I have never really followed the political news, at least not in great detail I just read the headlines which are supposed to sum up what the rest of the article is about. That was probably a bad idea on my part.
So those of you reading this will probably think something along the lines of, "Reading the headlines? What's wrong with that?"
Two words: Source amnesia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_amnesia).
Almost everyone, if not all, will experience source amnesia at some point in their life. It's the thing that makes you go, "I think I've heard about that before... But I can't remember where..." The human brain isn't like a computer where it can easily save loads and loads of information; it can only recall on a limited amount. As we learn new things, previous information stored in the brain becomes, in a sense, condensed. You'll probably eventually only remember the key points, almost like a headline. How is this connected to the whole, "only reading the headline," as a bad idea. Well, repetition is one of the most effective ways to remember things.
Politicians and the media exploit this all the time. All a politician has to do is make a statement whether it is true or not. It creates an idea that there could be some kind of scandal among us. The media then picks it up and posts it as a headline "Is there a scandal among us?" If one media source picks it up, many others pick it up as well to not lose out on ratings. Pretty soon you’ll have the idea of a scandal repeated to you many times. Even if the articles you read are debunking the scandal, the fact that there was any type of scandal (true or untrue) will be the only thing you remember.
For example, the famous, "Obama is a Muslim," headline. Conservatives repeat that line over and over so many times that even up until today; many people still believe that Obama is a Muslim, despite the fact that Obama is in fact, not a Muslim.
This is also very similar to the, "Thought Stopping Technique."
This is an effective technique for those suffering from anxiety and panic disorders, among other things. When you begin to experience negative thoughts, you consciously tell your brain to stop and then replace those negative thoughts with thoughts that discourage further thinking.
Have you ever been to a game, whether it be basketball, football or even hockey? Think of the times where your team may be losing or on the verge of losing. You were probably experiencing feelings of dread and possibly even panic. But when there is a chant going on to root for you team, did you start feeling better? That is the thought stop technique. Cheering in the form of chanting for your team is a good feeling. You stopped any negative thinking about your team losing and you began focusing on happily cheering on your team.
This is heavily used in any type of political convention, where your favorite politician is up there raving on about his goals for your country. In between him shouting out each bullet point of his agenda, you're probably chanting something along the lines of "USA! USA! USA! USA!". Immediately chanting after someone speaks doesn't allow your brain to process what was just said because you are too busy cheering on.
Funnily enough, though-stop is also used in cults (http://www.cultclinic.org/qa1.html) as a form of brainwashing.
Perhaps reading the headline isn't the best source of information after all. Seeing a headline repeated over and over as if it were being chanted will only make you remember keywords whether the statement is true or not.
--ElfEnnerji
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