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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
You
may have heard or read about a preponderance of fake
news that was being shared on social media outlets recently. The sources of
these erroneous reports and the reasons/motivations to share this information is
of less interest to me than how and why people so easily accepted and believed
what they read and heard.
The
last few months have been very stressful for a lot of people, especially in
regards to the contentious United States presidential election that we just
went through. There was plenty of rhetoric to go around from both (all) sides
of the electoral ticket. Between nonstop television advertisements and various political
canvassers calling several times a day, every day, to encourage us to vote for
their candidate, there was hardly a moment of quiet to collect our thoughts. It
didn’t even stop when the election was over.
These
days, a lot more people get news and other social information from the Internet
compared to television or even newspapers. As most of us have experienced, once
we are on-line it is like being sucked into a stimulation vortex. Video links
automatically begin to play and pop-up advertisements for consumer products or
holiday gifts flash across the screen—tailored to each user’s specific
interests, no less. It is natural to seek sources of information or
entertainment that resonate with our own beliefs and ethics/morals, so any “facts”
that we read or hear are more readily believed and accepted because we want
them to be true. If you don’t believe this, consider how often you change the television
channel if you don’t like what a reporter is saying, or abruptly end
conversation or on-line chat exchange if the other person challenges your
beliefs. Such discord is painful to the subconscious mind. When we are on the
Internet, it is much easier to simply tune in to someone or somewhere else that
supports our view-point. Furthermore, the more emotionally and
cognitively/intellectually invested we are in the subject, the more likely we
are to react and respond to this information; the more we react and respond to
it, the more invested we become. Of course, people who work in advertising/marketing
and dissemination of information are very aware how this process works and
possess the skills to draw our attention where they want it to go.
Fortunately,
the fake-news schemes have been exposed and executives of the sites that allegedly
participated in them are taking steps to correct the programs that allowed
these transgressions to occur in the first place. But this experience has
understandably left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths: We trusted ‘X’
to tell us the truth! They lied to us/I believed what they said! What does that
say about me?
As
I explained in my blog titled Time
Flies When I’m On-Line, it is very easy to become overloaded by sensory stimuli
while we are on the Internet or even watching television and drift into a state
of trance (hyper-suggestibility). Here are a few suggestions to prevent this
from happening:
·
Regularly count yourself out of the
trance state by saying, “One, two, three, four, five, eyes open [say your
name], wide awake.” This mantra will help you immediately return to an alert and
less suggestible state of awareness.
·
Get in the habit of walking away from
the computer, put down the hand-held device or turn off/change the channel on
the television or radio and do something different for a little while. Take
this time while you are off-line to think critically about what you have read
or heard. Does it make sense to you? Consider possible flaws in that original
argument. If necessary, give yourself permission to imagine there are other
possible explanations and imagine what an alternative scenario might be. How
does that picture feel to you?
·
Have a nutritious snack that includes
some protein to stabilize
your blood-sugar level and thus minimize potential irritability,
frustration and over-reaction to what is going on around you. This step will help
you remain more objective and patient to listen to and even consider opposite
points of view as you come to your own decision about what you have heard, seen
or read.
·
Remember, you are most
suggestible to yourself. If you (your conscious mind) don’t like or do not feel
comfortable with the information you are hearing and/or the way you are behaving,
decide to make a change. That change may simply be to log-off the computer, change
the channel/switch off the TV or radio, or learning how to relax and think/evaluate
situations around you more critically rather than automatically react to them. Hypnotherapy
is great for that, too.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified
hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors
from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
