All of us occasionally, Master, Honest, Liar and Propagandist
We’ve attempted to break down Communicators into four different categories: the Master, the Honest Person, the Liar and the Propagandist. The following chart indicates their differences.
Before assigning blame and claiming credit realize that most of us regularly participates in each type of communication inadvertently depending upon the context of our lives. It is more a matter of becoming aware rather than passing judgment.
___________
While no Person is always anything,
for no Person always exists,
each Person, when they do exist,
is regularly everything.
___________
For instance the Propagandists tend to weave honesty into the propaganda to make it more believable and then tell lies side by side with the half truths and truths to confuse the Listener into believing anything – no matter how unbelievable.
Truthfully transmitting Propaganda
Further each of us, while intending to tell the truth, is plagued with our own ambiguities and misconceptions. While we intend a truthful transmission, instead Propaganda is conveyed. In this case we relay the Propaganda with truthful intent because we believe in it ourselves. This mechanism is at the heart of cultural conditioning, which we are all subject to from the moment of birth and even some time before. In many ways, the essence of the quest for truth is the desire to separate out the components of truth so that we are not unwitting transmitters of propaganda.
Two Reasons why Verbal Truth insufficient for persuasion
First reason: Either/Or thinking
However, as our Writer discovered in a previous work, a mere transmission of verbal truth is not enuf to persuade the Reader. This has two reasons. The first has to do with our human simplistic everyday conception of speech. In this view, the words spoken or written are either true or false. Hence the Speaker is either honest or a liar. Because of this common misconception this breakdown doesn’t recognize the Propagandist or the Master shown in the more complete diagram from the previous page.
Because of this common Either/Or mentality playing the game of True or False against the Establishment is doomed to failure even tho you might be True to their False, because they are more familiar. They’ve got the status quo on their side. The majority tends to stand with the status quo, for the simple reason that it’s something they know - something they’re familiar with - while the new is unfamiliar and a little scary. Similarly when the more subtle game of full truths, half truths, and falsehood is played one is playing at an even greater disadvantage because the Establishment has so much more experience and resources at their command.
Second reason: connotation and preconceptions
The second reason that verbal ‘truth’ is insufficient for persuasion is the experiential, emotional content of communication, i.e. connotation and preconception. This tends to be ignored in the midst of the word play. While exposing underlying assumptions is usually more successful than debating propositions, it is still fatally flawed when communicating with the public, because of the vast amount of preconceptions that need to be overcome for any real persuasion to occur. Hence our Writer, while gaining a small sliver of humanity to his side with his ‘truths’ - his exposés - probably inadvertently offended and drove off many more with his offensive, insulting verbiage. In arguing Us and Them, he became the untrustworthy Them. He eventually shifted to the unemotional facts - but these, while gaining more adherents - threw many more into the hands of the establishment because his personal truths were clouded. He was so culturally polluted, that he inadvertently transmitted the Propaganda that he was attempting to dispel.
Pointing to the World beyond words
A more effective way of communication, which is the realm of the Master, is to point to the world beyond words. The Master’s words can transform because they transcend the verbal world of polarities that most argumentation relies upon. To get to the experiential reality, sometimes it is necessary to use Words and Logic to break down the verbal jail that we’ve constructed to make sense of our existence. Indeed one of the main thrusts of this book is to provide the tools with which each individual can break down their verbal walls for themselves.
Self sufficiency is the Key
Self-sufficiency is the essential ingredient. Debating true or false is external - at best changing a few surface beliefs - a bit worse, alienating someone who might have been on the fence. However the most likely is that the Speaker reinforces the flawed assumptions that are at the root of the misconceptions. Exposing these underlying assumptions is also external. One can only hope that the Listener is ripe for change. Most likely however, the belief system is just hit with a glancing blow from which it will quickly recover, reverting quickly to its initial structure. The best method is to inspire the Listener to embark on a journey of self-exploration and growth. This is what we are attempting in this work. Once they’ve been inspired to get on the Path, they need the tools for dissecting their implicit belief structure that is the foundation of illusion. With the tools and the desire the individual has the ability to deconstruct his own subtle world of words rather than relying upon the ambiguous words of those around him.
Thus for transformational information to be transmitted, the Writer must personally transcend the verbal world, else he will just reinforce the Illusion that is the root of the misconceptions. This information is provided so that every human that is ripe has the opportunity to escape the verbal cage that they have constructed for themselves, which block their Direct Perception of Reality.
While these ideas might not reach everyone, for many are not ripe, at least they will not alienate, repel, or reinforce false belief structures. For these words are not meant to convey truth as much as they are attempting to provide the tools and inspiration for personal exploration, which is the foundation of the Quest.
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