Every election season, I get really fed up with all the political ads on tv and radio. These ads are so misinterpreted by the public because we don’t know who to believe. After all, there are always three sides to every story: Candidate A’s side, Candidate B’s side, and then the truth. I wish people could see through the false or exaggerated advertisements and through all the bias that exists in the media. Still, people are going to believe what they are conditioned to believe—and it is really difficult to teach an old dog new tricks (or change his/her political views in this case).
At least chapter four in unSpun does a good job of showing us why we are so easily influenced by the media: we are wired to be that way! I had no idea that brain scans could show evidence of people's political bias after they are shown ads. I liked that this chapter showed the ways people get "trapped" or spun one way or the other. I especially find the "I know I'm Right" trap pertinent to elections. It definitely seems like the more people are wrong, they actually think they are right. Don't you hate it when you talk to someone, and you know they are completely wrong and can prove it, yet they insist that they are right? It almost seems that the less people are informed about an election issue, the more they attempt to take a side and stand by it in order to appear educated.