Philosophy Now Forum

"I would define spin as the shaping of events to make you look better than anybody else. I think it is . . . an art form now and it gets in the way of the truth." (Benjamin Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post)

What is spin and how does it work?

Is it effective?

It seems to be a way of controlling thinking or persuading.

I think that many people are not aware of spin, spinning techniques and how to deal with it.

I can start a thread with a stated purpose but do I really have that purpose or am I setting up the participants?

Only time will tell.

But what do other people think about when i say "spin"?

jayjacobus wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 7:08 pm "I would define spin as the shaping of events to make you look better than anybody else. I think it is . . . an art form now and it gets in the way of the truth." (Benjamin Bradlee, executive editor of The Washington Post)

What is spin and how does it work?

Is it effective?

It seems to be a way of controlling thinking or persuading.

I think that many people are not aware of spin, spinning techniques and how to deal with it.

I can start a thread with a stated purpose but do I really have that purpose or am I setting up the participants?

Only time will tell.

But what do other people think about when i say "spin"?

The word "spin" in context of politics/public-relations, is the rhetoric used to TURN AROUND a negative into a positive. [or for your enemies, the positive into a negative] In normal colloquial use, we say to "turn the tables", instead. That is personal politics.

So I think it is a word more likely to be used accusative of some opponent. You would only 'spin' in this way if you are just acting as a devil's advocate OR the similar way one would require demonstrating their counter-position to demonstrate lack of prejudice.

EDIT: I find it odd though that one might have a profession in this line of work OPENLY, such as a 'spin-doctor' of P.R. practices that treat the public as in trial when it only indicates manipulation. This is normal for business mentality but even if you are sufficiently wise, it would seem only an unnecessary imposition that is SET to the practice forcing it to BE 'normal' when it isn't to outsiders.

It's just lying. Clever, subtle, spiced with fact or 'truth', it may be, 'spin' is just lying.

Or: 'marketing', if you prefer, or 'public relations'.

'lies, damnable lies (and statistics)'

Scott Mayers wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 7:24 pm
So I think it is a word more likely to be used accusative of some opponent. You would only 'spin' in this way if you are just acting as a devil's advocate OR the similar way one would require demonstrating their counter-position to demonstrate lack of prejudice.

EDIT: I find it odd though that one might have a profession in this line of work OPENLY, such as a 'spin-doctor' of P.R. practices that treat the public as in trial when it only indicates manipulation. This is normal for business mentality but even if you are sufficiently wise, it would seem only an unnecessary imposition that is SET to the practice forcing it to BE 'normal' when it isn't to outsiders.

Turn the tables means "reverse one's position relative to someone else, especially by turning a position of disadvantage into one of advantage."

Sometimes that is fair. Sometimes it is not.

Is spin ever fair?

henry quirk wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 7:31 pm It's just lying. Clever, subtle, spiced with fact or 'truth', it may be, 'spin' is just lying.

Or: 'marketing', if you prefer, or 'public relations'.

'lies, damnable lies (and statistics)'

Man is the infinite complexifier.

Henry is the next-to-nihilist simplifier.

dreidle, dreidle, dreidle...

-Imp

Sometimes the spin master dangles a bait.

But I have my own bait. Will the spin master take it?

jayjacobus wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 7:08 pm
But what do other people think about when i say "spin"?

propaganda

Spin is misdirection, e.g., P.C. focus on the possibility of Islamophobia, rather than focusing on the reality of “Christophobia.”

*

Archbishop Says Christians Slaughtered ‘Like Chickens’ in Nigeria

A Nigerian archbishop has decried the slaughter of Christians in his country and the media silence surrounding it, declaring that “Christians are being killed like chickens.”

https://www.breitbart.com/africa/2019/0 ... n-nigeria/#

But bait is designed to see how people think and behave, not to discuss the "bait". It's psychological rather than definitional. So when you disagree with a spin master, he learns something about you.

If he can't find or use your hot buttons, he will accuse you of hiding.

Sometimes spin is used to promote and sometimes it is used to thwart.

When you make a point, the spin master may change the subject or criticize you. He wants you to discuss something else, anything else.

When you get too hung up on that baiting business you are actually striving to be a master baiter.

Walker wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 2:46 pm When you get too hung up on that baiting business you are actually striving to be a master baiter.

How can you possibly know what I am striving for?

Because, you are of the earf, and conditions are limited for the liberation of potentiality, thus, all must be detected within less than all, so you must imagine what is based on known causation and that is your limitation ... whether or not you are conscious of the dynamic.