this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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"propaganda" from University of Cambridge?
I don't get your meaning.
I believe you're thinking "propaganda" means "bullshit."
They're not synonyms.
Do you believe that there has been a war on drugs? Do you believe that there has been propaganda in that war? Something like, say, "reefer madness"? Do you think that universities are ideologically pure institutions with no ties anywhere?
A scientist may check on a thing just because "yeah, lets do science". But that thing they're checking may be something someone wants to use to imply that a position they hold on something — ideologically — is the correct one.
Imagine that I'm a billionaire, no limit on my funds. Do you think it would be impossible for me to get someone to study whether too much water is bad for you? Obviously not. Could I then pay the press (or use some presshouses I would own as a billionaire with no fund limits) to circulate the study with dubious headlines which imply water is bad for you? Ofc I could.
Would it be factually wrong? Nope. It would just be like "if you drink too much water without any salts in it, you die, basic fact of medicine", which is true. But ofc you'd understand that my implication isn't about making people aware that drinking 10l of distilled water everyday without eating even a morsel of food is bad, obviously.
Propaganda isn't just someone writing straight up lies and trying to make you believe it.
It's implication and eliciting feelings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ehrlichman#Drug_war_quote