Changing people’s minds is difficult. This is because people don’t like being told what to do. We also have biases that make us believe that we are right and everybody is wrong. There’s also the fact that we are all narcissists, hence the success of social media. We tend to believe that the world revolves around us and we internalize information that corresponds with this viewpoint. We believe we are God’s and can predict and forecast the future when that’s false, no one really knows anything, no one has the answers and no one can forecast the future.
Reverse psychology is one way to do it. Another way is hypnosis, programming and unfair, unjustified passive aggressive comments that make you go “What?”, these work because they go into your subconscious mind. Another way to change people’s minds is propaganda. We witnessed an example of this with Germany and the Nazis. Children were brainwashed from the infancy. Everywhere in Germany was this one viewpoint that was spread across different platforms and mediums like movies, posters, radios, music, billboards etc. Propaganda works because repetition is the father of learning.
Propaganda tends to have a negative connotation and it’s warranted, we saw what happened in the 20th century with Nazi Germany. What transpired was just pure evil, but it’s not just with Nazi Germany. Propaganda is everywhere. We see this with the depiction of Africa by the West. And how is Jesus Christ white again?
Propaganda is everywhere, we see it on our money with Nelson Mandela, he is always there, looking at you, smiling. Sandton City has a place called “Nelson Mandela Square” and it is a place designated for Mandela. It has art, it has statues, it has stores that sell Mandela gold coins, it has stores that sell the type of clothes he wore, it is Mandela heaven. Because Sandton is my home, I see Nelson Mandela every day. I believe his propaganda, I believe that he was a great man. I am surrounded by proof. Yes, I concede Nelson Mandela was a great man, easily one of the greatest men who ever lived. The propaganda makes him better than the “Greatest”. He has malls named after him, streets, hospitals, bridges and just about anything you can think of. The “Mandela” brand is a great brand and it is because of this propaganda.
Essentially what propaganda is, is Marketing and PR. It is showing only one side of the story in the best possible light repeatedly. It is biased and one sided. We see this with the advertising industry. Everyone is always smiling on Billboards and on ads and that KFC burger isn’t that great in real life. Propaganda is flattery and deception, it is what we humans do best. Social media has allowed us to propagate propaganda for our personal brands. We can take pictures and filter them to be perfect and then share with the whole world. We have more power than ever!
Conforming has its advantages for example if you are starting an online community, you have to understand the ecosystem and adapt to make it your own. You have to understand what works and what doesn’t to create a framework and structure for your newly formed community. When you have a structure and framework you can slowly add what’s different about you. Being different from the get go is not wise because you can get shunned and ignored, that’s not good for creating a self-sustaining brand. Different doesn’t necessarily mean good. You have to conform to a certain point because to conform entails to be emphatic and empathy makes you relateble and likeable. To conform is to understand and to be compassionate because you can mirror people’s mannerisms, tastes and conducts.
A perfect example of conforming to be different is with the Apple 2. When it was released it was just like a lot of computers in a lot of ways. It could run on any operating system, it could be modified to the users tastes and had multiple USB ports. Steve Jobs later changed everything about the Apple 2 with later products to reflect what Apple stood for, to be different, to have a rebellious spirit and to have taste. Apple needed to stand out from the rest of the market and set the benchmark. He closed off everything so Apple could run on its own operating system and reduced the multiple USB ports to just two ports for the modem and printer. The decision to close off Apple was the difference maker and is the reason Apple is the most valuable company in the world. Apple of course is vertically integrated today owning and controlling everything from operating systems to distribution. But they had to conform first. Not conforming makes you different and can provide an edge to inspire innovation that can make you successful, however it’s not always guaranteed. You need to be flexible enough to know how to fit in and then go out.
Warren Buffet is a perfect example of this. He lives far away from Wall Street to avoid the noise and clutter. He doesn’t follow the news. He is sheltered in Omaha. However when it suits him and his business interests, he can be attuned in and make decisions everyone else can’t see because of his different perspective. As opposed to news and loud untrustworthy bulletins, he has trusted sources from within Wall Street, that gives him the advantage. You conform to understand and then make your own way.
