ENTRE LA SERVILITÉ ET LE COMPLOTISME L’ESPRIT CRITIQUE EST-IL PERDU ?
BETWEEN SERVILITY AND CONSPIRACY THEORY: HAS CRITICAL THINKING BEEN LOST?

Summary/Abstract: We are dealing with emotional manipulation through new communication technologies and a ‘triumph’ of digital data; this means that fake news and deepfakes are becoming accepted as truth. In this article, we will explore several theoretical notions such as: misinformation, disinformation, fake news, emotional manipulation, the recipient as a commodity, technological servitude, critical thinking, conspiracy theories, information literacy, as well as other concepts related to humanity’s near-total submission to the major social media corporations. Manipulation and informational and communicational influence are so pervasive that human beings are drowning in waves of servility, in the ‘apotheosis’ of digital data that multiplies with the proliferation of websites and communication platforms, constantly fed by an infinite stream of information and signs. The “remedy” for combating the information war: deliberate and intentional lies, malice and the act of hurting others, will not be the restriction of expression freed from all ethical considerations, but the effective promotion of the principle of Information Literacy, in order to free society from the commodification of human beings, rehumanize society and protect critical thinking, judgement, doubt, skepticism and mistrust. Spontaneously or naturally, but also intentionally. We have become data producers as a result of the extensive adoption of digital technology in our daily lives. Nevertheless, communication remains a fundamental anthropological experience.

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