People liked to be linked to art
CATEGORY: #NEEDS
This is the first category to consider when attempting to identify coercion and possibly flag-up Fake News when using the ‘Propaganda Watchdog Protocol’.
You will need to examine the communication in question and ask yourself which #Need it is addressing and in which way.
Sometimes you may find more than one #Need is addressed in the same communication. Each #Needs term, is outlined below, but can be researched in greater detail for extra understanding.
When you think you have identified the #Need, for example, an advert for an alcoholic drink that tells you that you will be ‘the star’ of a festival if you buy and consume it
or electronic hardware, whose customers, thanks to their branding, identify themselves as ‘artists’, is appealing to #BelongingnessNeed (the human desire to be involved in culture), #EsteemNeed (the human desire to be held in regard) and #SelfActualisationNeed (the human desire to go beyond your everyday situation).
However, when you think about it, the communication is simply trying to coerce you into purchasing a particular brand of alcohol, and thus drinking their product (despite what you might think after a few cans) will not place you in the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’ alongside Jimi Hendrix, just as buying a brand of laptop will not make you into Leonardo da Vinci. Both require ingenuity and extraordinary dedication rather than a purchase.
Neither an alcoholic beverage or PC hardware have anything to do with either field, art or music, apart from in the most incidental way, other than that which has been deliberately grafted on to create a brand illusion, thus this is exploiting our human needs for culture, for corporate purposes.
The above has served as a visible example, but there are many examples of propaganda using #Needs, which are not coercive, but informative.
The difference being they are ‘open’ about their aims and objectives thus making them #WhitePropaganda (propaganda which reveals its source and motivation), as opposed to #BlackPropaganda. Public Information Films are a perfect example of #WhitePropaganda that is not dishonestly coercive. These do not generally need analysis but they can be fun to watch:
The reason #Needs are at the top of the Stack of terms we are using to identify coercion, is that they are the most fundamental and personal, biologically hard-wired component of human consciousness, serving as the ‘operating system’ upon which our other ‘programmes’ run, and thus virtually all propaganda draws on at least one of the #Needs below, as identified by Maslow – although we would be interested to learn of any propaganda that appears not to adhere to this standard.
Learning Tip: Find an example of each ‘#Need’ hashtag below from any source and publish a link to the piece, amended with the appropriate hashtag, on any/your preferred Social Media platform(s). Be sure to use the hashtag #possuseof to indicate that the source is ‘possibly using’ the #Need hashtag you have identified and thus avoiding making cast-iron (and possibly defamatory) assertions. Also, you may want to use the #PropagandaWatchdog hashtag, as well as any comments or observations regarding how you believe the communication is trying to make you e.g. ‘behave’.
#NEEDS CONTENTS:
In addition, we would be interested to learn of any censorship, shadowbanning etc. of any #PropagandaWatchdog influenced material in any form published by anyone else, as merely for equipping people with the tools to identify Fake News and propaganda by providing this solution which teaches people to identify coercion for themselves rather than relying on ‘fact-checkers’ who dictate #AssertionsFromAuthority stating ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or ‘True’ or ‘False’. We have been censored by YouTube, delisted by Google, had domains stolen by 123-reg, have been shadowbanned by Twitter, smeared on LinkedIn and stalked on Facebook, as well as being plagiarised by the BBC and being subjected to continual sabotage of our projects, thus appearing to prove that the assertions that the above people would like a solution to Fake News are themselves propaganda. A SOLUTION TO FAKE NEWS IS THE LAST THING THAT THEY WANT.