I want to explore a case study. In 2014, Brazil played host for the World Cup semi-finals against Germany. They were hot favorites to win the tournament. In this game more than 60 000 Brazilians filled the Belo Horizonte stadium. They (Brazil) were missing their key players like captain Thiago Silva and their golden boy Neymar Jr, through suspension and injury. Even with that, the concensus was still Brazil. When they sang their national anthem the whole stadium reverberated. They sang with a lot of zeal, passion and enthusiasm. It was inspiring and special. Some players even cried, they were playing for all of Brazil. The Germans on the other hand didn’t show any of this zeal. It was just another game for them and an opportunity to get to the finals. They were merely focused, relaxed and professional. They didn’t show the same energy Brazil showed. They didn’t overwhelm themselves, they didn’t show unnecessary emotions.
Brazil started the game like a house on fire. Attacking the Germans with everything they had with the crowd cheering and applauding them. It was peculiar, even David Luis, the spine of the defense for the Brazilian team was in offensive positions. Germany kept their shape and structure for the first 10 minutes of the game, getting the feel of the game. 15 minutes later the scoreline was 5-0 in favor of Germany and the Brazilians fans were in shock, crying. Germany had won the game in less than 30 minutes. At half-time Germany subbed of their best defender in Mats Hummels, they saved him for the final and he was too strong for Brazil in any case. At this rate Brazil would never score. Germany did the humanitarian thing and subbed him off. The game finished 7-1 in favor of the Germans, the biggest win by margin in the history of the World Cup tournament in the semi-final stage.
Moral of the story? Don’t just throw the sink at your opponent, don’t be emotional, don’t be expedient, plan, have structure and shape. A fast start doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win.
When I think of the word resilience, Nelson Mandela and his freedom fighters come to mind. They fought so hard against the “impossible” and they won. They achieved this feat because they cared more. It wasn’t easy too, 27 years in prison is an eternity. That is more than 10 000 days in prison – mastery!
Consider Nelson Mandela’s life for a moment. He and the other freedom fighters were banished to an Island were they would serve life for treason. They worked in labor camps all day every day, turning big rocks to small rocks. They were harassed, disrespected, abused and made to feel inferior throughout. They were treated like animals and not shown any humanity. The food was cold, rationed and not fit for a dog. The cells were cold and solitary confinement was a part of life because they were so vocal about their rights. Life carried on without them, family members died and they couldn’t attend funerals. They spent the best years of their lives, their youth, confined in a cell like animals. They couldn’t even communicate with the outside world because the letters were heavily censored. No newspapers to inform them of current events of the country and the world, all they knew were the four corners of Robben Island. There’s also the case that all of this could have been in vain. What if the people they were fighting for forgot. What If the unjust oppressive system of Apartheid won in suppressing peoples spirits and oppression was the norm? What if there was nothing that could be done?
Nelson Mandela and the other freedom fighters, endured a lot of suffering. They lost so much. It’s so easy to be hateful and angry but he Nelson Mandela preached peace and making the country a better place to live in when he was released. The future was all that mattered and creating one with equal opportunity and no oppressive legislature for people of color was paramount. He was driven by a new vision for South Africa, it defined him. He gave everything to his people. What a leader, what a great man. Nelson Mandela embodies what it is to be resilient. The action of getting up and fighting, even after a thorough beat down. He stands for doing what’s right and never giving up until the very end. He stands for victory under the most difficult circumstances. He is integrity, resolve, determination, resilience and greatness.
Thank you for everything Tata, this is dedicated to the freedom fighters who gave up their lives and freedom so I can be free.
I remember when a friend of mine had some news he wanted to tell his inner circle. He decided to start a business and the responses were overwhelmingly positive except for one comment. It wasn’t that bad but it was disguised, sly, hidden and subtle. The comment was “Well done, hopefully you’ll make some money”. I felt it was in bad taste because he implied that he was doing this for the money. He shifted the focus of the news of starting the business to making money.
The comment was passive aggressive. That is what cognitive dissonance is about. Saying one thing and doing another. It is poisonous praise. It is being conflicted, it is being split into two, it is confusing, it is inconsistent. Like God loving us and sending us to hell. What a suspect anology Christianity.
I think that passive aggressive language and behavior works so much because it is indirect and leaves much to the imagination. Being passive aggressive is popular today. Like that one person who always comes late for meetings and always apologizes, like “alright man we get it, you superior to all of us”. Or that one guy who takes an eternity to respond to your texts despite the fact that his been online all day, we see the power play my man.
Deep narcissists are masters of passive aggressive behavior. They want to keep you dependent on them. They are deluded because we always see what they are doing. They think they are clever and slick but we see. Everyone knows a deep narcissist.
