Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth, is a statement often attributed to Joseph Goebbels, the minister of propaganda for the Third Reich.
Decades later, when Trump was called out for lying that The Apprentice was the #1 show according to ratings he was purported to say, “…just tell them and they believe it…That’s it, you just tell them and they believe. They just do.”
I’m not going to write about politics today. Instead I want to talk about the impact of repeat messaging on society, culture and behavior.
I think back to my career in sales. Back then, I recognized that much of what was commonly taught was bullSH!t:
- It’s a numbers game.
- More dials equals more dollars.
- Hard work ensures success.
- Build a relationship to make sales.
- Sales tactics and closing techniques.
In truth, the most success I ever witnessed in sales was do to be in the right place at the right time with a product or service that people wanted, needed, and were were willing to buy. A lot of it was random luck.
I think about nutrition. I am horrified at what we were taught was “good nutrition” during my lifetime:
- Processed food is healthy.
- Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
- Cereal made from wheat, corn, sugar and syrup is good for kids.
- Juice is healthy – even with added sugar.
- Fat is bad.
- Carbs should make up the majority of your diet.
- Alcohol is good.
- Cigarettes don’t cause cancer.
- Fast food is fine in moderation.
- Sugary soda is is too.
- A proper diet is all about will power.
It’s no wonder I was fat for half my life and that the average American is fat today. Despite having reams of studies, proof of diets that work and anecdotal information of people who thrive eating whole food based diets we are bombarded with bad food messaging. Schools provide meals that I wouldn’t feed to my enemies. Groceries stores are dominated by attractive packaged, delicious tasting processed food that is designed by “food engineers” to create nearly irresistible cravings. Fast food and restaurants make mouth watering dishes – filled with carbs, high fructose corn syrup, flour and sugar.
And we’re told, just eat a variety of foods in moderation and you’ll be healthy. Fat chance. Literally.
I think about education.
School doesn’t prepare students for life. If it did, kids would be taught how to save money, avoid blowing credit card debt, learn a trade, write a letter, interact with management, manage their finances, do basic home repairs and many other practical skills. Instead we were taught:
- Go to school. Be quiet and compliant.
- Do your homework and get good grades.
- Go to college and you’ll graduate and get a good job.
- Behave.
- Hard workers are rewarded.
I did all of this. I got straight A’s for my entire life.
I had 12 years of math before college. Nothing I learned after basic Algebra in 7th grade was ever useful.
I had 12 years of English. I went to college still not knowing how to write an article, a letter or a proposal that someone would want to read.
I had 12 years of Physical Education. I didn’t learn how to move, how to stay healthy, how to be flexible or how to improve until I did my own lifetime of trial and error training.
As for life skills, sex education or work training – there was nothing. Literally nothing taught.
I could go on with examples from every facet of life and society:
- Religion
- Finances
- Public Safety
- Health
- Politics
- Driving
- Love
- Consumerism
- Money
I won’t because this post would just turn into one long, whiny rant. (As if it’s not already).
I wish that I had questioned things more during my life. I wish that I’d been taught about observation, facts, interpreting statistics, recognizing propaganda, questioning tropes and the fallacies of “conventional wisdom”.
As a teen, I did a little bit of this. As an adult, I did more. Usually, it took repeated failures or obvious inconsistencies to get me to question “conventional wisdom”.
I wanted to believe in what I was told.
The more I examined the evidence and saw that it match up with the tropes, the more I started to question. When I was in my early 40s, I distinctly remember having the thought, “What if everything I’ve been taught is wrong?”
It turns out, that much of it was.
And that, my friends, was the best realization of my life.