subject: Public Manipulation Or Why Reality is Relative [print this page] Public Manipulation Or Why Reality is Relative
We have all heard how Photoshop is widely used by magazines and newspapers to improve the pictures of celebrities by making them look thinner or younger or simply prettier. That's nothing new and it's a form of public manipulation that we can call relatively harmless. But what about when programs like Photoshop are used to doctor photographs concerning important political or social events? Do you believe everything you see shown on the Internet and in the magazines? You should not.
Reality is a relative notion and can be transformed to serve many purposes. That can become a really disturbing fact when it's used for political reasons - to glamorize a man of power, to create an image that will influence the opinion of the masses, to show him or her in a truly positive light and to improve his or her reputation. Public manipulation can become dangerous and outraging for a lot of people then. Falsifying an image can be made also in order to humiliate and belittle public figures. This is a common practice of political opponents in election times or before passing an important law.
Public manipulation is widely used in countries with dictatorship regimes like China, Cuba and some others. In such countries, the public image of the governor or the government as a whole, is subject to shameless propaganda and anything could be made in order to nullify a leaked picture showing the rulers in a negative light. As long as people adore and believe in the flawless image of somebody, they wouldn't question or fight against any of his undertakings as ludicrous as they could be.
Media is a powerful tool to manipulate the minds of people. Sometimes it's impossible to tell if something is true or not and unless people turn into paranoid creatures who doubt everything they see or read, there is no real way to spot the lie and everybody can be a victim of public manipulation. We open the newspapers in the morning, we read yet another amazing story about the success or the incredible beauty of some public figure and we can't even imagine that this person is not perfect at all and that the reality is often ugly, disappointing and trivial. Sometimes we let ourselves be fooled, because it's a human thing - the need to look up to somebody and follow their example.
For more information about public manipulation, you can drop by in this blog, http://youarebeingmanipulated.com
