Polarization is Almost an Art Form

Shivam Shankar Singh and Anand Venkatanarayan‘s excellent book titled The Art of Conjuring Alternate Realities describes of how polarization is achieved:

“Unlike most wars across history though, the target of this one is not the accumulation of territory, riches or even fame. The reward is something even greater – the power to shape our thoughts.”

 

Early on, the authors talk of a con woman who dupes a large number of men at her office into “helping” her with money based on false sob stories. She was asked why none of her victims filed a case against her, even after realizing they’d been taken for a ride. Her answer is revealing:

“I was recruiting friends. Friends who wanted to be the hero of their own stories. A story in which they were intelligent, charming, good-looking and witty… And now you’ve come into the story and you’re trying to make them the villain, or even worse, the village idiot of their own story. By asking them to lodge a complaint against me, you want them to acknowledge that they aren’t the hero. Good luck with that.”

 

Off putting while it may be, the authors say her response explains how so many people can continue to believe a view even in the face of proven evidence against it. It’s because such views are injected into us the same way that con woman operated: they make us feel like heroes. Heroes who believe in a noble cause (caring for the poor; or Aadhar as a way to ensure subsidies go to the right folks). Heroes who stood up against some oppression (discrimination against minorities; or the treatment of Kashmiri Pandits).

 

Phrases are coined to evoke specific emotions, and are not meant for rational analysis. Like how the word “secular” was used in India before 2014 – a term to shame those who didn’t support the Congress/UPA. Or “urban Naxalites”, a term the BJP coined to evoke anti-national feelings, as people who belonged to the evocatively named “tukde tukde gang” – the very name fed into the association most people have with that term – Pakistan’s rants on breaking up India.

 

The authors say the word “information” has a very different meaning in this context. Here’s how they define it:

“(Information is) simply any new input that helps reduce uncertainty so that we can make predictions about future outcomes. The advantage of this definition is that it does not rely on the correctness of the information itself.”

As examples, they cite astrology (if you believe in it, it influences your decisions). Or Google Maps – if you take a route based on what it tells you, well, that’s information for you, even if Google was wrong that time.

 

There’s a theory called Reflexive Control (RC), a military information-warfare theory. The authors explain it via the Panchatantra tale of the brahmin who was carrying a goat home on his shoulder. On the way, a group of three thieves separately tell him he is carrying a dog, a dead calf, and a donkey respectively. Each statement erodes the brahmin’s confidence and ultimately he believes that the goat he is carrying is a demon that changes shapes. He dumps the goat and runs away, upon which the thieves happily take the goat.

 

Ok, now let’s look at how this tale fits into RC theory. The thieves got what they wanted. Even better, the brahmin is relieved to be rid of the goat which means he won’t complain to anybody. And the thieves use the brahmin’s beliefs to their advantage (that certain animals are inferior; that dead things aren’t to be touched; and a belief in gods and demons).

“The story demonstrates just how hard it is for a target of reflexive control techniques to even understand how they were manipulated because it plays on the target’s inherent character flaws.”

 

You’d have noticed RC requires individual specific knowledge to work. Today, most people get their information based on their interactions with their display screens. And of course, those apps on the phone customize the content based on your likes and dislikes. Such power to customize on a per-individual basis never existed in history. Until now. And it fits perfectly with what RC theory needed:

“(Two people can) believe in completely different realities of the world, even though you share the same physical space throughout the day.”

There’s even a term for this – Information Architecture. Echo chambers are an example:

“Rather than pulling a user out of the rabbit hole, the recommendation engine pushes them further.”

 

For now, world over, it is the right wing which has mastered all these techniques in the Age of the App.