Carl Jung has taught me to accept people as they are, accept them as facts, don’t take things personally because we are all repressed and we tend to project on to people a lot. We also have shadows and biases. Being a human being is hard work.
The Underground Railroad series by Barry Jenkins is a masterpiece. It is uncomfortable, disturbing, difficult and painful. The depiction of slavery is earth shattering! Its so raw, exposed and unapologetic. The imagery evokes the feeling of dread and fear. The oppression is heavy as a 10 ton truck and the situation is just hopeless – it is what it is. Slavery is the most horrific event that has ever occurred in our history. It’s so barbaric and lacks any conscience. Our ancestors had it bad. It was brutal. From the whips that devour your bloody mince meat back. To the fires that consume the body turning it to a coal. The total disregard for human life is heartbreaking. How are you better than me as a human being because your hue is diluted? Why are you offended by my melanin tone? Why do you have to humiliate me and disregard my right to life? Why is your God prejudice and so selective? We see characters lose hope – it’s difficult not to lose hope, optimism is like aircon in hell. We witness suicide, we see hunger devouring the very essence of a man leading him to his death. Cause what’s the use? Why eat? For what? For who? I am tired of laboring in the name of slavery. I have made my peace with the Lord, they can’t do anything to my soul no more. They don’t care about you, you just a nigger, an animal with no reasoning faculties, genetically built to serve the white man. You just mere property like tools and we need you to procreate so we can sell your children to turn a profit. Don’t tell me about love, niggers don’t have that capacity, this is strictly mechanical and a white man will be present watching you as you lay pipe. You can’t even run away, they chase after you and once caught punishment in the form of flesh eating whips awaits. Suicide is difficult, you are always monitored, all they want is a daily dose of your spirit like concentrated syrup until it runs out. The hangings, the violence, the killings, the hate, the ignorance, the fear, the horror, the suffering, oh the suffering, each scene was like a dagger to my soul. It never got better too, the good hearted characters who assisted the protagonist on her journey always died horrific deaths because slave owners always win and slavery is justified. The good and heartwarming scenes never last, there’s always a shadow that ultimately engulfs the protagonists present turning her world into disarray and scrambling for survival.
I was relieved when Cora shot dead Ridgeway, he was a bad man and I hated him like a recurring nightmare. I don’t understand the hate in his heart, his father did his best to show him the way. We are all one, we are one spirit, try to see yourself in another person. Yes, there is a order and everybody has a role but what about your humanity? Why do you have to conform to the norm when you are haunted by it’s conditions? Maybe I will never understand, maybe he had a slave catcher mentality and being an observer of the series, I will never quite understand that psychology. I would have shot Homer dead too. To many times in the story he has been the difference. He is a loose end, he knows too much. Granted he was under Ridgeway’s frame and had to serve him but he was complicit, he knew what he was doing. He even committed murder to save Ridgeway. Still I understand the decision to spare his life, Cora didn’t have any beef with him and if she killed him she would be hanged and this time around the killing wouldn’t be justified. I feel sorry for Homer now that Ridgeway is dead cause what’s he going to do now? He is just a nigger kid, how’s he going to survive? He was dependent on Ridgeway in more ways than one. He was like a father to him. How’s he going to navigate the world alone? He is going to have to regress to a slave to make it through, now isn’t that poetic justice? Isn’t killing Homer mercy? Maybe not, we all deserve a chance at life and he is resourceful, just maybe he’ll be okay. Cora has showed us its possible time and time again.
I salute the makers of the craft, Barry Jenkins and his team delivered an absolute masterclass. I imagine it was difficult creating that, the mental strength required to play the role of Cora cannot be underestimated. Full credit to Thuso Mbedu for delivering perfection. I am pretty sure she had support, a psychiatrist, psychologist or some sort of professional had to be on site at all times. Playing a character with so much depth can be scaring and psychologically distressing. Who knows what’s hidden in the deep recesses of your subconscious. She had to go to dark places and inhabit them. She had to disconfigure herself and willingly go under the sword. She had to combat the shadows that were well hidden by time. She faced the monsters in her closet. She captured the essence of being a slave. She was a slave. She is just an amazing artist. But it’s not just her, everyone performed at such a high level. Unbelievably there was no weak link, everyone was a solid 10. The visuals, the pictures, the camera work, the slow motion takes, the deliberate use of silence, the costumes, the score, music and soundtracks, the fire, the singing, the slaves, the sets, the characters, the actors, the brutality, the violence, the beats, the dialogue, the sequences and the overall story – it is content on another level. The genocide scene at Indiana was hard but expected now that we were so late into the story, you can never really trust these white folks, they have never been friends, I was disgusted but not surprised by their actions, nothing they did surprised me anymore. Watching the show I became pessimistic and cynical, I learned true human nature. It was a difficult story to tell and execute and they excelled with flying colors.
