Page 43 - DivineSparkRisingFinal

Nicholas Boothman
“How do you fight that?”
“First, you notice it,” she said. “That moment
when the words stop sounding like yours. When
the smile feels wrong. When agreeing feels too
heavy.”
“Influence hiding in plain sight?”
“Always,” she said. “And it sounds harmless at
first. You hear phrases like: ‘Many people are
saying…’ ‘Everyone knows…’ no names, no proof,
just vague authority to make you feel you must
have missed something. Or ‘It’s common
knowledge…’ implies it's already proven and
accepted, so questioning it makes you look out of
touch.”
“And people fall for that?” Henry said.
“Head over heels, they do. Then there’s
scapegoating: blaming one person or group so
you’ve got somewhere to aim your anger, true or
not. And fire-hosing: so many claims, half-truths,
and lies, you can’t keep up, so you stop trying.
“They use absolutes: ‘It’s always this way.’ ‘They
never get it right.’ They make the world sound
simple, which makes it easier to sell you a solution.
“Sometimes it’s false equivalency, pretending two
things are the same when they’re not: ‘Well, both
sides are just as bad.’ And fear-mongering: painting
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