As artists our primary asset is creative and out of the box thinking. This is arguably one of the main reasons why so many of us are labelled radicals or left-wingers. After all, whatever truth we are served is the result of creative manipulation. In general I find political labels silly, but they are part of an old political tradition where bullying opponents and being compliant to an ideological doctrine is more important than finding optimal solutions to the problems at hand.
 
In many ways politicians and their devotees act as if they are part of a religion where facts no longer matter. Instead they choose to believe that they, much like a prophet, can solve problems by colouring the world red or blue. I refuse to succumb to any political ideology. Succumbing to an ideology doesn’t solve a single problem. Attacking the problem with rationality and reason does, if the problem can be solved at all.
 
The authority under which we serve is a reflection of who we are as individuals. Mark Twain said: “It was a narrow escape. If the sheep had been created first, man would have been a plagiarism.” Sheep or herd mentality has many causes. First and foremost, relevant, unbiased, proportional and factual information is in short supply and difficult to find. Secondly, we are victims to several psychological mechanisms that keep us from discovering rationality and reason when we see it. It goes without saying that the systematic commercialisation of the media and scientific research, corrupting of politicians, and the everywhere presence of propaganda and advertising does make our wool grow thicker.
 
Brainwashing can be defines as systematic effort aimed at instilling certain attitudes and beliefs in a person against his will. It is made possible by several psychological mechanisms that make our mind blind to the truth. While some of these mechanisms are part of our psychological defence system, they also pose a great threat to society, especially now that the world is shrinking because of globalisation. These mechanisms fuel ignorance, arrogance and sheer stupidity. As a result we continue on a path of self-destruction where war, terrorism, and environmental destruction is allowed to spread like cancer across the surface of our precious planet.

What we believe isn’t half as interesting as why we believe it. So before you go on filling your brain with more information be aware that it has been processed by someone somehow somewhere. Before you forget what you have just read take a quick look at the highlights of “Don’t Believe Everything You Think“, a book by Thomas E. Kida:
 
· We prefer stories to statistics.
· We seek to confirm, not to question, our ideas.
· We rarely appreciate the role of chance and coincidence in shaping events.
· We sometimes misperceive the world around us.
· We tend to oversimplify our thinking.
· Our memories are often inaccurate.
 
If you’d like to do some further online reading on cognitive and memory bias this might be a good starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
 
(Essay inspired by an exchange of words with Mike Johnston and a weblog entry by Jörg Colberg)