Propaganda, Sincere Speech, and the Intuition of the Samurai
Propaganda, Sincere Speech, and the Intuition of the Samurai
Mattias Desmet, well-known for his book The Psychology of Totalitarianism, has just written a piece on the importance of sincere speech as a prerequisite for intuition and connectedness. A great read.
How to know what to trust and believe in a time characterised by an ever-growing onslaught of information and propaganda? Mattias Desmet’s new essay describes how sincere speech is crucial not only for the upkeep of an honest and open society, but also for developing our intuitive capacity as human beings.
Deriving from the example of ancient Japanese samurais who often practiced both sword and poetry, it makes a compelling case for how speech is not only about what is said, but also about our capability to perceive things in the first place – and how only sincere and free speech can help us perceive that which lies beyond ‘the veil of appearances’. Desmet therefore advises us to attune back to a rather out-of-fashion notion that is our soul, which he describes as something holding our actual experiences and sensations of life.
“Propaganda, Sincere Speech, and the Intuition of the Samurai” is thus an excellent and necessary read in the times when more and more people seem to identify with some ideology, campaign or social norm. Let us try and refind the words again which are truly our own – that resonance, and that truth, Desmet says, is the only remedy for a society infected with lies and one accessible to us all in daily life. The very moment the group connected by sincere speech will be stronger than propagandised masses, he assures us, the era of totalitarianism will be over.
[front image by Selina de Maeyer]