cami2c-blog

[cami2c-blog]

[cami2c-blog]

TW: Nazi imagery

The first thing that came to mind when Harari and Harris discussed “hacking the human mind” was the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany. Hitler rose to power in a democracy with a highly liberal constitution, one where the Nazi party was voted into power by the people. Hitler was able to harness the economic downturn following WWI to offer a scapegoat: the Jewish people. In spreading propaganda of the Jewish people being inferior and in placing blame upon the Jews for the economic situation, he offered a hope that completely hacked the way people viewed the world; democracy became a “puppet show” where all people, no matter their level of education or background, were driven to believe Hitler and approve of his horrors even amongst the dehumanization that came with them. 

Harris gave a Stanford study scenario (Lauren Fishkin Lab) where a random sample of individuals were placed in a hotel room for 2 days and exposed to bipartisan information by expert briefs in a way that facilitated conversation and drew people to change their minds in a reasonable and fact-driven manner. Such a scenario, however, is unfortunately demolished in the real world; instead of being exposed to ads and videos not that we actually want to see, the algorithms give us information that keep us hooked, no matter how toxic they are to our political or social views. Similarly to how we are more likely to continue watching a video on anorexia if we begin with a dieting video, we are more likely to be hooked on a political ad that focuses on soft news, scandals, or populist ideology (even if such ads fail to touch upon relevant issues or show content we consciously want to view). When seeing pictures like that shown above of individuals entranced by Hitler, I fear the manner in which humans can forget their humanity and sense of compassion in merely becoming “puppets” when their minds are being hacked. 

[cami2c-blog]

Gif 1: Home

[cami2c-blog]

Gif 2: Appropriation

[cami2c-blog]

Gif 3: Reveal/Conceal

[cami2c-blog]

In this gif, I’m cutting a piece of gefilte fish (thank you Rosh Hashana leftovers) with 2 forks. I’m living within my cave: one where knives were never projected onto the wall, and consequently, I’m completely unaware that I could be using a tool that facilitates the way I live my life. My smile demonstrates that I’m happy with my two forks, and clearly, the piece of fish is still being cut, but the knife that could be making my meals so much easier to consume has yet to enter into my cave.