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Most people participating in posts on social media may be unaware that their responses including reposting, shares, tags and most especially emotional responses to posts are manipulated by nefarious algorithms. The “outrage algorithm” is a self-reinforcing “feedback-loop” originating from an A.I. generated “recommended content” that is solely intended to amplify angry, divisive, and emotionally charged responses to unverified content popping up on everyone’s Home screen feed. What is driving the outrage algorithm is user engagement. By participating and resharing the content you are extending yours and other friend’s screen time which serves to maximize ad revenue via clicks while at the same time spreading outrage throughout the platform. Unsuspecting participants therefore serve to perpetuate disinformation by reposting and adding their comments. “This is outrageous!” they proclaim. Of course it is. That’s the point. Gotcha!

This is not to say that there aren’t, in fact, some reliable sources worthy of sharing. However, most posts circulating on the platform are merely intended to incite outrage so be vigilant and careful when reacting. Take a deep breath and then remove the post from your feed rather than repost or share it. I’m fascinated by how quickly people who experience this “outrage algorithm” respond before they even think about why they are feeling so upset. Maybe do a little background research of your own before you react. Ask yourself is this really true or possibly partially true but mostly misleading disinformation? Why do so many “smart” people get sucked into this charade? Responses are often brutal attacks on personal character, broad sweeping over generalized projection. Participant’s unthoughtful responses unintentionally usher in blame and scapegoating.

Another algorithm circulating social media is the “virtue signaling gaslight” sham. These cite notable authors by taking their comments out of context. Again, In this scenario, the intent of the algorithm is to engage the participant to virtue signal their “uncompromising” values while projecting shame onto others who may not explicitly “Like,” copy and share the hypothetical example of moral ideas such as caring for disadvantaged children with disabilities, deprived and underprivileged. Participants are unaware that they are being used to perpetuate a feedback-loop of projected shame onto friends and family members by asking them to share the post. People who engage in the scheme feel virtuous yet are unaware of the shame that is being perpetuated. This is similar to the outrage algorithm in that the purpose of this devious tactic is to project both virtue and shame. This too is intended to divide and separate whilst increasing ad revenue via boosting screen time and clicks. Accordingly, participating routinely in this kind of content can serve to reframe one’s thinking and desensitize natural neural pathways divinely designed to discern common sense truth from irrational unreality. Studies show that focusing too much time and effort on this kind of screentime can negatively impact emotional self-regulation linked to changes in brain structure and lower the level of executive function replacing critical thinking skills with copy and paste parroting.

Participants in these viral and pernicious posts can only embarrass themselves appearing sophomoric and gullible. I recall my sophomore year in high school. The year was 1968. The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago August 26-29 in the backdrop of widespread protests against US foreign and domestic policy including the Vietnam War. Just a few weeks prior to the convention, Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in. Was this the result of “influencers,” political pundits, catastrophizing news feeds and pushing outrageous narratives? Like today, there was division in the Democratic party and intense pressure to conform to more progressive identity politics and extreme (us vs. them) individualism. I recall our high school civics teacher encouraging some students to go to downtown Chicago and join the protest (for extra credit, of course). From the perspective of these more mature and reflective senior years of my life, I see this now as an analogue version of the outrage and virtue signaling algorithms. So, this is really nothing new. The pendulum swings, does it not? I’m curious, who are the people perpetuating the outrage apparatus? What’s the endgame? The outrage algorithm has opened a Pandora’s box where we find ourselves fighting our own nagging negative self-doubts and living in the land of irrational unreality.

Final thoughts, insights and opinion:

Who are these people perpetuating the outrage apparatus and other false narratives? Allow me to be blunt. I believe that there are people who wish to inflict “mind viruses”—China-backed fake accounts using AI tools to spread misinformation on social media platform, far-leftwing woke-ism and the very strange alliance with radical Islamism. Simply put the ultra-liberal, progressive social constructivists and bizarrely radical have one thing in common, the scapegoating of Christian conservatives—the desire to liberate people from the shackles of reality. These people include most university professors (over 95%), the absolutely corrupt teachers unions (not teachers) and administrative policy makers in state and federal government and NGO’s where ideological Stalinism is shamelessly professed. America and the West has become too focused on rights instead of personal responsibility. We have come to embrace a false idea of liberty, conceiving of it as doing as one pleases rather than as the freedom to fulfill one’s human potential, care for one’s conscious duties to family and God.

