Over the years, I’ve been reading about propaganda, media manipulation, and psychology. Some of the best recent resources I’ve found have been in the work of Robert Cialdini, the scholar of influence, George Lakoff, the master of framing, and Drew Westen, the student of political psychology. It would be extremely useful to see a discussion between these three experts on the mechanisms of modern propaganda and media manipulation and the ways we can protect ourselves, our minds, and our votes from these kinds of machinations.
What follows are the notes I’ve assembled from their writings. May they be of use to you.
The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation by Drew Westen
NY: Pubic Affairs, 2007
ISBN-13: 978-1-58648-425-5
http://www.westenstrategies.com/
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-political-brain-role-of-emotion-in.html
Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini
Boston: Pearson Education, 2009
ISBN -13: 978-0-205-60999-4x
Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J Goldstein, Steve J Martin, and Robert B Cialdini
NY: Free Press
ISBN 978-1-4165-7096-7
On a deeper level, this book on human psychology gives us a foundation for thinking about how we think
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2011
ISBN 978-0-374-27563-1
Historically, this little book by one of the originators of public relations not only taught Joseph Goebbels but is also a tool you can use to think about propaganda.
Propaganda by Edward Bernays
Brooklyn, NY: Ig Publishing, 1928, 2005
ISBN-10: 0-9703125-9-8
Lastly, this book on the principles of the confidence game is extremely useful for self-protection in these days of a conman President.
The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It… Every Time by Maria Konnikova
NY: Viking, 2016
ISBN 978-0-525-42741-4