Arriviste housoSep 2, 2023
George Lakoff

Republicans understand that rationality doesn’t work. They understand that people actually think in terms of frames and metaphors and images and emotions. So they’re great at marketing their ideas, even when they're not based on facts.

Through constant repetition, they have falsely framed the Republican party as superior on economic matters -- despite decades of facts proving otherwise.

They have framed this false idea millions of brains.

And when the facts don't fit the frame, they bounce right off.

Until Democrats and progressives learn and embrace cognitive science, they will continue to lose ground to the false framing imposed by Republicans.

Sep 1, 2023 at 10:11pmWeb
Show threadFen CSep 1, 2023

@georgelakoff
👆

Does anyone else live in a place where this kind of thing happens?

No, obviously I would never try to point 🇬🇧 you in any 🇬🇧 particular 🇧🇾 direction(s), even though the number is pretty 🇧🇾 small.

("Where *is* Belarus? Is that where Hogwarts is?)

#uk #ukpolitics

Show threadDarwin WoodkaSep 1, 2023
@fencoul @georgelakoff No, it's Durmstrang
Show threadjonathankoren™Sep 1, 2023

@georgelakoff I'd add the meme that "Republicans are better at defense" has wormed its way into so many brains, that even Democratic presidents in recent administrations nominate Republicans for SecDef.

That's a just an own goal. What are these Democrats doing?

Show threadGeorge Liquor, AmericanSep 2, 2023
@jonathankoren @georgelakoff Getting paid
Show threadCJ Paloma's ...accountSep 2, 2023

@jonathankoren @georgelakoff right, and the whole idea of "law and order" anyone? The fact that white republican males have always been in charge of the FBI and how horrifically badly the FBI has failed to *rein in public corruption in the past few decades is…stunning.

*fixed a typo.

Show threadGeoff BernerSep 10, 2023
@jonathankoren @georgelakoff what are they doing? Democratic leadership still feels more solidarity with Republican leadership than they do with you. That's what they're doing. Ruling you with the Republicans' help.
Show threadBob DavidsonSep 1, 2023
@georgelakoff
Do Republicans actually understand this or are they just idiot savants?
Show threadBenjaminSep 1, 2023

@wa7iut @georgelakoff I’m not an expert on this, but I think it’s a side effect of cognitive dissonance. Take climate change.

If you don’t believe in climate change you’re wrong. Every expert tells you you’re wrong. Everyone who you know who’s just kind of smart says you’re wrong. Even children tell you you’re wrong.

Which leaves two options: give in, or continually reinforce that you’re right. Watch Fox News to see which door they pick.

Show threadDavid W. JonesSep 3, 2023
@birwin
I think it's also a human mental habit. I think humans have repeatedly demonstrated, over tens of thousands of years, a bias for the immediate. And that was before irrational ideologies and the fantasy called capitalism showed up to interfere.
Immediate: As in not seeing "Slow mo" disasters like climate change vs piling up sandbags upon seeing a hurricane coming.
Or like the old "boil a frog in a pot" thing.
@wa7iut @georgelakoff @raymondpert
Show threadBruce Heerssen Sep 2, 2023

@wa7iut @georgelakoff
Most of them understand the concept all too well. It's not rocket surgery.

Democrats' problem with such tactics is that they seem slimey and dishonest, and they often are. Republicans don't care. They just want power.

Show threadEhproque has movedSep 2, 2023
@wa7iut @georgelakoff I think they ignore facts because it's what they do, and it just happens to work
Show threadDan RileySep 2, 2023
@wa7iut @georgelakoff Some do. Karl Rove understands. Mitch McConnell understands.
Show threadDarwin WoodkaSep 1, 2023
@georgelakoff I think the point that gets missed is Republicans are just fine with lying, and Democrats try very hard not to.
Show threadfanf42Sep 2, 2023

@darwinwoodka @georgelakoff yep, there is something here.

And there's also a inner /outer group view of the world extremely deeply rooted in rights over the world. In that view, if what you says works for your inner group, well it's a truth, even if it's factually false at a higher scope.

So "better at economy" must be translated to "economically better for my inner group", and then things make sense

Show threadKevin LeecasterSep 1, 2023
@georgelakoff
Political choices are emotional and not rational.
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Sep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff it’s about who has the bullhorns. They own the media. Stop attacking Democrats for it!😡
Show threadBruce MirkenSep 2, 2023
@edgeoforever @georgelakoff Lakoff is not attacking Democrats, he's saying Democrats need to be smart. He is right.
Show threadedgeoforever 🍎Sep 2, 2023
@BruceMirken @georgelakoff Be smart! Buy all media!🙄🤯
Show threadBrooke BinkowskiSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff This is such an important point, thank you
Show threadgirlfreddySep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

The same ideology applies to Canada as well, yet provide the facts to a Conservative party supporter and they blow a gasket arguing the facts.

