Is it a simple card trick or propaganda?

Last week in class I learned that propaganda is not just about giving people information, it is about controlling the audience views on reality. When Professor Enos did the card trick, we all believed that we choose the card 5 hearts but in reality that is not what happened. He lead us to that number and that suit, but we believed that we chose it. Propaganda controls situations and time is a factor within it because some times you might feel like you do not have a choice but in reality propaganda is making us feel like we are independently making a choice even though we are being influences by a technique. We also discusses fallacies and how people will believe something because it is what they want to be true and not because there is enough evidence to support it, just like the Mia vs. Fang example. Propagandist also try to hide these techniques so no one can used then back towards them, so once a technique is exposed it can change peoples opinions. 

Professor Enos taught us that there are three good ways to evaluate and assess propaganda, number 1 is the situation, number 2 is the audience, and number 3 is the technique. These three steps are indicators that can allow us to have a more well rounded idea of the propaganda and then we can agree or disagree with more confidence. These steps are important because I have never realized how much propaganda happens without us realizing it. We can feel super confident in our decision and then realize it was never really our decision it was just the propaganda that was controlling the reality; just like the simple card trick. So, I think becoming more aware of these techniques and these three steps so I can have more informed decisions. 

This is such a valuable lesson, especially in the world we live in now. Social media is constantly full of propaganda and we do not even realize it. Everyday we are exposed to propaganda via influencers, advertisements, algorithms, etc. After this lesson I now know it is important not only if I agree or disagree but also the why, who, and what. Why was this shown to me (situation), who is putting this out there and for who (audience), what techniques are they using to influence me (techniques). This is such a valuable lesson that everyone needs to be aware of, especially as we enter an area of AI, deepfakes, etc. 

Comments

  1. williams.dan768 September 2026 at 06:29

    Great first blog post, thanks. This is good review of Dr. Enos's presentation on propaganda. Your first point--about controlling people--is excellent. Propaganda does make us think we are choosing. The three techniques you listed for assessing propaganda are also excellent. They make us slow down to think more reasonably than emotionally. And yes, we are constantly saturated with propaganda of one kind or another, especially in social media. Excellent journal entry.

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