This short film from 2014 is even more relevant today than it was then.
It describes how Russia’s President Putin and others have used disinformation and fake news to undermine people’s understanding and perception of the world.
As the film explains, this approach is deliberately intended to create so much churning and confusion in our minds that we no longer understand what is happening: who is doing what, or why.
In the face of such confusion, the film says, our only response is to say “Oh dear” and give up.
But there is another, more useful, way to respond. And that is to get clearer on who we are, what matters most to us, and what we are doing to achieve that.
The clearer we are about these things, the less the fake news will matter, for four reasons.
First, when everything is a priority then nothing is. So the clearer we are about our priorities, the clearer it becomes whether a piece of news is relevant to us or not. And if the news is not relevant to us then we can ignore it and get on with our priorities, undistracted.
Second, even if a piece of news (fake or otherwise) does turn out to be relevant to us, it doesn’t change what we are working to achieve — though it might affect how we we go about achieving it. Now, instead of asking, “Is this story true?” we can ask, “If this story were true, what would I do differently?” Again this keeps us focused on our goals, which makes us more likely to succeed.
Third, if it turns out that the news would make it more difficult for us to achieve our objective then if we know our purpose and values it becomes easier to find other ways of achieving the same purpose and values. Again, this keeps us focused on what matters most to us because, no matter what happens, we will always be able to find new ways to create what matters most to us.
And fourth, the more strongly we have inspired ourselves and the people around us to long to build what we care most about, the less the fake news will matter — because the more we have an inspired team of people, longing to get to where we want to go, the more we will be able to achieve that goal, no matter what anybody else says or does.
The clearer we are about our own priorities and the more inspired we are to achieve them, the less the fake news matters.
Then our response to fake news can shift from “Oh dear” to “So what?“
All of which makes us more antifragile — able to use change to become stronger and more valuable.
How often do you find yourself distracted by news (fake or otherwise) that doesn’t affect you directly? Do you know your purpose and values? Are you working to bring what matters most to you alive, in an increasingly unpredictable world?
Adapted from The Churning, Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in a time of change.
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[The video is called, Adam Curtis “So What?”, “Nonlinear warfare – A new system of political control”]