Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past. — Geo. Orwell, 1984
He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People — thereby, we need to peruse the difference between proaghanda, truth, disinformation, and outright lies. Are these lies we speak of here, innocent, or extraordinarily harmful. We find them Destructive, and here is why . . .
We currently confront head-on, the fact there are so many exaggerations, and outright lies, given to the General American Public, about Our Nation’s Keystone Predators. First and foremost, we discover evidence, and a lot of it, which points us too, one significant outlet for the exaggerations and lies to be developed; thereby, a widespread outlet of disinformation(deliberately deceptive falsehoods), misinformation (inaccurate information circulated regardless of intent), propaganda, & fabrications.
We can also find such groups of people, i.e. Ranching, Hunting, and Trapping groups in particular, the ultimate providers of these myths; or, the information-base of such activity, they partake in, under the guise of Cultural Heritage, or worse, Tradition.
We do not develop this information, from neither “conspiracy-theory”, nor, any type of expansion of “group-notoriety” in a specified manner of delivery, of these aggressive exaggerations & lies; but rather, informal story-telling situations (bar rooms, campfire stories, across the counter and quick story at stores, or exaggerated stories passed on from one-person-to-another in a normal “he said – she said” conversation. We then go into the dramatic-form of storytelling, in magazines and other media, books, or movies, often the news.
This is where Myth takes on the demeanor of Reality. The tales become more exaggerated over time, and we find belief systems, over the same amount of time, makes the exaggerations and lies prominent, or what we refer to as, a truth. Government agencies and politicians tremendously guilty of this, as well. And the science they discuss, at times, often nothing more than elaborate lies to achieve their own end-goal = $$$, and to their supporters. But this discussion establishes yet other parameters of the over-all context — and how exaggeration a lies effect us directly.
In psychology, a lie becoming a perceived truth is primarily driven by the “illusory truth effect”, where the brain confuses familiarity with accuracy. When a falsehood is repeated, it becomes easier to process, tricking the brain into believing it is valid even when the person initially knew it was false. By the time someone else, told the exaggeration or lie as well, speaks with another who heard the same lie, it then becomes a truth . . .
The primary psychological terms for widespread, chronic lying and severe exaggeration, in this case-discussion (which ultimately promotes Fear-Based nonsense), and in regard to Wildlife-Predator-Behavior and Predator-Prey Relationships, essentially promote a Fear-Based Rational for killing them, are — “Pseudologia fantastica”and “Mythomania”.
Both categories refer to a persistent behavioral pattern where individuals compulsively craft elaborate, often fantastical narratives about their experiences. And who was there to say different? Often, we find the disconnect in the communication, between truth and exaggeration & lies, when there are no immediate external motives. Why would they lie?
This is where we separate the Illusory Truth Effect, and understand how it is accomplished. Repeated exposure to a claim increases its “processing fluency” (how easily the brain absorbs the information). Over time, the brain mistakes this feeling of familiarity for factual evidence, causing people to accept the lie, as a truth.
But there exist other, more complex arrangements, in the human mind, we refer to as Source Amnesia. As memories age, we often remember the core fact, or statement, but forget where or from whom we originally heard it. If a individual forgets they fabricated the story, it integrates into their memory as a genuine event. Suddenly, the fellow in Wyoming who made the Statement, “Grizzley Bears are killing everything and everybody around them, out on the Range,” becomes reality in his mind.
Even though the evidence of Bear, or even Wolf Predation, so small statistically, or, in many cases completely non-existent in many areas. The reality is quite real, as it conflicts directly with his story.
Yet the truth becomes transitory, or, ignored information, rather than accepting it as evidence, which directly contradicts his claim of Grizzley Bears (or Wolves) becoming, via habituation or desensitization, or extraordinarily running wild, and we are all going to die if we allow it to continue.
Awkwardly, at best, in steps the Hero’s. Or, they want us to believe this to be true. This is where “Reality” clashes directly with “Myth”! “Step aside, Little Missy, we’re gonna Save Ya.” After all, they call themselves Conservationists, and they are there to Harvest (Kill actually) the over-population (which does not exist due to yearly over-killing of the Predator Species) of Grizz, or Wolves, or, even Wild Horses.
Now we explore this further, and find another Psychological Disorder of Confabulation. This is the unconscious filling of memory gaps with fabricated, made-up, or misinterpreted information. It is common in trauma and certain neurological or personality disorders.
The brain alters reality to protect the ego, and the person genuinely believes the invented narrative is exactly what happened. All of the sudden, these innocent Story-Telling venues around the campfire, or in the Bar for the Boy’s to hear, i.e. Pathological Narcissism of Bravado, becomes a not so innocent situation. Their actions motivate others to Kill Wildlife, to kill Bear, Cougar, Wolves, et al., and yes, even Horses.
Suddenly, we find these people, or groups, in the world of Self-Deception & Cognitive Dissonance . . . They avoid the mental discomfort (dissonance) of holding contradictory beliefs, as individuals do, unconsciously, alter their own perceptions. By convincing themselves of the lie, they relieve internal anxiety and align their thoughts with their actions. People hearing these lies, over and over again, and we find why many of us who study Communication, and the narrow deceptions from those who Control the Narrative, to be extraordinarily deceptive.
The Narrative becomes erroneous, as we see the destruction, ever-present within our Natural Environment and Wilderness Areas. Whereas, many people only surmise the usefulness of terms such as Harvesting Wildlife to Control Over-Population of Wildlife, and it being something that Conservationists do for Our Society and Culture.
Well, it’s all based upon “exaggerations and outright lies”, so yes, we have a problem here, and Our Wilderness Areas as well as our Wildlife, those coming close to be endangered as a species, suffers for those False-Narratives given to the Public.
What does this all come down to? We can try to be polite, but there are too many lives at stake, to actually care any longer, about being polite – We are observing our Natural Ecology and Wildlife being destroyed, due to what we can call, directly — Pseudologia Fantastica (Pathological Lying). . .
This is a clinical condition characterized by chronic, often fantastical storytelling that exceeds clear external motives. Although, we can point out, from results we see, there are motives that do exist for the groups mentioned in this discussion.
We find just within this discussion, motive. Demeaning & killing Wildlife and pointedly, outright destruction of our Public Lands, to such a point, we do not have to feel guilty for our obvious abuse and destruction of it. After all, these groups, our Nation believes are Heros (but statistically that is no longer true, as well), Ranchers, Hunters, Trappers, et al. While some liars know they are deceiving others, chronic retelling can blur the boundary between conscious deceit and delusion, leading the individual to intermittently believe their own elaborate stories. Attritional, those who listen to them, become the actual victims, of deception and deceit.
A good example of this, is when we wander through Our Nation’s Public Lands, even within the National Park Systems. Keep in mind, truthfully, it was developed for Wilderness areas to achieve high-standards of Wildlife Habitats and clean environments, for the common American to camp and enjoy seeing things they would never see in their daily lives. These Lands were set-aside for that, and now being invaded, by Hunting, Trapping, and Ranching lies and deceptions (to put it simply), in their move to control the Narrative, making what they do appear a Positive Situation, rather than what it is, which are very Destructive situations, indeed.
FACT: Sooner, than later, much of our wilderness areas as well as zones, or habitats, for our Wildlife to reside and live safely, will no longer exist. A Fact.” – John Cox, M.A. C/M
Preservation of America's Wildlife 