Necessary illusions
thought control in democratic societies
by Noam Chomsky · first published 1989
64% recommend36% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Analyzes how media and public discourse shape opinion in democratic societies, framed as thought control. It is paired with Manufacturing Consent to understand propaganda and media framing.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2008–2024The worldly philosophers
Robert L. Heilbroner
Recommended by 17 · mentioned by 1817 recommend · 18 mention17 recommend · 1817 recommend
2007–2022The way of the superior man
David Deida
Recommended by 17 · mentioned by 2317 recommend · 23 mention17 recommend · 2317 recommend
2008–2026The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
Recommended by 26 · mentioned by 3326 recommend · 33 mention26 recommend · 3326 recommend
2007–2024The Fabric of the Cosmos
Brian Greene
Recommended by 23 · mentioned by 3123 recommend · 31 mention23 recommend · 3123 recommend
2015–2026Incerto
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Recommended by 32 · mentioned by 4132 recommend · 41 mention32 recommend · 4132 recommend
2009–2026Ishmael
Daniel Quinn
Recommended by 48 · mentioned by 6548 recommend · 65 mention48 recommend · 6548 recommend
2010–2026On the Shortness of Life
Seneca
Recommended by 56 · mentioned by 7056 recommend · 70 mention56 recommend · 7056 recommend
2009–2026Computer systems
Randal Bryant, Randal E. Bryant, David R. O'Hallaron
Recommended by 67 · mentioned by 8367 recommend · 83 mention67 recommend · 8367 recommend
…perfectly frivolous, light and sunny * Non-fiction Stuart Russell - Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control. Potential bad outcomes from AI and what we might be able to do about them Noam Chomsky - Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies. How public discourse is shaped and controlled Karl Popper - The Open Society and its Enemies. How to work against totalitarianism
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗…swamp the media, and thus, while the majority of scientists think differently, the public perception will be one of confusion and doubt. It's kind of a well known tactic. (a nice book on this is Chomsky's Necessary Illusions.) To be sure, at one point I was a climate change doubter, and so was a friend of mine. We were both PhD students in Plasma Physics, working on nuclear fusion. So there is clearly some decoupling of…
on “One of the World's Foremost Meteorologists Has Called the Theory That Helped Al Gore Share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous"” ↗…media is funded through advertising which then naturally biases it towards the interests of the business elite. That is how we get thought control in a democratic society. See Manufacturing Consent and Necessary Illusions for numerous cases. Wonderful books. See also Alex Carey's work on corporate propaganda, Taking the Risk Out of Democracy.
on “Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April” ↗…with data speaks for itself. This is an objectively ridiculous assertion. His works are extensively cited with primary sources. He regularly has hundreds of footnotes per book. Manufacturing Consent and Necessary Illusions are just two examples of a scientific, ideology-free approach to political analysis. There he compares and contrasts how the U.S. media covers similar international events -- by state friends vs. foes…
on “The Chomsky Puzzle” ↗1984/Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell Manufacturing Consent/Necessary Illusions by Noam Chomsky(Possibly even more relevant today than it's ever been) The Selfish Gene/The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins The Republic by Plato The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗Noam Chomsky's "Necessary Illusions" goes into the thought control exercised in free democratic societies. https://zcomm.org/necessary-illusions/
on “The BITE Model of Authoritarian Control (2020)” ↗40 years old now and as relevant as ever. IMO even better than Chomsky's Necessary Illusions (1989) or Bernay's Propaganda (1928) at giving you that backstage at Disney world feeling.
on “Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds” ↗…you expect from NPR?" People need to start realizing that journalism as reporting is dead and it's now journalism as consumption and thought control. Some further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessary_Illusions
on “Senate Blocks Patriot Act Extension” ↗…how “you are the product” because they don’t pay for some service. Well, physical newspapers have been advertiser-funded for a long time now, even though people still pay for them. Chomsky writes in Necessary Illusions that newspapers sell the eyeballs of the readers to advertisers and that that in turn deeply affects what is printed. That book was published in 1989. As far as the media is concerned, everyone here…
on “Goodreads plans to retire API access, disables existing API keys” ↗…state and corporate power, which are closely interlinked, framing their reporting and analysis in a manner supportive of established privilege and limiting debate and discussion accordingly." - Chomsky, Necessary Illusions, 1988 (and look how media has consolidated since then)
on “New antibiotic that kills drug-resistant bacteria found in technician's garden” ↗I've read Necessary Illusions; I had understood they covered pretty much the same ground, is that not the case? Anyway, all of the articles on FAIR's list were opinion pieces. If there's an analysis of its reporting of a pertinent…
I haven’t read Necessary Illusions, but I posted this before the CIA explained this PDF arrived with bin Laden’s documents. I was mistakenly connecting the promotion of this work with the supposition that the CIA was broadly interested…
on “Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies [pdf]” ↗