Unintended Consequences of Security Motivation in the Age of the Internet: Impacts on Governance and Democracy

There has been a striking recent shift in how political discourse seems to work, with, for example, partial information of sometimes dubious accuracy or relevance propagating very rapidly and widely on electronic networks and overriding clearer, more complete, more accurate information. In explanati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cognition and culture
Authors: Woody, Erik Z. (Author) ; Szechtman, Henry (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2016
In: Journal of cognition and culture
Further subjects:B Evolutionary Psychology mass hypnosis modes of communication neuroscience politics social media
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:There has been a striking recent shift in how political discourse seems to work, with, for example, partial information of sometimes dubious accuracy or relevance propagating very rapidly and widely on electronic networks and overriding clearer, more complete, more accurate information. In explanation of such phenomena, we address ways in which highly interconnected electronic networks may create vulnerabilities that involve tapping into special, relatively hard-wired motivational systems in the brain, particularly the security motivation system. We also discuss a mode of communication, sometimes described as “mass hypnosis,” in relation to a motivational system that manages the dominance hierarchy. Rather than just affecting people’s higher cognitions, political messages also tap into these motivation systems, generating surprising avenues for misuse.
ISSN:1568-5373
Contains:In: Journal of cognition and culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12342184