Age of Propaganda Book Summary - Age of Propaganda Book explained in key points

Listen to the Intro

00:00

Age of Propaganda summary

Name: Age of Propaganda
Rating: 3.9 (74 reviews)
Author: Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson

Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson

The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion

3.9 (74 ratings)

22 mins

Brief summary

'Age of Propaganda' by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson explores how propaganda and persuasion is used to manipulate public opinion and behavior. It provides insights into the techniques used and how to defend against them.

Topics

Media

Table of Contents

Age of Propaganda
Summary of 9 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Learn to spot and fight propaganda.

With the exception of dictators and authoritarian leaders whose every whim becomes law, those in power usually have to use alternative methods – namely persuasion and propaganda – to achieve their aims and bring the general public on board. By carefully manipulating our view of the world, people in positions of power strive to make us act the way they want us to, often without us being aware of it at all.

But persuasion and propaganda are not limited to the realm of politics; in fact, we’re subject to propaganda from companies and other organizations every day, most of which is designed to, say, make us buy things against our better judgment or lure us into shady cults.

The good news is we can learn to see this propaganda for what it is: hot air. By exposing the techniques and strategies of the propagandists, we can create a better society and make better choices.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

the difference between persuasion and propaganda;
why Rush Limbaugh calls his supporters “dittoheads;” and
how to protect your kids from propaganda.

Persuasion is built on rational thought and the weighing of different perspectives.

People are constantly trying to sway others’ decisions in one direction or another. But this isn’t always as nefarious as it sounds; by using persuasive techniques to influence decision making, these people are offering us the opportunity to make informed choices grounded in facts.

Such persuaders intend to offer people enough information on the issue at hand to allow them to make a rational choice. A typical persuasion technique is to state both an argument and a counterargument, only to immediately disprove the counterargument based on facts to support one’s case.

In this way, persuasion is often a result of long discussions in which one person’s opinion actively transforms as a result of another person making a stronger case for his perspective. It’s clear to the persuaded person that his opinion has been changed and he’s comfortable with that.

This manner of argumentation is based on the central route of information processing, which transfers information through detailed argumentation and is crucial to successful persuasion.

People who are persuaded centrally are ready to receive information-dense messages. They’re not interested in any old information, but would rather take their time weighing the strengths and weaknesses of different positions.

Because of this focus, such people are fully concentrated on the message they’re discussing, and they thus devote all their mental faculties to understanding the message, as well as their own opinions on the issue. When arguments are made in this way, people are capable of making educated decisions by assessing information from different sources.

However, not all arguments are made in such a straightforward way. In the following blinks, you’ll learn about another widely used technique of persuasion that’s not nearly as fair; it’s called propaganda and you can find it just about everywhere you look.

Propaganda confuses its message in order to disseminate information without people realizing it.

Unlike persuasion, propaganda doesn’t intend for its targets to have a fair chance of holding onto their own opinions. Instead, it works to catch them off guard, influencing them without them even realizing it.

To do so, propagandists deliver their messages in attractive packages, preventing consumers from focusing on what’s actually being said. This practice is accomplished through positive language and the framing of information in an appealing way in order to distract consumers from contemplating the factuality of the statements.

The credibility of a source and the message it conveys are both crucial to successful propaganda.

So, propaganda is all about misleading people, and while it comes in many forms, it’s always based on the four stratagems of influence. Let’s take a look at the first two: source credibility and message.

Source credibility means that the person receiving the message will be inclined to trust the person delivering it. Propagandists carefully select people to deliver their messages as a way of dazzling their audiences and forcing them to focus on the physical appearance of the source, rather than the words being delivered. A classic trick is to use a much-adored, respected or trusted public figure who appeals to the audience.

Propagandists set us up to side with them and use our emotions to guide our decisions.

You just learned how propagandists use source credibility and misleading messages – now it’s time to take a look at the other two stratagems of influence: prepersuasion and emotions.

The first, prepersuasion, is a way of creating a vulnerable mindset in the target. For instance, the incredible levels of violence depicted on TV don’t reflect the world at large; crimes are ten times less likely to happen in real life than they are on TV.

The entertainment value of the mass media increases our vulnerability to propaganda.

It’s no secret that the modern world is a message-rich environment. Every day we’re told all kinds of different things, but few of these messages come with many details or explanations.

Such an overload of generalized information only further increases our predisposition toward laziness and exacerbates our failure to properly consider what we’re seeing and hearing. In this climate, many people become addicted to entertainment, an addiction that the mass media is perfectly positioned to cater to.

Our need to rationalize our behavior and be socially accepted are turned against us by propagandists.

Humans are naturally social and rational creatures, and propagandists know just how to take full advantage of this. The reality of human tendencies can often trap people in a vicious cycle, as we’re likely to prolong bad decisions as a means of rationalizing our behavior and saving face.

Take smokers, who are huge rationalizers. Lots of people who attempt to give up smoking end up failing because they come up with infinite reasons why they should continue their unhealthy habit. These people tell themselves they have to smoke because all their friends do, or that they’d rather live a short and happy life than a long, miserable one.

War makes great use of propaganda.

One specific use for the tools of propaganda is war. In fact, some of the biggest beneficiaries of propaganda are politicians who use misleading information to build public support for brutal military campaigns. They rely on public backing to maintain societal stability and convince soldiers to go into battle.

