Hey what’s up Thinkers! Kathy Gibbens here…
Let’s start off by reviewing a fallacy we covered earlier this season: the Guilt Trip Fallacy, which is also known as an Appeal to Guilt, so it’s a type of Appeal to Emotion. Ok, this is an easy one, but still, hit pause real quick and see if you can remember what the Guilt Trip Fallacy is. The Guilt Trip happens when someone tries to make another person feel guilty in order to get them to do, think or believe something.
Question to ask yourself: “Are they trying to guilt me into this? If so, why?” *repeat*
If you want to review or hear more about this fallacy, go back & check out Episode 124.
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Alright, We are continuing our mini-series on propaganda tactics, and this episode I’m actually giving you two tactics, FUD & FOMO! The reason I’m doing that is that these are simple tactics to understand, and they’re opposites. Plus, they’re both acronyms that start with the letter F, so that’s fun and I feel like they belong together, lol.
So, let’s start with FUD. FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. FUD happens when someone makes dire warnings or raises doubt about an issue, while providing little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims. The person or organization using the tactic of FUD is trying to influence the opinions & actions of others by making them unsure.
Here’s an example of what FUD can sound like: You're excited about going to a theme park with your friends. You've never been to this park but you’ve heard it's a lot of fun. But then, your cousin tells you, "I heard that theme park is not safe at all. People get hurt there all the time, and the rides are dangerous." Well, hearing this definitely makes you think twice…who would want to go to an unsafe amusement park? But, what you don’t know is that your cousin is kind of sad & jealous that he didn’t get invited to go along with you, and really just wants you to stay home & play video games with him. In this case, your cousin is using the FUD tactic. He’s trying to make you feel scared, unsure if you should go, and doubtful about the park's safety. In an instance like this, it's important to ask questions and get accurate information before making decisions when you encounter FUD.
Now, on the other hand, FOMO stands for the Fear Of Missing Out. It’s when someone makes you afraid of not doing something, of not being included or not taking advantage of an opportunity…and they don’t provide any real proof that you’re actually missing out on something GOOD, beneficial or that would be important to you. The classic FOMO phrase is, “Everyone’s doing it!”
Here’s what FOMO sounds like: It's a Friday evening, and you're at home watching a fun movie with your family that all of you have been looking forward to seeing. But then, your phone starts buzzing with text messages and notifications from your friends. They’re at the coolest, most talked-about sleepover party of the year. They're sending pictures of themselves having a blast, eating donuts, playing fun games, and laughing together. They're all saying things like, "This is the best party ever!" and "You're missing out on so much fun! You should ditch your family and come hang out with us!" As you see these messages and pictures, you start feeling left out. You realize you're not part of the exciting night your friends are having. The fear of missing out on all the fun makes you wish you were there with them, and you might even consider asking your parents if you can go, even though it would mean disappointing them. In this scenario, the FOMO is the feeling of being left out and missing out on all the fun your friends are having.
The problem behind both FUD and FOMO is probably pretty obvious: they’re playing on our emotions, which make them - you guessed it - Appeals to Emotion! Namely, they’re two different appeals to fear. One is meant to create fear around doing something and the other is meant to create fear around not doing something! Lol - do you see how ridiculous all this is? You can’t win, and that’s exactly what people who are using these tactics want. They want you paralyzed with fear. Fear is a powerful emotion. While it can protect us and even save our lives, it can also make us do silly, irrational things that are not in our own best interests. Which is exactly what people who are playing on your fears hope you’ll do.
One area where people commit both FUD and FOMO is around finances and investing. Let’s take the area of cryptocurrency. While cryptocurrency isn’t exactly new, it’s not mainstream and it’s new to a lot of people. And there are all kinds of messages out there around it. One one hand, there are people saying things like, “Well, it’s new and unproven and can be really volatile. It’s hard to buy things with crypto and doesn’t have a proven track record...you could lose all your money!” And on the other hand are people saying things like, “Bro, crypto is going to the moon. You don’t want to miss the next wave. I’ve already made $50,000 and fully expect to double that again by the end of the year!” Can you see the FUD and the FOMO in those two statements? What you’d need to do in this instance is to get educated! Learn about crypto for yourself so you can make a good decision for you that isn’t based on fear.
Question to ask yourself: “Are they trying to make me afraid of something? Why?” *repeat*
Remember: When you learn HOW to think, you will no longer fall prey to those who are trying to tell you what THEY want you to think and it all starts with asking one simple question: “Is that really true?”
