[For those tired of social media] How to break free from the 'What should I believe?' cycle, taught by a medical professional

Do you feel uneasy every time you open social media?

“Is this true?” “Who should I believe?”—as you repeat these questions, interacting with information itself has become painful before you even realized it. You’ve become a little afraid to check your smartphone when you wake up in the morning.

Working in the medical field, I have listened to the inner voices of many people as a certified psychologist. And I realized something: many people today are truly exhausted by how they interact with information.

Today, I want to share four perspectives to help lighten your heart, even if just a little. Based on a report from a trusted institution called the Institute of Geoeconomics, let’s think about this together while incorporating psychological perspectives.

You are not to blame for feeling like you are drowning in a sea of information

First of all, please let me say this.

You are not “weak-willed” or “lacking in critical thinking” just because you are exhausted from being swayed by information. The current information environment was not designed for our brains to handle in the first place.

Our brains evolved to survive in small village societies. But now, we are facing a massive sea of information where millions of messages fly around every second.

It is only natural that you feel like you are drowning.

[Truth 1] The goal of deception isn't to make you “believe.” It’s to make you “exhausted.”

When you hear the term “misinformation,” you think, “They are trying to make me believe a lie,” right?

Actually, that’s not the case.

The true aim of modern information strategy is to exhaust you completely. To make you unable to tell what is true. And ultimately, to drive you into a state of resignation where you “don’t want to believe anything anymore.”

This is a technique that the RAND Corporation, a US think tank named “the firehose of falsehood.” It’s like spraying a massive amount of information one after another, just like water gushing from a firehose.

The energy to verify the truth is stolen from you in an instant.

To use an analogy, it’s like this.

What if you were talking to a friend in a quiet cafe, and suddenly 10 people started shouting different things all at once? And what if those 10 people repeated completely different claims every five minutes?

You wouldn’t be able to hear your friend’s voice anymore, would you?

This is what is happening in our information environment right now.

So, if you feel like you 'can't believe anything you see in the news lately,' it's not that you have changed. The information environment itself is designed to make you feel that way.

[Truth 2] The cruel trap where the more you argue with logic, the more you play into their hands

This is where it gets truly counterintuitive.

When you find information that is clearly wrong, what do you do? Most people try to refute it by presenting solid facts, saying, 'This is wrong!'

Honestly, I want to do that too.

But this is the trap.

Let me introduce the case of the UK's Brexit referendum. The Leave campaign displayed a message like this in large letters on the side of a bus.

'We send the EU £350 million a week. Let's fund our NHS instead.'

The Remain side reacted immediately: 'That number isn't accurate! In reality, there's a rebate...'

But this was exactly what the Leave side intended.

The more you refute it, the more the general impression that 'the UK is paying a huge amount to the EU' spreads. No one remembers complex explanations. Only simple, emotionally stirring messages get etched into people's memories.

The person who devised this strategy later said this:

'The 350 million slogan was a deliberate trap, and I wanted to drive the Remain side crazy.'

Doesn't that give you the chills?

They calculated that they would be refuted from the very beginning. They knew that the 'engagement' of a rebuttal would deliver their message even further.

I call this 'Information Judo'.

Judo is a martial art where you use your opponent's strength to throw them, right? Your righteous power of refuting with logic becomes the power that throws their message throughout society.

It's frustrating, but this is the reality.

[Truth 3] The scariest thing is when the 'government itself' starts lying

“Fake news is something spread by foreign hackers or shady accounts, right?”

Don't you think so? I used to think that too.

But after learning about the case of Hungary my blood ran cold.

In Hungary, which is supposed to be a democracy, the government itself became the source of disinformation. How? By changing laws little by little, buying up media outlets, and gradually silencing critical voices.

There was an online media outlet called "Origo" that was once known for excellent investigative journalism. After it published articles critical of the government, the editor-in-chief was dismissed, and it was eventually absorbed by a massive government-affiliated media conglomerate.

This conglomerate, “KESMA,” controls over 400 media outlets. It is even exempt from competition law reviews.

Imagine this.

The news you watch every day, the newspapers you read, the radio you listen to. What if all of them were actually the same “voice”? What if, despite appearing to be different opinions, they were all repeating the same message with slight variations?

This is no longer a story from a sci-fi movie.

Democracy doesn't collapse overnight. It is eroded from the inside, slowly and without us noticing. And by the time you realize it, it's already too late.

That is why we need to maintain an attitude of constantly asking, “Who is spreading this information?”

[Truth 4] Fighting seriously isn't enough. A new weapon called “laughing it off”

Are you feeling gloomy after reading this far?

Don't worry, there is hope.

Moreover, that hope is emerging from an unexpected place: “memes” and “humor”.

Do you know the group called “NAFO”? It is an online information warfare group that uses Shiba Inu icons.

What they are doing is not seriously debunking Russian propaganda. They thoroughly “laugh it off.” They mock it, strip it of its authority, and create an atmosphere where it's seen as “not even worth engaging with.”

This is incredibly effective.

Why?

If you argue seriously, you fall into the “engagement trap” I mentioned earlier. But if you neutralize it with humor, the opponent has no way to counter. Because once authority is laughed at, it can never be restored.

Moreover, NAFO has no leader like a traditional organization. It is a decentralized network connected by a common 'idea.' That is why it cannot be destroyed from within.

Doesn't it remind you of the movie 'V for Vendetta'? There was a line that said, 'Ideas are bulletproof,' wasn't there?

Serious counterarguments are not necessarily the only effective response to serious problems.

Sometimes, laughing things off can be a much more powerful weapon.

Three small defensive techniques you can use

So, what should we do in our daily lives?

Even if you can't do anything big, please try to keep these three things in mind.

First, make it a habit to check the 'source' of information.

Just by asking, 'Who is saying this?' and 'Why at this timing?', the view you see will change.

Next, if your emotions are stirred intensely, stop for a moment.

Anger, fear, anxiety—information that evokes strong emotions might just be a trap to 'get you engaged.' Take a deep breath and try to take your finger off the share button.

And finally, don't try to be a perfect consumer of information.

If you try to see through everything, you will end up exhausted. Sometimes, you need the courage to admit that 'you don't know what you don't know.'

A compass for swimming in the sea of information, in your hands

Thank you for reading this far.

The four truths I talked about today—

The goal of information warfare is 'confusion.' Counterarguments can actually benefit the opponent. Trusted sources can change. And there is a new weapon called humor.

These are by no means intended to make you feel anxious.

These are a 'compass' to help you swim through the sea of information a little more easily.

One of the things I learned in the medical field is that 'knowing reduces anxiety.' It is most frightening when you don't know the true nature of an illness. However, if you can understand the mechanism, you can see the ways to deal with it.

The same applies to information.

If you understand how misinformation works, the degree to which you are swayed by it will definitely decrease. Even if you cannot prevent it completely, just being able to realize, 'Ah, this is that technique,' will significantly increase your mental defenses.

Finally, let me ask you one question.

Regarding the information you will see from now on, instead of just asking, 'Is this true?', why not ask, 'What is this trying to make me do?'?

That perspective will become your new weapon for surviving in the coming era.

Let's reclaim a life where you are not swayed by information, together.

You have that power.

I believe that.

#SNSFatigue #InformationLiteracy #MediaLiteracy #InstituteOfGeoeconomics #CertifiedPublicPsychologist