What kind of solutions one comes up with can reveal a lot about their problem solving capabilities.

Some methods more effective than others

Anyone who has been following Active Time Event for awhile now, might be familiar with Words of Wisdom, which is essentially a series I do every week, where I share some insight that I’ve found useful enough, that I desire to pass on the newly found wisdom to others. I’ve made an attempt at being even more experimental than usual in the past month or so, to push myself deeper into the comfort zone of the unfamiliar, so that my intentionally practiced methodology of thought is exercised even further, in understanding reality, and cultivating a greater sense of critical thinking.

To this point, I thought it might be engaging to attempt to parse a concept, in real time with you, to see what I come up with, instead of arriving prepared with a more laser focused definitive that was largely already more or less a largely concluded thought. Meaning, even though I had at least conceived of the topic with which I will pursue here and now, I refrained from developing any further notions about the concept itself before I sat down to write. With all that in mind, I thought it might be an interesting idea to tackle a notion I had considered when attempting to understand relative truth values recently, in conjunction with the concept of stealth, and player interactivity of how that type of system works, in relation to my playthrough involving the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake, Delta.

Interestingly enough, we are going to better understand what stealth is, relative to the notion of self-perceived identity, by investigating the idea of “Propaganda of Self”, which is going to give us bold insight into the functioning of our own minds, which will go a long way in better detailing how we grasp fundamental aspects of metaphysical reality. As we (are hopefully) aware of, propaganda is a method of information transference, usually by an organized body, in conveying a message of importance, and usually one that is concocted with the intent of propagating a message. Fundamentally speaking, propaganda creates a hyperreality onto itself, as the idea is to influence the way one or many thinks, that fundamentally differs from the actuality of said context, to further help solidify a perspective on it. Taking this concept, and applying it to self, one can easily conceive of how one could do the same, in deluding oneself to believe something about themselves, that may not fundamentally be the total truth of the matter.

Now, if we take all of these considerations, and maybe apply it as such, with kind of a ridiculous slant of extremism to underline our point, in reality of oneself in a stealth game, one could create propagand of self by convincing oneself: ” I am invisible, and since no one can see me, I will never be caught.” This individual, equipped with their new found sense of self-empowerment, may cavalierly walk towards the battle field with unbreakable courage, only to not realize, they were in fact walking directly into a rude awakening, as the enemy would very much see their non-invisible self, and open fire, killing said delusional target. I think this helps to frame a first, valuable lesson about propaganda, in that you want to make sure to fabricate a reality that may not be so easily dispelled, so one may maintain the disillusionment soundly, and for as long as possible.

Another vital aspect of propaganda, is that it is suppose to embolden those who hear it, to convince the target (with propaganda of self, this of course would be the individual), thusly motivating them to some call of action. If we follow our last conceit, that the propaganda in question shouldn’t be so easily dispelled, than the emboldening process has the extra reinforcement of being metaphysical, and thusly, non-destructible, meaning the concept will maintain a greater truth value, through the lens of fundamentality. Thusly, if Propaganda of Self then put forth the notion “Prepare for the stealthiest mother fucker you never saw”, the truth value proposed would carry a greater stability of weight to start, and (hypothetically) enhance over time. While at first consideration, and dependent upon experience level, in what may not initially seem true, in relation to the ratio of being seen, not being seen, it may start out as at least relatively true, as we are starting from point zero with no real comparative process to speak of. In this sense, since we cannot prove or disprove exactly, what “the stealthiest mother fucker of all time” would actually be like, we start from a far safer truth value proposition, in that it remains in a place of a beyond directly ratifiable claim, and therefore, possibly true, but certainly not definitely false.

On top of this, the propaganda has a far greater chance of gaining in value over time, as one repeatedly told themselves as such, would continue to buy into the concept, helping reinforce the notion with practice, leading to an increase of stealthiness, and maybe even to the point of in fact, becoming such a stealthy mother fucker, the self-fulfilled bias ultimately started to more closely align with reality. As we have now discovered, it is possible to engineer far greater effects of propaganda, by fundamentally shifting the truth value proposition of the propaganda in question, thusly cementing the idea of it in a far greater way of reinforcement, as in enabling the idea of it with a far more subjective perspective not rooted in hard facts, ended up strengthening the core idea of it overall. This also reveals a terrifying notion, that in spite of propagandas normal aim in helping to deceive the target, or at the very least, distort the reality of the situation, as obviously, by the sheer logic of propagandas usage, there would be no point in its implimenation, if reality didn’t need to be warped in the first place, or else it would already be true, we start to understand how it can shift narratives, and can do so far more effectively, when applied with a more tactical, less scientifically sound basis at the ready for its immediate disproval.

In summation: Propaganda can create a fictional wedge between the targets and the rest of reality, warping their senses around a fictionalized version of the reality in question. When translated to Propaganda of Self, this can easily take the form of a theoretical postulate, when you utilized most effectively, to convince one of something that may not be based in total reality. Though intent may vary, with one of our examples not necessarily representing a point of malicious intent, it’s ultimate motivation was to distance its user from accepting reality, even though it was in the name of positive reinforcement, in order to achieve a goal. While this may seem a noble way to motivate oneself, the very motivation behind the intent, as outlined briefly, involves deluding the target in warping the distinction between what is reality and fantasy, or even more sincerely put, making fuzzy the boundaries between the subjective and the objective, which comes with deeply inherent problems. If taken to a logical end point, as in one becoming adept at lying to oneself, and blurring the lines of reality as they see fit, strengthening their ability in both lying and their disillusionment abilities in the process, and if done over a long enough period of time, one begins to question how they would even be able to distinguish the difference between their own manufactured hyperreality, and the reality that actually surrounds them?

CONCLUSION: Propaganda of Self, much like the usage of everyday Propaganda, is too risky a pollutant to the very senses of the user, in unhinging the contingent agent from accepting reality as it stands, and thusly endangering the very distance one has from the very notion of existence itself. Avoid at all costs.

Well, that was fun. I certainly enjoyed it, and I hope we learned something of value together, by examining and considering the harsh realities that come with Propaganda of Self.

As always, take care of yourself, and others.

–Pashford