Can’t We Just Get Along? A New Path to Harmony (or Not)
Musings on the future of thinking and beliefs
There’s a simple solution to get rid of all the hatred, contempt, and distaste expressed across the great gulf that separates so many of us — Democrats vs. Republicans, vaccination proponents vs. anti-vaxxers — the factions go on and on. If only this solution to our growing antagonism was utilized, we’d all get along. No more gatherings with friends or family that are marred by arguments about differing beliefs and opinions.
As I sketched out plans for my sci-fi novel, THE JUICE, I saw an end to all that. I envisioned a time in the future when we’ll live much more harmonious lives, like we haven’t in years, maybe decades. It’s not that we’ll believe in exactly the same things. We’ll just agree with ideas or opinions that are complementary to each other, like red and yellow blossoms artfully arranged in a floral bouquet.
What’s my answer? Subliminal messaging. Just consider it: leaders of major nations try to to get us all on the same page — taking matters into their own hands by secretly transmitting messages in popular audio or video programs — undetectable to the conscious mind, like little subconscious dog whistles, only they would be human whistles, as it were.
Experimentation with subliminal messages has been around for decades. That’s something I became aware of in my role as a journalist focusing on big media companies and advertisers. They have largely been held back by regulations, or legal sledgehammers in the courts. But is it so wild an idea to imagine a world in which they become a valued tool to control the public?
Maybe the messages would suggest little things, like buying a certain chewing gum, or big things, like backing a certain politician. This became one of the pivotal ingredients in THE JUICE, a somewhat comedic-toned roller coaster ride about media in the future. (You can read more about it here.)
It is a creepy concept, I’ll grant you. That’s why it was fertile ground for my imagination. But while it may seem wild, I think subliminal messaging may be just one step further than where we’re at now — during this time when the art of persuasion seems to become more refined with each passing year.
I’ve written about the changes in the way we are informed and entertained over the last few decades. I probably don’t need to tell you that media has morphed from a limited number of outlets reaching vast numbers of people in individual countries to a gazillion news channels, stations, sites and blogs transmitted globally. And so many of the news disseminators lean in one political direction or another. A few of the more famous ones are unabashed mouthpieces for people in seats of power.
Hasn’t it led to news commentators who say one thing on air, but say vastly different things behind the scenes? The House Jan. 6 congressional committee made that clear recently by revealing Mark Meadows texts. The NPR series “On The Media” had some very astute analysis of that.
Yes, I think there may come a day when political leaders might get us to all lie down together in cushy “beds” of thought, perhaps one bed for the ultra-elite social class, another for the underprivileged.
How do we stop that from coming true? By funding media watchdog organizations and investigative journalism initiatives that are intent on the honest-to-God truth, no matter how painful it might be to understand. And it also involves paying attention to where our sources of information are coming from and understanding the agendas of those who disseminate it.
It all gets down to my passionate belief that there is no more precious a commodity in this world than the truth — understanding what’s real, and how the influencing capacity of media companies can devolve into thought control.
Of course, there’s another element to life that ranks right up there: love. But that, my friends, is something for another post. And I wish you much of it as we enjoy this year’s final festivities.
