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Comment by polytely | Hacker News Reader

Ok so destin works as a scientist for the us gov. He did a video a while ago where he interviewed a general about the cyber domain of warfare. In this interview they discussed that the interview itself was part of that cyber domain, and the access they provide to destin is a part of the US presence in the cyber domain. [0]

The pentagon clearly sees smarter everyday as a channel to spread information to a certain audience, to show off US capability and serve as a recruitment material.

I respect Destin a lot and I think the video is very cool, but I feel that I should add a sort of disclaimer because I'm actively aiding the US gov by spreading this video? they obviously don't care about you knowing it's propaganda, but it cant hurt to emphasize it. Tbh my thinking about this isn't that crystallized yet but I thought it might spark an interesting side discussion.

0: https://youtu.be/qOTYgcdNrXE see 21:00+ for cyberdomain talk

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I don't remember the video, but Destin talked about how this stuff is clearly propaganda related but he'd have no chance to do the videos otherwise. I think it was the rocket factory one.

I like Destin a lot, but he's no journalist holding feet to fire and I think he's clear enough about that. He's more 'pop-sci' YouTube like Veritasium or Tom Scott.

That said, yeah, the angle is pro US and very empathizing with people/warfighters. He's also very pro Alabama. State pride, I guess.

I'm glad I don't have to walk the line that he is and I am grateful for the look he gives. But as always, you'll need more info than just Destin to make informed decisions.

Marketing is propaganda is marketing.

Which term you use reveals your political leanings about a topic.

marketing is not propaganda.

“Propaganda" comes from the former name of the Roman Catholic central body tasked with marketing the faith, currently known as the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, but from 1622-1967 it was the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, or, in Latin Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide.

Marketing is exactly propaganda, the deliberate propagation of particular beliefs to motivate desired action.

And government promotion of it's military is pretty much at the core of the common understanding of propaganda, not some obscure connection.

State marketing is the literal definition of propaganda...

Actually church marketing, originally.

(The pejorative state sense came out of German First World War influence campaigns.)

https://www.etymonline.com/word/propaganda

The state/marketing usage is predominant today though:

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/propaganda

Uncle Sam Wants You! To explain how that is remotely true.

The line is very blurry. Political marketing could easily be called propaganda.

First google definition is "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view."

It's very easy to see how in a period of naval troubles (various collisions in the pacific, Bon Homme Richard, China in the South Sea), this could be considered advancing the US political position of the navy.

I really like Destin and think this isn't propaganda, but it is a recruiting tool for the Navy. If you're not constantly looking out for possible sources of bias in your information, there are a lot of people/organizations out there that will gladly lead you to conclusions that aren't 100% accurate.

Marketing for the military capacity of a state is pretty much the definition of propaganda :)

how then would propaganda be defined? It is the attempt to sway a targets opinion in your favor. Propaganda is "the formation of peoples attitudes"[1] as is marketing.

[1] Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda:_The_Formation_of_M...

It literally is though

Edward Bernays, father of modern advertising and public relations, Propaganda (1928):

https://archive.org/details/bernays-edward-l.-propaganda-192...

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