Show threadAMonkeyInSilk 🇺🇦🇵🇸Sep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff People’s opinions are determined by their feelings.

Bombarding them with facts doesn’t work, you have to engage their emotions.

Show threadJ MillsSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff "we need a new story that explains the present and guides the future"

https://www.ted.com/talks/george_monbiot_the_new_political_story_that_could_change_everything

George Monbiot: The new political story that could change everything

TED
Show threadTBYGSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff You have no idea how much I wish they would listen to you. How much I have wished they would listen to you since, it seems, forever.
Show threadOren LevineSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff excellent point! And condescending to or looking down on people you think aren't "rational" is even less effective, but I see my liberal friends do it all the time
Show threadSometimesIGetBoredSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Democrats won't learn this because it's their job to lose to the Republicans. They're not supposed to win. It's why even when they're elected they keep the policies of their Republican predecessors.
Show threadNot A BirdSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff The republicans have earned that reputation not because they are better at messaging, but because the messaging is owned by people who are republicans. Check who the corporations and billionaires who own the entire media landscape, vote for. And what is the one thing Republicans have been good at? Tax cuts for the rich.

/1 #uspolitics #capitalism #conservatism

Show threadNot A BirdSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos to Koch to who the heck not want to run their business unchecked, pay no taxes, treat their workers like machines. Republicans are totally onboard with that. That is why there is a "messaging" problem. The means of messaging is owned by capitalists, who are republicans.

/2 #uspolitics #capitalism #conservatism

Show threadvolkrisSep 2, 2023

@notabird @georgelakoff

Woooow What in the world are you two talking about?

Republicans are better at messaging? The party that can’t seem to break through left-leaning media outlets, can’t seem to provide any balance as folks like Donald Trump vomit ridiculous statements left and right that cannot possibly make any sense to any rational listener?

No, Republicans are awful at messaging. It’s just utter nonsense coming from them.

The problem is that even if Democrats can message a fantastic theory of the world, a lot of us listeners notice for ourselves that their theories just don’t comport with the realities that we experience for ourselves.

You can’t blame Republicans for that. They are garbage, but at the least they aren’t telling us these stories that we can see with our own eyes aren’t true.

Show threadNot A BirdSep 2, 2023
@volkris @georgelakoff You are talking about the last few years. The messaging of the economy is decades old. That isn't budging so much, because media still keeps that message running for the republicans.
Show threadvolkrisSep 2, 2023

@notabird @georgelakoff

Well my first reply is that, for better or worse, keep in mind that Trump started his bid for presidency kind of a long time ago now. Time flies.

But really I would say that the only reason he ever managed to become president was due to all the garbage that was coming out of both parties for decades.

I’m not talking about the last few years. It’s been generations of really trash messaging that set the stage for all of this.

It’s not the last few years. We’ve had a generation of really garbage journalism really screwing over the country with crappy reporting.

Show threadflightofdragonsSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff What you need to do is to frame THIS message in a way that Dem campaign strategists will take notice and change their ways!
Show threadAndrewSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff The Right is far better at propaganda. They better understand people's baser instincts
Show threadThadSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff I used to think that Republicans had a natural advantage because their policies were simple—"cut taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king," as Sideshow Bob once put it—and Dems' are more abstract.

The ACA debate changed my mind. In that case Ds had the simple message (if you get sick you'll go broke and/or die) and Rs had the abstract one (socialism!) and Ds lost on messaging. At least until it actually went into effect and people saw the benefits firsthand.

Show threadBlueintheSouthSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff THIS has always driven me CRAZY!! So much data shows that democratic leaders in the USA are consistently better for the country on nearly everything.

I guess that's the reason Republicans have been dumbing down the electorate and actively stopping people from voting. for DECADES.

Show threadfanf42Sep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff @hyc isn't it just that they are better at capturing the mean of communication and bribing people on position of power (enterprise chief, etc) that they will benefits from them in power, even if the globals economics metrics are bad?
IE it's more a inner/outer group VS universalism thing than a social/cognitive one?
We have the same thing in France (rights said to be better than left) but everyone knows it's a lie, and just some people benefits from it
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Sep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

Repetition cannot create TRUTH,
but repetition can create BELIEF.

Repeating lies, even with the purpose of debunking them, can convince more people to believe the lies.

Please, do NOT repeat lies in your headlines, in your ledes, and especially not as the only text in your social media posts.

Instead, state the truth... REPEATEDLY.

