We often talk about the power of a narrative. People often do not remember facts but they remember a story (narrative) and the attitude it evokes. This goes for war as well as politics as we have posted before: The rhetoric utilized by government has done more to defeat liberty than all the armies of the world. The war all around us is being fought over the very meanings of words. Meaning does not exist a priori. It is order imposed by individuals with arsenals of communication devices. Every inscription, every utterance, every gesture seeks to dominate the plain of meaning. Real violence is only an extension of this process. Culture, by definition a shared territory of meaning, inspires conflicts far more destructive than any other dispute over territory on the Earth’s surface. It is the message, the communication event that must be targeted.
Gazan's stage injuries for reporters (video)
Gazan's stage injuries for reporters (video)
Gazan's stage injuries for reporters (video)
We often talk about the power of a narrative. People often do not remember facts but they remember a story (narrative) and the attitude it evokes. This goes for war as well as politics as we have posted before: The rhetoric utilized by government has done more to defeat liberty than all the armies of the world. The war all around us is being fought over the very meanings of words. Meaning does not exist a priori. It is order imposed by individuals with arsenals of communication devices. Every inscription, every utterance, every gesture seeks to dominate the plain of meaning. Real violence is only an extension of this process. Culture, by definition a shared territory of meaning, inspires conflicts far more destructive than any other dispute over territory on the Earth’s surface. It is the message, the communication event that must be targeted.