinated or take measures to lessen their chances of getting sick.

People think they are invincible when it comes to COVID-19 in some cases still, but they are not. They sit back and let the world continue to go on and they are doing nothing to prevent spread or help themselves get less sick. Some call them self-centered, but there is another argument that it is their right and if people are afraid of them, stay clear of them and take preventive measures themselves.

For reference, we will not know how many of these 87 percent of people thought they were immune to COVID-19 or it would never get them, but there is unquestionably some that thought it. It is not even a debate (Haddad, 2021). Sometimes, we are all guilty of being a third-person or a “bystander” as this could also be categorized. Some things really are much easier to let go of than others. However, when it comes to health, doing what YOU as an individual think is best should not be sacrificed unless it truly is illegal or threatens someone else’s rights.

How Individuality Flipped to Mass Movement and Fast; Conforming is Not Always Good

In life, as hard as we try and as much as we might want it to be this way, we are not all created equal. In the Deceleration of Independence, it states that “all men are created equal”. While this is a great thought, it is pretty much just a phrase at this point. The idea was that all men could grow up and have good careers, good jobs, heck, even become president. However, this document was written in the 1770’s when non-whites and only men really got a say in the United States.

What awful times this had to have been. However, people did not know any different. Likely, they wanted more, and thank goodness they have gotten it. Women have so many more rights, and black people are no longer viewed as just a piece of property and more money coming in. It was truly a sick way of life. It is a great thing we have moved on for so many reasons.

However, in the 1770’s, most people in the 13 colonies were concerned with a mass movement to gain independence. This then flipped in the civil war when they were feuding over the nation for various reasons. There were two mass movements of people both fighting for what they felt was right. Since, there have been other notable mass movements like the Holocaust, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the rise of communist and socialist states throughout the world.

What do all of these events have in common? They have in common that you conformed, or else. Yes, you risked your life if you felt differently. You had to be careful who was trusted and what was said in many of these situations, or your life literally could have hung in the balance.

The good news for many of us is we are free Americans who did not have to confirm to something if we did not believe in it. At least for a long time we did not have to. Beginning in 2020, labels and confirming took such grips on people for what their view was on the pandemic, the elections, economics, and other principles of life. Each major party tried to get as many people as possible to confirm to their antics, and unsurprisingly, many who were on the fence before picked a side.

Now, with a change of party, more confirming is continuing to happen, but not all of it is by choice. Whether it be by employers, family members pressure, or from the depths of social media, people are giving in and are not fighting as hard for individuality and personal liberties as they once did. Why might this be? There are a few theories and examples of why this could be happening.

Before entering into that, it is important to note that mass movements always has some agenda behind it. There is at least one person or a group of people who are trying to make sure this movement does in fact happen. W. Lance Bennett and Shanto Iyengar co-authored an article called A New Era of Minimal Effects? The Changing Foundations of Political Communication. In this article, the duo touches on mass movements. Particularly, they talk about mass movements of religion, politics, and consumer society. Unquestionably, these are three areas that persuasion and propaganda impact our lives most (W. Lance Bennett & Shanto Iyengar, 2008, p. 4-5). Additionally, they talked about government ideology and how these different forms ideals are different.

“Lippmann, who flirted with socialism under the mentoring of the great muckraking journalists, soon came to a very different understanding of the relations among press, publics, and government that landed him in the inner circle of Woodrow Wilson (and many of the succeeding presidents through Kennedy), with the perspective that popular opinion and consent had to be engineered in order to govern effectively,” (W. Lance Bennett & Shanto Iyengar, 2008, p. 9).

Negativity Attracts Negativity

Everything we see in media today is negative. Car chases, murders, burglaries, sex trafficking, another scandal done by a politician, children in cages, war in the Middle East…you name it, it has been reported on. It seems like there is never anything positive, but why is that? Are we doing this to ourselves, since seeking out the negativity will always attract the negativity? Or is this country, and even the world, just truthfully full of all things bad? We, especially here in America, are incredibly too quick to complain when something, even the tiniest thing, goes wrong. We have information shoved down our throats every single day, and it is hard to decipher what is true, what is false, what is a propaganda stunt and so on.

An Individualistic Culture With a Need to Conform

The pressure from mass media to conform to society has stripped many of us of our individuality. Americans have been consuming different forms of media for a long time. By 1940, most households were listening to the radio for an average of 4 to 5 hours a day. In 1960, households were watching television for an average of 5 hours per day, which increased to 6 hours a day by 1975. In 2016, Americans were consuming almost an average of 11 hours of media across their different devices every day.

How Propaganda Can Cause Alterations in our Minds

Did anyone see that Kyle Rittenhouse trial? Pretty crazy stuff, right? Especially when the media and celebrities are the ones that helped to cause alterations in people’s minds about what truly happened that night.

No, I am no pro Rittenhouse, I am pro justice system. They did their job. The jury made the decision based on the evidence collected. To call Rittenhouse or any of these three people who were shot heroes is absolutely wild. Nothing any of these four individuals did was heroic. Simply, it was a situation that should have been avoided entirely.

What it comes down to is people shouldn’t have been rioting, the police should have had more help, citizens should not have been compelled to show up that night, citizens should not have threatened Rittenhouse’s life and well being, and Rittenhouse should not have had a gun or inserted himself into the situation.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets talk about how the media distorted people’s memories or withheld/censored important information that would have allowed citizens to form a more educated and thorough opinion on what the truth of the matter is. The honest to goodness truth is, because of the media clips I saw, I believed this kid was guilty. I did not see the clips prior to the trial that showed him being chased, screamed at, beaten, and having a gun pointed at him. Again, it was stupid for this kid to be in this position, but it was also stupid for these guys to swing at him with a skateboard, point a gun at him, beat him, or chase him when he is trying to flee.

The attached video below (Gutenschwager, 2020) shows the full nearly two minute clip of Rittenhouse trying to get away while a mob of people are screaming to get him and not let him get away. Rittenhouse falls over and people start to jump him. There was a gun in the hands of one of the men who jumped him along with two others who were starting to use physical force to beat him. As a result, Rittenhouse shoots a couple shots, gets back to his feet, and goes back to fleeing the scene as police and law enforcement head to the scene. He has a gun on him, but he keeps his hands up and gets out of the way so the law enforcement can go to the scene ahead.

The next article is about pronouncing Rittenhouse a terrorist almost a year ago before the trial occurred. That is their right to do so, but it seems like they were no fully educated on the entire scenario. Additionally, Colin Kaepernick and Kyle Rittenhouse absolutely should not be seen as heroes. Just two men who are doing what they felt they had to do. The real heroes of this world are the ones that go to work every day and are the backbone of this country.

Back to the tweets cancelling Rittenhouse collected by Emma Colton for a Washington Examiner article (Colton, 2020), so many celebrities did not even let it get to trial or bother to research the entire event further. They just called it all sorts of nasty things, but again, this is what they were shown and told from others. Below are some of the tweets pronouncing Kyle Rittenhouse a terrorist before he went to trial and all the evidence was uncovered and put out for everyone to clearly see.

Social Progress; How Improved Public Education Impacts Social Mobility and Why Politicians Never Address It

Has anyone ever thought about just how bad people in third world countries have it? There is a great deal of disease, shorter life expectancy, far less money distribution, famine and droughts, and there is a great deal of oppression that happens from the government to their citizens in many cases.

Oftentimes, these folks do not even know how bad they had it compared to people in first world or developed nations. They are not made aware of what goes on around the world, which is exactly the way their countries leaders want it to be. Why would that be? Why would leadership not want people to improve their lives and status? Why do you not care if your people starve, die from disease, and can’t find clean drinking water?

That is a question only their leaders can address, but an educated guess says that it is because the elites in that country do not want the people to rise up and possibly threaten the current status of the government or elites. So, how do you keep your people in tact? You oppress them.

Yes, oppression is exactly how this continues to happen. It is a word defined as “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power” according to Merriam-Webster (Merriam Webster, 2021). Oppression can take many different forms, and it can truly be subjective. It could be something like not hiring or firing someone because of their race, sexual orientation, or their religion. It also could take the shape of controlling all the means of production, education, and media outlets like in communist and socialist regimes.