War is thus a great example of how propaganda, rationalization and fear work in tandem to influence the public. For instance, the US invasion of Iraq was sold to the American people as a necessary, rational action to depose Saddam Hussein, a Hitler-like dictator.

Cults use propagandistic techniques to gain members.

People tend to think that cults brainwash people through some sort of witchcraft, but the fact of the matter is that cults use exactly the same techniques as any other propagandistic group – just with different names.

For cults, the name of the game is reciprocity, distraction and self-sell. The first of these, reciprocity, is a powerful tool since humans are inclined to reciprocate acts of kindness they’re shown, even something as small as the gift of a flower, which Hare Krishnas hand out to entice new devotees. Such gifts increase your likelihood of engaging with such people, as you feel like you owe them something.

By understanding propaganda, you can fight it.

It’s easy to get frustrated when you consider the sheer volume of propaganda people are exposed to on a daily basis from politicians, advertisers and the mass media. The disillusionment that this climate fosters also breeds complacency, as people tend to think that propaganda won’t affect them. But there are concrete ways that you can make positive changes to this situation.

For one, you can educate yourself and your children about how propaganda functions. This is a vital step, as children are commonly targeted by propaganda in the form of commercials for toys and fast food. These ads play on repeat during Saturday morning cartoons and during the commercial breaks for educational programming in schools.

Want to see all full key ideas from Age of Propaganda?

Key ideas in Age of Propaganda

More knowledge in less time

Read or listen

Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.

Find your next read

Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.

Shortcasts ^New

We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

What is Age of Propaganda about?

Age of Propaganda (2001) is an in-depth look into the world of deception that is propaganda. These blinks will walk you through the different techniques propagandists rely on to successfully change people’s opinions and show how these tactics have become part of your everyday life.

Who should read Age of Propaganda?

Students of psychology and marketing
Consumers of all walks of life
Advertising professionals

About the Author

Anthony Pratkanis is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz as well as an advertising and political consultant. He is a coauthor of Weapons of Fraud: A Source Book for Fraud Fighters, among other titles.

Elliot Aronson is one of the 100 preeminent psychologists of the twentieth century and the recipient of many awards, including the William James Award for Lifetime Achievement, awarded by the Association for Psychological Science.

Categories with Age of Propaganda

Society & Culture Marketing & Sales

Book summaries like Age of Propaganda

Words That Work

Frank Luntz

It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear

100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing

The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

19 min

3.9

Phishing for Phools

George A. Akerlof and Robert J. Shiller

The Economics of Manipulation and Deception

15 min

4.0

The Drama of the Gifted Child

Alice Miller

The Search for the True Self

13 min

4.1

The Psychology of Money

Morgan Housel

Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness

22 min

4.4

A Guide to the Good Life

William B. Irvine

The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever

24 min

4.1

The Black Swan

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Impact of the Highly Improbable

18 min

4.4

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Bill Bryson

A journey into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer

38 min

4.5

The Secret Life of Pronouns

James W. Pennebaker

What Our Words Say About Us

The Small Changes That Change Everything

22 min

4.6

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene

What affects your day-to-day life

The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking

Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present

How to Excel When Everything Is Changing - Including You

The Special and the General Theory

The Science of Succeeding with People

Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back

17 min

3.2

Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville

Explore This Brilliant Analysis of American Democracy

Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results

How to End Self–Sabotage and Stand Up for Yourself

Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough

A Study of Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece

20 min

4.3

Weapons of Math Destruction

Cathy O’Neil

How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy

14 min

4.2

The Four Agreements

Don Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills

A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. A Toltec Wisdom Book

The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence

The Secret to Achieving More with Less

18 min

4.4

High Performance Habits

Brendon Burchard

How Extraordinary People Become That Way

Six Steps to Unlock Your True Motivation, Harness Your Willpower, and Get Out of Your Own Way

A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment

19 min

4.5

The Effective Executive

Peter F. Drucker

The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

14 min

4.1

What Every BODY is Saying

Joe Navarro

An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People

Work, Wealth and Welfare in the Robot Age

22 min

4.0

When the Body Says No

Gabor Maté

The Cost of Hidden Stress

Timeless reflections in defense of Christianity

31 min

4.7

Flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The Psychology of Optimal Experience

23 min

4.4

Podcasting Marketing Strategy

Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers

A Complete Guide to Creating, Publishing, and Monetizing a Successful Podcast

21 min

4.2

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Classic That Will Challenge Everything You Know

17 min

4.3

Manufacturing Consent

Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

The Political Economy of the Mass Media

The Reality of Racism and Oppression of Women in 1940’s America

Create a Life You Really Love with Less Stress and More Flow

16 min

4.3

Nudge

Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein

Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness

14 min

4.1

Now, Discover Your Strengths

Marcus Buckingham

How To Develop Your Talents and Those of the People You Manage

12 min

4.1

Billion Dollar Whale

Tom Wright and Bradley Hope

The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World

How to Use More Than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make BIG MONEY Selling Anything to Anyone

23 min

4.5

Every Man's Battle

Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey

Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time

Evolution and Consequences of Modern Carnivory

20 min

3.3

People ❤️ Blinkist

Sven O.

It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

Thi Viet Quynh N.

Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

Jonathan A.

Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

Renee D.

Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.