The Madness of Crowds

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G.K. Chesterton once observed that the ‘special mark of the modern world is not that it is skeptical, but that it is dogmatic without knowing it.’ His point was that moderns have forgotten that they are assuming what they believe to be a given. ‘In short,’ he concludes, “they always have an unconscious dogma; and an unconscious dogma is the definition of a prejudice.” - Breakpoint

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The temptation of propaganda

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“While all ages and people are tempted by what Josef Pieper calls the ‘abuse of language, abuse of power,’ the French social philosopher Jacques Ellul, argues that contemporary technological society makes propaganda more pervasive.” - Acton

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Pew: Most Americans Can’t Tell Fact From Opinion

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“The adults polled were presented with ten news-related statements, five that were demonstrably true or false and five that were opinions. Two ‘borderline’ statements were also presented. Only 26 percent of the adults polled recognized all five of the factual statements as such. About 35 percent recognized all of the opinion statements as opinion.” NReview

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