One thing we need to be aware of while keeping consciousness at hand is the Big lie propaganda, a known tactic utilised by the Nazi regime to deceive innocent Germans, making them supporting the Nazi regime believing the Allies forces were committing atrocities against Germany, and therefore, attempting to remove the sovereignty of the country. Although the easy recognition of such a tactic practised in the roots of Nazism, it’s indeed an ancient practice back, at least, to the period of the Byzantine Empire. The only way of identifying a Big lie propaganda disseminated by a minority to deceive a majority is gathering evidence that proves such a mass manipulation, which may be not an easy task to accomplish. The moment we realise how Byzantine Generals operated in ancient times, it’s the moment we understand the origins of the Big lie propaganda, and how brilliant Leslie Lamport was when he had formulated the Byzantine Generals Problem to describe security flaws that can be observed in computer-based systems.


Let’s talk about a topic everyone has, at least, heard something about: fake news. Have you thought about why fake news gets disseminated, and how it can actually become an absolute truth? The secret is always in the reputation of the source of the dissemination, i.e., who has spread the first false claims. If that source has a “good reputation”, the probability of identifying a claim as false is extremely low if there’s no concrete evidence, or the interpretation of existing evidence is distorted. Let me give an example. 


Let’s imagine a scene where the only available evidence is a picture of a person with a knife at hand covered in blood, who is standing before a dead body on the floor that is also covered in blood. The question here is: What has happened? If your answer is a quick accusation of a murder crime towards the person holding the knife, you may be totally wrong. However, in ancient times where forensics analyses were not well developed, the presence of a witness who has claimed to have seen the person with the knife at hand killing the other person was enough to put someone in jail, no matter the real circumstances of the scene that can only be explained with a deep forensics analysis. If we carefully observe that scenario, we can see the principle of a Big lie propaganda in the origins of misconceptions, misinterpretations, and therefore, deceptive actions of mass manipulation, where the “good reputation” of a single person can be utilised as an unquestionable source of true claims, disregarding any evidence gathering concerning the situation and the scene as a whole. The “bad reputation” of a given person can be also utilised as a justification for false claims, which leads us to the real problem of every fake news becoming widely spread: the lack of concrete evidence, and the dishonour, dishonesty, and deceptive behaviour of people.


When we get aware and awaken for the simple fact of keeping consciousness at hand, we realise the importance of a non-judgemental attitude, deeply understanding the Buddha’s teaching regarding the need to analyse anything we’ve contact with, believing no one or nothing without a proof that can be reproduced in order to clearly answer why we’re either observing or experiencing something. If we cannot explain why, the probability of standing before a belief, a false claim, or a fake news is extremely high. Could a person attaining higher levels of peace of mind and enrolling into deep meditative practices levitate? Unfortunately, although it sounds like an awesome outcome, there’s no clear evidence a person can do it.


The  message here is not falling before beliefs that we cannot clearly explain why. If a person cannot clearly explain why something happens but insists in using their political power, money, or position to enforce the truth concerning a disseminated claim, the probability of being a deceptive action is extremely high. With common laws and fundamental human rights vivid in the society we’re part of, having contact with claims disseminated with no clear evidence by a person with “good reputation” is a high probability of being before a deception. Let’s remember: if there’s no evidence, there’s no means of attesting the truth of anything we have contact with, which is as good as having no evidence at all. That is a crucial flaw in the roots of the society we’re inserted into that can be utilised as a weapon to manipulate public opinion while the truth stands hidden somewhere else.


The more we understand the roots of honour, which was cultivated in ancient times, the better we realise and understand how to face the presence of darkness in the surroundings, walking the path towards a meaningful life no matter the circumstances.


Namaste 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓



Written by Jeferson Souza (thejefecomp).


Available also in a signed pdf version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SlYypIhdHnKogNkinQIv8u0EZvF8LcU4/view?usp=drivesdk




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