Gen Z: Propagandist Activists

Gen Z is no joke when it comes to activism. They are shouting in the faces of police officers at Black Lives Matter protests. They are outing rapists and assaulters, showing no mercy as done in the past. They are organizing social justice events larger than anything in history. They are ruthless. They are incredible. And they use propaganda and social media fully to their advantage; they know exactly what they are doing. The three biggest issues they have taken by storm, in my personal opinion, are Black Lives Matter, the mental health crisis, and the environment.

Gen Z includes everyone born after 1998, so those entering high school, completing their undergrads, and beginning their careers as of 2021. They have grown up as native in the digital world, never knowing one without the capability to Google everything. Gen Z will soon be the generation running the world, so we need to start taking their concerns seriously. That is why I think listening to them when it comes to activism in issues like the ones listed above is such a big deal: they know what they are talking about, and they are not afraid to let you know.

Parents Interference Not Always a Bad Thing; Being Physical Not Necessarily the Answer

Becoming a parent is one of the most difficult things a person can take on in their lives. You are literally in charge of another human’s well being until they are old enough to begin caring for themselves. In old school and religious thinking, we were only created to do one thing which was to reproduce. However, there are many people who argue now that people do not ask to be born, so we do not necessarily have to bear children. There is also the idea that you do not have to bear children of your own or create them to be a parent due to fostering and adoption.

There are also people who believe that they are not the right fit to have children or maybe they are unable to do so and do not feel like they would be a good fit to foster or adopt either. No matter what people decide or do not decide in some cases, it is important to know that if someone does become a parent, there are a lot of things that come with it that certainly parents do not necessarily think will always come with it.

Sure, being a parent to a young child requires short sighted thinking of diaper changes, increased expenses, hospital visits, around the clock attention, and constant love. However, it is evident that not all parents think they may have to fight for fairness for their children, will have to take out six figures of debt to help pay for education some day, may have a child with special needs, or they may have a child who gets in trouble. While I personally never wish any of these things on anyone, it is a fact of life that these things unfortunately happen.

So, what does this have to do with persuasion and propaganda anyways? Well, it is an easy connection dealing with parents having to stick up for their children when they feel something is unfair or unjust. Today, we are seeing a collection of parents unhappy with the common core curriculum, extra school programs being cut, masks and vaccine mandates being enforced, and things like critical race theory taught in schools. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, many of these opinions from opposing thoughts have gotten violent at school board meetings, protests, and movements.

While it is embarrassing, how did any other change get accomplished in the past? Did George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. just sit back and talk for years and years? No, they went out and they did something about it. No, standing up to a school board is not nearly the same, but if those folks can act that way, why can’t the common person if they feel a certain way about their children? Have they necessarily done anything illegal for being upset about their kids’ curriculum or treatment? Not in many cases.

To say that all parents do not understand or all parents do understand is unquestionably false when it comes to their children’s education or opportunities. There always be the ill informed knuckleheads, but there will also be the informed and transparent people who get shunned for genuinely caring and caring about the well being of their child and others in a school.

Comparing and Contrasting Politicians to Influencers

The definitions of influencer and politician differ drastically. Influencers are hired to help detail products and services usually in exchange for currency or other rewards, while politicians hold an office and are “experienced people in the art and science of government” according to Merriam Webster (Merriam-Webster, 2021). Influencers should not be mutually exclusive and rarely should intersect, but is that the case today? Not so fast!

The rise of influencers has continued with the expansion of the internet, social media, and the accessibility and emphasis for most people to have a smart phone. Having easier access to the internet, social media, and a smart phone has created additional scenarios and additional times for people to be influenced by one another. Thinking back to how things used to be even 20 to 30 years ago, people did not interact with one another as often as they do today.

Once people did not see each other in person, there was a good chance they did not talk to them till the next day or just through a phone call between a few people. Now, our world is incredibly connected and access to so much information and various others conversations are accessible by just a few clicks of some buttons. But, what does this have to do with persuasion and propaganda anyways?

Well, it has just about everything to do with persuasion and propaganda, in fact. Due to the digital and information age, influencers have more mediums than ever to influence people, and the same goes for politicians. According to the Pew Research Center, it was estimated earlier in 2021 that about seven in 10 American citizens (72 percent to be exact) have a social media account of some sort (Pew Research Center, 2021).

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