I ponder why some people are so quick to compromise values and traditions, that thing to be “handed down” from generation to generation, that allows us to understand our contemporary selves in relation to others, God and country, the natural endowed principles that enable us to overcome the constraint of self-knowledge that modernity, especially, so called, post modernity imposes. Recently, we have seen the unmasking of socialist/communism via various emissaries and their groupies. Indeed history tends to repeat itself. “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child” (Etched on the west entrance of Norlin Library CU Boulder; attributed to Dr. George Norlin, former president of the University. It is a modern variation of a classic sentiment by Cicero).

If you find yourself sucked into this kind of messaging, don’t despair. You’re not alone. Many people have been drawn down this dark web corridor where lying and distorting of the truth has become commonplace. Consider the foundational virtues that unite us as Americans? What are our common core values? Stand fast on the spirit of truth and the values that unite us. Perhaps we should focus more on “we?” Afterall, this push to divide and separate is directed towards “us.”

Most of us are aware of the saying “repeat a lie often enough and people will eventually come to believe it”. The illusory truth effect occurs when repeating a statement increases belief that it is true even when the statement is proven to be actually false (Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino, 1977). Social scientists have successfully repeated this study, so it stands up to repeated trials and construct validity. Astonishingly, even when people know a statement to be false, they can continue to perpetuate it. This is especially true when the truth runs counter to what one wants to believe (or feels) or if one may benefit in some way from perpetuated speech[i].

Fraud and perpetuated speech

Whenever someone is defrauded, i.e., cheated out of money, property, legal rights, or anything valuable through trickery and deceit, false statements and slander always follow. The fraudster never says, “Yea, I screwed him really good!” Instead, they create a narrative about how the person or people they defrauded are the real offenders and provocateurs. The fraudsters are not only thieves but also liars. Lying is necessary to protect their character and reputation. But once uncovered, their reaction is outrage. “All fraud is perpetuated by speech.” “When you use speech to commit fraud, it is not protected by the First Amendment,” (Special Counsel Jack Smith, 2026). When we observe gaslighting like we have recently, we can be confident that the fraudsters are blaming others for their own narcissistic nihilism in order to create nagging doubt. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1, NIV). Surely the victim is guilty.

Let’s be honest, government bureaucracy makes it easy to defraud the tax payer (you and me) through programs like Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) during COVID, USAID, SNAP, Feeding Our Future (FOF) in Minneapolis, similar FOF programs in Maine and California, not to mention healthcare fraud including over $14 billion in false claims. The list goes on and on. Why? Fraud appears to be most prevalent when government leaders implement social welfare programs designed to “take care of the people.” Why do the fraudsters always manage to get away with the scam? Perhaps it’s because they are often enabled by political coconspirators. Again, USAID is one such example. People lose faith in their elected government officials and become cynical.

The illusory truth effect is real and it can stifle personal growth, well-being and sense of community and shared values (van Prooijen J.W., Šrol J, Maglić M., 2025). It ushers in anxiety and paralysis crushing spirits and ultimately dividing and separating people into classes (haves and have nots). Accordingly, division is the primary objective. The Illusory truth effect takes a page out of Saul Alinski’s playbook, “Rules for Radicals.” This infamous treatise details how to create a social state by dividing the people into wealthy and poor, informed and uninformed (stupid) in order to cause discontent and class warfare.

What to do? How should we choose to live our lives? What values do we stand for? What is one’s “redline,” and when crossed, what action should we take? How do we discern truth from misinformation? Have you considered what might have caused some people to be swept up into the web of misinformation? If we don’t agree with another’s perspective, do we cancel, censor, demean, shame, tear down and cry out loudly? Have we lost our sense of dignity and respect for one another? I hope not! “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19, NIV).

While I was teaching graduate studies at the university, students could not advance to “candidate” until they successfully submitted and defended their research proposal. I served as the research chair for over 500 students during my tenure and taught Research Methods, an advanced statistics course with the emphasis on how to conduct evidence based research. In the first week of class I instructed students to not believe everything they read, see or hear, including what was being taught by their professors. I’m an advocate for critical thinking. Schools are for educating not indoctrinating! Learn how to think and write original and authentic compositions (posts). As much as is possible, interview the original author of a research publication. Most researchers love to share their knowledge with graduate students and other researchers. Meet with people that have opposing viewpoints, perspectives and worldviews. Listen carefully and you will learn a lot.

