Propaganda - The Pinnacle of a Nadir

In Propaganda (1928), Edward Bernays explained the manipulation of public opinion. For him, the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.

To 'borrow' his words:

Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethicalthinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind. Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect.

Others studying propaganda note that the human brain is designed to process images, not words. "A picture is worth a thousand words" sounds trite, but it is accurate. Words are an artificial communication medium: symbols with meanings attached to them. The brain must decipher the words of an editorial or a speech, and convert them into images.

Like this bit of Pal. propaganda: