At Least 70 Countries Have Had Disinformation Campaigns, Study Finds
I recommend Hannah Arendt&#x27;s essay Lying in Politics.  Summary:<p>1. Lying has always been considered a valid political tool.  It isn&#x27;t really clear how a government can operate without lying.<p>2. Lying is deeply related to the human ability to act.  Acting involves imagining the world as it does not exist and trying to bring it into existence.  Imagining the world as it does not exist is very close to lying (if only to yourself).<p>3. Lies are often more plausible than reality because the liar knows what his audience wants to hear.<p>4. History is not composed of facts; it is about collective memory and consensus.  Facts exist but history always contains a buried political philosophy that constrains the facts.<p>5. A significant amount of lying involves fitting reality into overly simplified models.<p>6. Almost all liars start with self-deception.  They often don&#x27;t know they&#x27;re lying.<p>7. Ironically, the people with the most access to information are often in the worst place to determine the truth.  Overclassification leads to a situation where cleared officials have far too much information to wade through.  The president selects officials who filter information though their own overly simplified models before it reaches him.<p>8. Lying in order to hide the truth implies a truth, which means that the truth can often be deduced from the lie.<p>9. We should be extremely wary of highly educated technocrats who attempt to impose a &quot;scientific&quot; viewpoint on political events, always fail, and yet remain utterly convinced by their oversimplified models.