Episode 187: Sharing A Little Mulled Whine

November 16, 2021

Central Thesis

Jim grapples with listener Pim's concern that advertising filters out the critical, leaving the credulous behind to absorb manipulation. He questions his own intense aversion to ads, wondering if others are simply less susceptible to their influence, and explores the implications for propaganda in today's fragmented media landscape.

Key Arguments

• Pim's Filter Theory: Ad-critical people avoid ad-sponsored media, leading to a media environment dominated by the less critical, who are therefore more vulnerable to manipulation. Jim explores why it is that the ad-critical filter.
• Jim's Reaction to Ads: Jim acknowledges his intense, almost visceral reaction to advertising, questioning whether it's a normal response or indicative of a heightened susceptibility to manipulation.
• Criticality as Awareness: Jim defines criticality as awareness of manipulation and the active intervention against it. He also connects it to personal strength, noting that awareness can falter when one is weakened.
• Immunity to Manipulation: Jim posits the possibility that some individuals may be inherently less susceptible to advertising due to neurological differences.
• Propaganda in the Digital Age: While agreeing that constant, pervasive propaganda is dangerous, Jim argues that today's media fragmentation makes total immersion difficult, diluting the effectiveness of any single propaganda effort. The host also considers how amateur media challenges expensive, mainstream narratives.

Notable Passages

• "Advertisers will tell you that it just has to be this way online publishing must be supported by advertising and advertising has to take the form that it does you have to remember though when you're dealing with advertisers that advertisers are liars i don't mean this pejoratively i mean this as a job description their job is literally to convince you to do something you would not otherwise choose to do."
• "For me, criticality consists merely of the awareness that processes are at play in the attempt to manipulate us. And, as Pim notes, taking steps to intervene in at least some of these processes becomes criticality. Awareness motivates filtering."
• "What if there are people in this world that don't have to worry about ads? Don't have to worry about getting manipulated by ads, nearly as much as I do, because, for some mental brain-wiring reason, they don't get manipulated."
• "Perhaps the best thing we can do, all of us, is just voice those concerns when we find the words and when they arise and see if we can find a place to talk these things over. You know, like here."

Rhetorical Approach

Jim uses a conversational, self-reflective tone, blending personal anecdote (his anger at ads, his ransomware experience) with philosophical musings. He uses listener feedback to frame his arguments and poses questions rather than offering definitive answers. The title itself, "Sharing A Little Mulled Whine," suggests a therapeutic sharing of grievances and uncertainties.

Connections

References

• Episode 186: MFA An Internal Scarcity of Contentment
• Episode 1, "Smelling the Wet Dog"
• Episode 129, "Mind the Gap"
• Episode 138, "Digital Psychopathy"
• Episode concerning ransomware
• On The Media
• Jacques Ellul's Propaganda