To create something of significance and value, you need a tribe or community of people pulling in one direction. They don’t have to share blood, heritage or anything binding biologically, they just have to be like-minded. I like the example of Henry Ford. What he did with the automobile industry was amazing. In that time, cars were available but they were expensive and reserved for the wealthy and affluent. Henry Ford had a dream of making the automobile affordable for the average American. He came to the realization that he would need economics of scale to mass produce and save costs. The revolutionary thinking never stopped there. Essentially he started Capitalism by getting investors involved and creating the assembly line. The Ford company started mass producing cars but he also realized sales would be slow if there wasn’t a system in place. He created the modern 9-5 work week. This way employees would produce the vehicles mid-week and purchase them on the weekend. It was a success.
Ford grew and made money for his investors. I think that’s a beautiful example of Capitalism, that’s where everything started. I think the socialist economy is cool too. Countries like Sweden are beautifully run. There’s a lot of peace of mind considering everyone has access to the best schools, hospitals and other facilities. Systems like that guarantee peace of mind. Of course it can go bad like it did in the 20th century but I see a lot of positives. It’s a fair and just system. The only problem I see is parting with 50-60% of my income tax.
I also like what Mark Zuckerberg did with Facebook. I love the culture he instilled in the company. I love how clear their vision is “make the world more open”. Essentially to connect everyone in the world. To help him in his cause, he got the best people by his side. Today Facebook has over 2 billion active users. That’s powerful, it all started with a tribe, a community of students.
Steve Jobs once said “the customer doesn’t know what he wants until you show it to him”. His point was that you must create a need and simultaneously fill it. The sentiment that no one really knows anything has been around for millennia. Nassim Taleb explores thoroughly this on his book “The black swan”, which I highly recommend. The book explores unpredictability, once off events and biases. The internet for example is a black swan event because no one could have predicted it prior to the 20th century. The Covid pandemic is another black swan event, nothing like this has ever happened before, it literally stopped life! We didn’t know what to do or how to react. If you had asked people in Henry Fords time what they wanted, they would have replied a faster horse. How about a horse that won’t die if you don’t feed it or leave it out in the cold? This is the genius of the automobile. To know what people want is to know what you want. I want a great product or service that will serve my needs. I want great customer service. I want ease of use and I want convenience. I want service, care and respect. If you can fill those needs, I am a customer. A big innovation might make your offering popular but what I listed are the fundamentals. If you can do the fundamentals really well, you can attract a lot of customers. This doesn’t require market research. Of course, I am governed by biaes and they dictate my life but human nature still rules. If you can understand people’s motivations, that is, people are narcissists and think the world revolves around them, you will do well in business. Cater to the narcissist in the best way possible, this is a psychological urge everyone yearns for – “Just make me feel special, that’s all I want. Make me feel good!”, that is what people want.
We grow up. Time lapses. We wrinkle. We lose our youth. We lose our wit. The neon lights lose their intensity. We assume old age. We get trapped in old memories. We replay our regrets. We forget to love. We are forgotten. Seasons change. The stars change their locations. Life goes on. We plant seeds. Those seeds metastasize and create offsprings. We are retired. No one cares about us anymore. The beauty vanishes. The enthusiasm wanes. The smiles turn to frowns. The bones stultify. We are wrapped in a loop. Boredom cripples our souls. Distance prevails. Nothing matters anymore. We are rueful, so many could haves, so many should haves, unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. We become wiser. We learn patience. We become compassionate. We become kind. We practice love and preach it like a Gospel. We learn to be humble and appreciate the magnificence of life. I used to love you but what I loved is dead buried in the past. You were a moment of weakness, my repressed desires of longing, my projected image played out like a halogram, a period in deaths graveyard. I am not sure I’d feel the same way now, we different people, with different values influenced by phenomena in different cultures. I’ll never forget you Countess Olenska, you were once what I wanted most.
antakalipa 