That said, I’m going to suggest that when one “feels” hard pressed, threatened, unsafe, pushed over the edge, triggered and/or outraged, that this “feeling” is not a coincidence, it is caused by premeditated and calculated hyperbole. Personal feelings are a reaction to the illusory truth effect. Remember, the Internet amplifies misinformation (see my prior blog post “feedback loop”). When the noise is amplified to the point of distorted saturation, wise people will hit the pause button. It is time we reboot and engage with each other outside the Internet platforms like we used to do before TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Can you recall what it was like to experience facial expressions and body language? Endeavor to connect at a deeper and more meaningful, thoughtful and disciplined level. Share what you think with others and explain how and why you arrived at your perspective instead of “cut and paste” perpetuated speech.

We live in times of great change and find ourselves overwhelmed with deception via the Internet and social media. AI is designed to locate existing information on specific topics but some of that metadata is misinformation, not to mention unscrupulous content and programming bias. The challenge will be how to discern truth and overcome the toxic consequences of the illusory truth effect.

References

Alinsky, Saul David, 1909-1972. Rules for radicals : a practical primer for realistic radicals / Saul D. Alinsky. — Vintage Books ed.,

Bible NIV (1978). Zandervan

Hasher, Lynn; Goldstein, David; Toppino, Thomas (1977). “Frequency and the conference of referential validity”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 16 (1): 107–112. doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(77)80012-1

Rincón, E., (2021). There’s No Denying the Socialist Roots of Fascist. FEE. https://fee.org/articles/theres-no-denying-the-socialist-roots-of-fascism/

van Prooijen JW, Šrol J, Maglić M., (2015). How belief in conspiracy theories could harm sustainability. Nat Hum Behav. 2025 Sep;9(9):1770-1779. PMID: 40550915Review.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith (January 22, 2026). Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.

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[i] “Perpetuated speech” refers to the continuation, preservation, or repetition of specific words, phrases, myths, or narratives over time, often keeping harmful stereotypes, misinformation, or undesirable situations alive. This term highlights how, through repeated usage (often by media, culture, or individuals), spoken language causes negative beliefs or misconceptions to last indefinitely.

In the recording of music a feedback loop is a sound production technique used to enhance the listener’s experience with a delay and/or echo effect on a particular signal such as a guitar or voice track. From my experience in the “old school” analogue days this was achieved by sending a signal from the playback head of a recorder back to the record head causing a record/playback/record feedback loop. The signal can be manipulated to bring more delay and echo to the point of overload creating an unpleasant distortion of the effect. These days there is digital outboard gear that can duplicate the effect. But either way, the more the signal is amplified, the more distortion and/or noise is produced.

Today’s social media platforms (Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and news feeds and even some educators will use this same principle of feedback loop to distort content in order to influence public opinion and social change. We are all subject to a seemingly endless stream of “information,” most of it half-truths or worse, lies. In this bizarre social experiment, social influencers and content creators are seeking to evoke fear to polarize, separate and enrage people affecting the way we relate to one another. Social researchers note that anger is really the emotional response to fear (NIH). Not so surprisingly, we have all observed elevated levels of anxiety, division, outrage and anger in this current climate.

It is within the intersectional ethos of conflicting values we experience our true selves. Some people will shut down and retreat into their familiar filter bubbles or, echo chambers while others will be more reflective and engaged, seeking to understand these diverging worldviews (attitudes and values) as learners and not as knowers. By stepping into this “epistemic gap” we can work through the dissonance, begin to depolarize and rediscover common-core values. Still many will merely demean, blame and shame the “other’s” perspectives and transfer their fears and anger onto their family members, friends and associates that do not agree with their point of view. Facts they shout… The fact is… I would argue that we can no longer trust statistics. It is sad but more true that many researchers routinely publish biased misinformation. Yes, there is a overwhelming volume of research bias in the Academy where researchers tend to find what they are looking for. Not so surprising that these same researchers will tend to censor and silence alternative evidence-based positions or, refer to certain set of facts as conspiracy theories. However, when the truth is eventually exposed, “they” will unapologetically acquiesce and amend the data. But the damage has already been done. The misinformation has been copied and reposted millions of times.

