Age of Propaganda

My Thoughts

There ended up being 3 books in this year’s Books of Titan’s reading list that dealt with persuasion. This was the third one, so unfortunately, the topic was covered quite extensively. Additionally, the three books (Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), The Power of Persuasion, and Age of Propaganda) had many similar examples. Age of Propaganda went a little deeper into the media side of persuasion and how that leads to propaganda, but there was still so much content that was similar to the other books. I wish I had known they were all about persuasion and I would have just read one of the books.

Despite the persuasion overkill in this year’s books, it’s an important topic and one that bears constant reminders. In reading this book, I thought a lot about the way that most people get news. They come home after a long day of work and turn on a station that most likely agrees with their political view. They want to be entertained. They don’t want to think. An exhausted mind is not going to question what is presented. It’s a mind readily open to propaganda. That’s not good.

Of the three books on persuasion, I’d skip this one and Mistakes were Made and go with The Power of Persuasion.