so i was reading around on the rest of the class blogs, and found a great post by Emily from enLIGHTened about propaganda. this brings up a good subject that i think was semi-addressed in the library presentation today - the authority behind the document matters A TON. this isn't a huge new concept nor was it directly mentioned by the presenter lady, but just the fact that the Sumerians covered original tablets in a "security tablet" that could be broken and matched to the original text, and Romans kept copied information four times (two on the owner's tablets and two on the temple's tablets)signifies that the knowledge that the information recorded was authentic was important. i asked Dr. Petersen about the authentication methods used on the more papery writing media, and she said that signatures, wax seals, and the like were used for this purpose (this picture in this lump of wax can only be made by the king's ring, and if anyone other than the king is found in possession of this ring, he will be executed, therefore this document was really really authorized by the real king). she also mentioned how wherever there is an authentication system, there is forgery.
what i really found interesting is that propaganda is essentially that authority being abused to twist popular opinion. if BYU wanted to warp the minds of its students, it would publish heinous fliers about how all students must be married within one year of beginning at BYU, or you're not a true cougar. imagine the difference if this document were made in two forms - one without and illustration, just plain text, ending with a typed ..... -Cecil O. Samuelson. - the other form would have the exact same text, but would be on BYU letterhead, with pres. Samuelson's personal signature and a BYU seal stamped into the paper. one would be laughed at, while the other would do nothing less than create pretty intense ripples. think about it.....
...and where there is forgery, there is political intrigue.
ReplyDeleteAs writing progressed into the Renaissance, several nations developed systems of espionage centered in Black Chambers. These were top-secret sections of major post offices that contained the best of the best forgers, codebreakers, and translators. One thing the Austrian Black Chamber became known for was duplicating both the wax and seal of various governments, and so being able to open, decipher, read, and reseal documents with complete impunity.
Among national leaderships the authority of cracked communications has often led it to be trusted over virtually every other source...