#Journalism #Journalists #SocialMedia #News #Media #Meme #Truth #Belief

Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Sep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

"the more we see something repeated, the more likely we are to believe it to be true.”

Thread about the “Illusory Truth Effect” and why it is so important NOT to repeat lies on social media (or elsewhere), even with the intention of debunking them.

https://newsie.social/@ZhiZhu/109530716627287778

#Propaganda #Disinformation #Misinformation #Lies #Journalism #SocialMedia #News #Media

ZhiZhu (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image · Content warning: Why do our brains believe lies?

Newsie
Show threadZhi Zhu 🕸️Sep 2, 2023

To refute lies:

Always LEAD with the TRUTH, not the lies.

DO **NOT** put the lies first in your tweets, headlines, and/or articles.

Giving lies primacy, gives them validity.

Give the truth primacy, not the lies.

#LeadWithTheTruth
#LedeWithTheTruth (<for the #journalists) #Journalism #SocialMedia #News #Media
#TruthSandwich
ht: @georgelakoff

Show threadJanis La CouvéeSep 2, 2023
@ZhiZhu @georgelakoff there's a great example of this in a French TV show, set in WW II occupied France, we are watching where one of the characters, a business owner, is accused of being Jewish, and can't do enough to prove that he isn't. Of course, the consequences could be disastrous.
Show threadLenaSep 6, 2023
@ZhiZhu @georgelakoff well known and used standard of the nazis
Show threadForeverExpatSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Have you ever thought about it from the other direction? That GOP framing and metaphor messaging is effective on people with a certain neurological makeup: ie those who are more likely to accept and seek simplistic, overly reductive emotional triggers? There is a % of people who abhor bumper sticker messaging and black and white explanations of complex, social problems. Many of us are skeptical of those who promote such messages, even if we don’t fully grasp the hidden complexity.
Show threadScott KnowlesSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Republican voters., like everyone, live in their own world, what's called bunded rationality where they limit what they learn and know, and then decide, inside their own mental box. Republicans have sold them a view of world that fits inside that box, and like said, everything democrats say won't get through unless each chooses to listen and learn what democrats are saying. It's human nature. Good luck there.
Show threadvySep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff the media is owned and managed by far right republicans
Show threadThe Skeptic's Book of ListsSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff "We are the party of patriots and Christians. If you are not this party, therefore you are neither of those."
Show threadCatherine is not complacentSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff I think it’s like being a sports fan for a lot of them. They like the flags and slogans and trash talk, and even if their team sucks they’ll defend it to the death.
Show threadCanadian CurmudgeonSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Thanks for that post. I believe the same applies to Canadian politics: the Conservatives (who are using the Trump playbook to frame their stories) and Liberals (who, like the Democrats, are trying to battle deception and rage farming with facts and logic)..
Show threadMarty HeymanSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff So, is this a ringing endorsement of the current Administration's economic performance or a more generic statement about history?
Show threadKid ManiaSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff
The “illusory truth effect” is well-documented, suggesting Terrans rate statements as more truthful, valid, and believable when they have encountered those statements previously than when they are new statements. When people are less interested in a topic, they are more likely to accept familiarity brought about by repetition as an indicator that the information (repeated to the point of familiarity) is correct.

Even with preposterous stories and urban legends. 1/

Show threadKid ManiaSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

Example of this frequency heuristic may be found in the prevalence of “flat-earth theory”. It’s interesting to note the Flat Earth Society was relaunched in October 2009. Typing “flat earth” into Google yields a staggering 551,000,000 results. Between 2009 and 2016 there was an anomalous peak in this subject. It’s theorized the resurgence of flat-earth theory could be attributed to experiments performed by propagandists testing various contemporary techniques on the internet. 2/

Show threadJPVillanueva 萬吉平Sep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff they don’t actually care about the whole economy. They care about preserving their privilege and creating a wealth gap between themselves and others. Existence of poverty makes their wealth stand out, even if it’s not that much. It’s their whole identity.
Show threadMark vWSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Boom-Busters
Show threadAviva GarySep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff Truth... also this thread is a goodie
Show threadKaisoArtSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

Become them to beat them? What a strategy! More so, to include the Democrat party as an ally in our battle is folly at best. How many times must we be run through from behind by "allies" as we face the enemy?

Obama to the CEOs who crashed the world, "I'm all that's between you and the pitchforks." Then he bailed them out.

Cluster bomb "Union Joe" ended the railway strike that was fighting for sick days. Then ratcheted up one war while working to start another.

Show threadChristopher ZarrellaSep 2, 2023
@georgelakoff All successful political movements know this. The Democrats used to understand politics was 50% theater. Sadly they forgot that about 50 years ago. This is why they're continuously floundering.