I have to question; Why does there appear to be so much existential despair? Why do some feel as though our world is spinning out of control? I believe we have been lied to for so long, we struggle to define truth. What is truth? How do we know what we know?

There is a saying attributed to Mark Twain, “it ain’t what you don’t know that makes you ignorant, it’s what you think you know for sure that just ain’t so.” We have been fed a feedback loop diet of contentious lies for decades. The question is, how do we discern reality from irrational unreality? How do we navigate these dark times of uncertainty “where absolute truth and values have gone out the window” (Lewis, C. S., The Abolition of Man; Wright, R., The Moral Animal)? Simply put, I believe social influencers and some nefarious unidentified bad actors as well as, “useful idiots” are intentionally and unintentionally generating false information in some instances unwittingly using AI to amplify and distort reality. The result is a feedback loop echo chamber that divides and separates family, friends and neighbors.

I’m going to suggest instead of copying and pasting spent and debunked ideas, write an original thoughtful post. Perhaps share how you feel, what you think, and how you are coping with the flood of misinformation. How do you discern truth from fiction? Perhaps even get off the platforms and back into the coffee shops where we can look each other in the eyes. Be kind and reach out to friends with differing viewpoints. I continue to meet with friends with diverse perspectives and have found listening helps build trust and restores a space for common-core values which inspires a more respectful and positive relationship to grow and flourish. I find that tolerating differences and offering support for sharing personal struggles has had a positive effect on my friends and my own emotional and spiritual health. Remember when tolerance was a virtue? Focus on virtue and common-core values. Get off the feedback loop merry-go-round and seek the truth with grace.

I am unremarkable. I am not talented and gifted (T & G) and I might even fall somewhere along the learning disability spectrum (ADD). I have a slightly above and rather average intellect but high learning aptitude so, I have learned to work harder than other learners that are obviously smarter than I am–the quick learners. I have learned how to cope with my limitations and become a better student. It might take a little more effort but I know how to apply complicated theories and statistical formulas to real-world problems so I am capable and competent in making informed and balanced unbiased, rational decisions. The bell curve is very real. There are infinite examples all around us. Everything under all creation must fall into the statistical normal distribution. So, I have to wonder why so many people can’t understand this natural truth. Life’s not fair.

Those of you that know me and follow my posts know that I’m an advocate for human rights, liberty, justice and the spirit of truth. I believe in following the science, disciplined inquiry, critical thinking, open, honest and balanced debate. My focus of interest is the natural order of things, “God Loves the Bell Curve.” I like to point out that if you find yourself somewhere out on the extreme fringes (left or right) you are out of touch with reality–you are not in balance with God’s natural order and the statistical truth of the “normal” distribution. So, I was struck by President Biden’s response to the SCOTUS leak. Instead of encouraging people to trust in the sanctity of the Constitution (the 1st and 14th Amendments, as exemplars) and spirit of a democratic republic, he demonized an entire group of Americans, (over half the country), those that identify as conservative, constitutionalists, calling them (us), “the worst threat to democracy in the history of America”. This condemnation and shaming, not only divides the country, it is a false and misleading, us versus them, narrative–and on its face, straight up disinformation and certainly not Presidential. He further established a “Ministry of Truth” a so called, disinformation board, (now on hold) which many believe is really aimed at silencing the truth in a vain and pernicious attempt to control information through misinformation. This, of course, is un-American. Last year (January 2021), I posted a simple question, “do you believe that Joe Biden will be like the Joseph in the Bible, forgiving, benevolent and trustworthy, faithful and honest or, the opposite, divisive, pernicious and mean spirited?” Many people responded with positive affirmations and hope that this this Joe would help to unify our nation. I am curious, what you think about this Joe’s (President Biden’s) character now? Actions speak louder than words! Don’t be afraid, just be honest and speak from your heart. How’s your heart?

References:
The Bible describes the Savior as unremarkable (Isaiah 53:1-4 ESV), “…he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes He appeared unremarkable and there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him. 4 Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down.

The story of Joseph is told in Genesis (37–50). Joseph, most beloved of Jacob’s sons, is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous the brothers seize him and sell him to a party of Ishmaelites, who carry him to Egypt. In verses 4-5 Joseph forgives his brothers, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.