Propaganda
One aspect of social reality is the principle of "the big lie", which states that an outrageous untruth is easier to convince people of than a less outrageous truth. Many examples from politics and theology, e.g. the claim that the Roman Emperor was in fact a "god", demonstrate that this principle was known by effective propagandists from early times, and continues to be applied to this day, e.g. the propaganda model of Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, which supports the 'big lie' thesis with more specifics.
Read more about this topic: Social Reality
Famous quotes containing the word propaganda:
“Propaganda has a bad name, but its root meaning is simply to disseminate through a medium, and all writing therefore is propaganda for something. It’s a seeding of the self in the consciousness of others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)
“The best propaganda omits rather than invents.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“All propaganda or popularization involves a putting of the complex into the simple, but such a move is instantly deconstructive. For if the complex can be put into the simple, then it cannot be as complex as it seemed in the first place; and if the simple can be an adequate medium of such complexity, then it cannot after all be as simple as all that.”
—Terry Eagleton (b. 1943)