Anyway, back to #Needs…
“[I]n 1943 … Maslow proposed in this paper was that human motivation can be described in terms of a ‘hierarchy of needs’ or values. These fall roughly into four categories: physiological needs (basically food), security needs (basically a roof over one’s head), belongingness and love needs (desire for roots, the need to be wanted), and esteem needs (to be liked and respected). And beyond these four levels, Maslow suggested the existence of a fifth category: self-actualisation: the need to know and understand, to create, to solve problems for the fun of it. When a man is permanently hungry, he can think of nothing else, and his idea of paradise is a place with plenty of food. In fact, if he solves the food problem, he becomes preoccupied with the question of security, a home, ‘territory’. (Every tramp dreams of retiring to a country cottage with roses round the door.) If he solves this problem, the sexual needs become urgent -not simply physical satisfaction, but the need for warmth, security and ‘belonging’. And if this level is satisfied, the next emerges: the need to be liked and admired, the need for self-esteem and the esteem of one’s neighbours. If all these needs are satisfied, the ‘self-actualising’ needs are free to develop (although they do not always do so -Maslow recognised that many people never get beyond level four.)”
Colin Wilson, ‘A Criminal History of Mankind’
Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’:
All propaganda, coercion and indoctrination works by appealing to human motivation. Thus all communications, can at the most base level, be scrutinised and ascribed a hashtag to designate one or more categories in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’.
You need to look at the communication being analysed to see which needs it is trying to (often spuriously) fulfill.
This part of the protocol encourages the deep scrutiny of how a communication makes you feel, or tries to make you feel, at a primordial level, in order to examine how you may be being manipulated.
#PhysiologicalNeed
“The first step on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is known as Physiological Needs. This refers to a human’s basic needs for food, shelter, rest, etc… If you don’t know where you are sleeping that night, or if you don’t know when your next meal will be, it is difficult to be able to focus on anything else.”
Smart Talk, ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Physiological Needs’, October 31, 2018
#SecurityNeed
“Maslow’s second tier on his Hierarchy of Needs is safety and security. Being able to feel safe and secure is a primal need that we all face and that must be met before we can face other higher levels of need. You only need to walk down a dark alley at night or get into a car crash to know that when you feel unsafe nothing else matters. In that moment of lack of safety you are unable to think about anything else. That work meeting or that great new business idea is completely forgotten about as you try to bring yourself to safety. There are three types of safety that Maslow highlights: Physical safety, emotional safety, and financial safety.”
Smart Talk, ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Safety and Security’, November 6, 2018
#BelongingnessNeed
The social needs in Maslow’s hierarchy include such things as love, acceptance, and belonging. At this level, the need for emotional relationships drives human behavior. Some of the things that satisfy this need include:
“Friendships
Kendra Cherry, Very Well Mind, ‘The Five Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, June 26, 2019
Romantic attachments
Family
Social groups
Community groups
Churches and religious organizations
In order to avoid problems such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety, it is important for people to feel loved and accepted by other people. Personal relationships with friends, family, and lovers play an important role, as does involvement in other groups that might include religious groups, sports teams, book clubs, and other group activities.”
#EsteemNeed
“At the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy is the need for appreciation and respect. When the needs at the bottom three levels have been satisfied, the esteem needs begin to play a more prominent role in motivating behavior.
At this point, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things and then have their efforts recognized.
In addition to the need for feelings of accomplishment and prestige, the esteem needs include such things as self-esteem and personal worth. People need to sense that they are valued and by others and feel that they are making a contribution to the world. Participation in professional activities, academic accomplishments, athletic or team participation, and personal hobbies can all play a role in fulfilling the esteem needs.
People who are able to satisfy the esteem needs by achieving good self-esteem and the recognition of others tend to feel confident in their abilities. Those who lack self-esteem and the respect of others can develop feelings of inferiority.
Together, the esteem and social levels make up what is known as the psychological needs of the hierarchy.”
Kendra Cherry, Very Well Mind, ‘The Five Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, June 26, 2019
#SelfActualisationNeed
“At the very peak of Maslow’s hierarchy are the self-actualization needs. “What a man can be, he must be,” Maslow explained, referring to the need people have to achieve their full potential as human beings.
According to Maslow’s definition of self-actualization:
“It may be loosely described as the full use and exploitation of talents, capabilities, potentialities, etc. Such people seem to be fulfilling themselves and to be doing the best that they are capable of doing… They are people who have developed or are developing to the full stature of which they capable.”
Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested [in] fulfilling their potential.”
Kendra Cherry, Very Well Mind, ‘The Five Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, June 26, 2019
You will often find absurd appropriations of the above in advertising.