2023-07-06 -- Information, or Misinformation

Handheld devices have revolutionized how information circulates around the world. Every morning, as soon as I wake up, I grab my phone to read the news. Somehow, if I don't know where a gunman has opened fire and killed innocent people, what country has dropped bombs, or how high the global temperature has risen, my day won't start properly.

I've heard people say the only truth is in the sports section of the news. I've lost faith in that too. How is it that all hockey games are 6-7? Can't any team quickly score four points and win the game without stretching it out to 13 games? Tickets needs to be sold, garbage beer, and unhealthy snack like sausages and fries.

Long gone are the days when you had to sit in front of the only TV at home and tune to your favorite news channel. Or even before that, when you had to wait for the news hour. I doubt anyone spends much time at the breakfast table reading the news anymore. Many people probably take their phones to the bathroom, spending more time there and risking various health issues.

Radio was the primary source of information before TV. But what about before that, when electricity wasn't widespread? (I admit I've personally seen and used a radio powered by a thermocouple, a tiny heat source from burning cooking oil!) (I haven't forgotten that people used to go to theaters to watch movies and get their daily dose of war news.)

My grandfather told me that people used to go door-to-door in each district of every town, announcing the news with loudspeakers. This was especially common during wartime, which seemed to be a constant. It's sad to think about those valuable jobs that have been lost to radio. (Sorry for the sarcasm, but it reminds me of the time we hunted mammoths to survive. Those extremely high-paying jobs are gone too, along with the cooperative society that supported everyone.) (I can't help but wonder how much it would have cost to care for the elderly, sick, and disabled, or to educate people about hunting mammoths, gathering berries, or preparing food and clothing. Did they let sick people suffer, or was there some sort of socialist system to care for everyone?)

Towards the end of World War II, my dad's uncle, Rahim Zehtabfard (a four-time congressman before the Iranian Revolution), started publishing a weekly newspaper to educate people in Iranian Azerbaijan about the Russian/Soviet invasion. However, people weren't ready to read yet. It cost my family dearly.

A few years ago, during a visit to Germany, my dear longtime friend Bahman Hamedebarghi (1) took us to a must-see museum for any visitor: the Technik Museum Sinsheim (2).

The museum is conveniently located between Stuttgart and Heidelberg. You can find a vast collection of cars, airplanes, trains, tanks, construction equipment, domestic appliances, and virtually any other machine that human ingenuity has created. 

There was one piece of engineering that I had no knowledge of: the music/orchestra machine! Let's be clear, it was a piece of engineering that predated card punches. I used card punches in college to write my Fortran IV programs and feed them to an IBM 360 for regression.

I was wondering what the reason was for the existence of these machines. Was it to make people happy during the war? What a noble idea.

Today, social media platforms show us boogie-woogie performances in London train stations, dogs chasing bunnies, cute kittens in tiny boxes, classic cars, or even my all-time favorites, Brian Cox (3) or Jim Al-Khalili (4), discussing quantum mechanics. But between these delightful distractions, they also feed us misinformation. (See "The Great Hack" (5) on Cambridge Analytica (6), for example.)

So, the fascists needed a platform to brainwash people. They needed to convince ordinary people to line up and commit atrocities.

The love of music and happiness would have drawn people to the beautifully played orchestras in town centers. However, forming a band would have been difficult, if not impossible, as anyone capable of playing an instrument might have been conscripted to fight.

The machine, using punch cards or punch rolls, could play real instruments, always in perfect sync and accuracy. It would have attracted people of all ages, young and old. Then, a propagandist could stand nearby, telling people what they really needed to hear.

Please see behind the swing machines.

Look behind the Bengal Tigre:

Yes, it was easy to take music to occupied locations. People love music, and they could be told anything, as long as it was accompanied by a pleasant melody. Who would question the truth? If someone says something, it must be true, right?

And that brings me to the closing:

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Winston Churchill (7)

(c) I personally took these photos and own the rights to them. Please feel free to use them as you wish.

(1) https://www.linkedin.com/in/bahmanhamedebarghi

(2) https://sinsheim.technik-museum.de/

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_%28physicist%29

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Al-Khalili

(5) https://g.co/kgs/tNeCGv

(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica

(7) https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/winston_churchill_103564