Study Shows How Ignorance Can Be Influential

[Guest guest]

" It's not necessary to have extra information, " Brocas said. " You can induce

people to do what you want just by stopping the flow of information or

continuing it. That's enough. "

Notably, the party manipulating the flow of information must deliberately

choose to remain uninformed as well. "

Hey All,

I am posting this again because this is such a great paper. Below is the

press release regarding this. Linked is the actual paper.

These USC economists are REALLY on to something. They have studied in

detail how it works when leaders control public policy by controlling the data

that is included when making decisions.

Key aspect of the mold issue. Only address potential toxicity illness while

myopically looking at one hypothetical mycotoxin via one hypothetical route

of exposure. Never mind everything else that can poison and goes on in water

damaged buildings. From there, get many medical associations to set their

policy positions based on this limited data. Voila! Set public policy thru a

confederacy of dunces. This is causing mass quackery of prescribing

psychological drugs for potential physical illness - founded on the limiting of

the

flow of information, as was illustrated by Dr. Kahn's words in the Nightline

segment.

This is the first time I have seen this approach to setting public policy

thru the intentional limiting of information spelled out so clearly of how it

systematically works.

Too Much Information? Study Shows How Ignorance Can Be Influential

ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2008) — University of Southern California researchers

provide a challenge to the classic economic model of information

manipulation, in which knowing more than anybody else is the key to influence.

Instead,

economists Isabelle Brocas and D. Carrillo present a situation --

commonly observed in real life -- in which all parties have access to the same

information, but one party still manages to control public opinion.

For example, a pharmaceutical company such as Merck may be obliged to make

public the findings of all studies related to a new drug. Preliminary trials

may indicate no short-term side effects, and the company may elect not to

perform follow-up trials before releasing the drug on the market.

" Optimally, you want to provide enough information so the other party

reaches a certain level of confidence, but stop once you reach that level, "

Brocas

explained. " Otherwise, it may be the case that more information causes the

confidence level to go down. "

The study, " Influence Through Ignorance, " is the first to thoroughly examine

situations in which power comes from controlling the flow of public

information, as opposed to the possession of private information.

As Brocas and Carrillo explain, there are secrets -- facts that are

deliberately withheld -- and there are facts that are not known to anybody.

" It's not necessary to have extra information, " Brocas said. " You can induce

people to do what you want just by stopping the flow of information or

continuing it. That's enough. "

Notably, the party manipulating the flow of information must deliberately

choose to remain uninformed as well -- which can backfire.

In Merck's case, a study released five years after the drug was introduced

on the market showed that taking Vioxx significantly increased the risk of

heart attacks. Merck funded the study, which had been intended to see if the

painkiller was also effective against colon polyps.

Now, embroiled in a $4.85 billion settlement, the company claims that Vioxx

poses no statistically significant long-term risk to the heart once it is no

longer taken. This claim is disputed: Merck stopped monitoring patients after

only a year, discontinuing the study once the drug was taken off the market.

Similarly, the researchers explain, the head of a council may terminate

discussion and introduction of new evidence about, say, whether to continue

searching for weapons of mass destruction. Calling for a vote when sentiment

seems

biased in a certain direction effectively curtails how much all members,

including the chairperson, know about the issue at stake.

" Overall, the ability of to control the flow of news and remain publicly

ignorant gives the leader some power, which is used to influence the actions of

the follower, " the researchers wrote. " Our result suggests that the

chairperson, the President and media can bias the decision of the committee,

electorate

and public by strategically restricting the flow of information. "

Brocas and Carrillo are in the midst of a follow-up to the study that gauges

how well individuals intuitively understand the " influence through

ignorance " phenomenon: " We're interested in whether people understand their

ability to

manipulate information and if they do it optimally, " Brocas said.

The paper also provide implications for several important variants, such as

how public opinion is affected when there is more than one source of

information available to everyone and it is not excessively costly to obtain.

Competition, supported by media diversity and public sources of research

funding, not only induces outlets to release more information but also causes

the " influence through ignorance " effect to diminish -- and under certain

circumstances to vanish -- the researchers found.

Journal reference: Brocas, Isabelle and D. Carrillo, " Influence Through

Ignorance. " The RAND Journal of Economics: 38:4; 931-947. DOI:

10.1111/j.0741-6261.2007.00119.x

Adapted from materials provided by University of Southern California, via

EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the

following formats:

APA

MLA University of Southern California (2008, March 25). Too Much

Information? Study Shows How Ignorance Can Be Influential. ScienceDaily.

Retrieved

March 26, 2008, from _http://www.sciencedaily.com & shy;_

(http://www.sciencedaily.com) /releases/2008/03/080324130159.htm

**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL

Home.

(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030\

000000001)

[Guest guest]

Sharon, Maybe we should put this up on Nightline. Darlene

snk1955@... wrote:

" It's not necessary to have extra information, " Brocas said. " You can induce

people to do what you want just by stopping the flow of information or

continuing it. That's enough. "

Notably, the party manipulating the flow of information must deliberately

choose to remain uninformed as well. "

Hey All,

I am posting this again because this is such a great paper. Below is the

press release regarding this. Linked is the actual paper.

These USC economists are REALLY on to something. They have studied in

detail how it works when leaders control public policy by controlling the data

that is included when making decisions.

Key aspect of the mold issue. Only address potential toxicity illness while

myopically looking at one hypothetical mycotoxin via one hypothetical route

of exposure. Never mind everything else that can poison and goes on in water

damaged buildings. From there, get many medical associations to set their

policy positions based on this limited data. Voila! Set public policy thru a

confederacy of dunces. This is causing mass quackery of prescribing

psychological drugs for potential physical illness - founded on the limiting

of the

flow of information, as was illustrated by Dr. Kahn's words in the Nightline

segment.

This is the first time I have seen this approach to setting public policy

thru the intentional limiting of information spelled out so clearly of how it

systematically works.

Too Much Information? Study Shows How Ignorance Can Be Influential

ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2008) — University of Southern California researchers

provide a challenge to the classic economic model of information

manipulation, in which knowing more than anybody else is the key to influence.

Instead,

economists Isabelle Brocas and D. Carrillo present a situation --

commonly observed in real life -- in which all parties have access to the same

information, but one party still manages to control public opinion.

For example, a pharmaceutical company such as Merck may be obliged to make

public the findings of all studies related to a new drug. Preliminary trials

may indicate no short-term side effects, and the company may elect not to

perform follow-up trials before releasing the drug on the market.

" Optimally, you want to provide enough information so the other party

reaches a certain level of confidence, but stop once you reach that level, "

Brocas

explained. " Otherwise, it may be the case that more information causes the

confidence level to go down. "

The study, " Influence Through Ignorance, " is the first to thoroughly examine

situations in which power comes from controlling the flow of public

information, as opposed to the possession of private information.

As Brocas and Carrillo explain, there are secrets -- facts that are

deliberately withheld -- and there are facts that are not known to anybody.

" It's not necessary to have extra information, " Brocas said. " You can induce

people to do what you want just by stopping the flow of information or

continuing it. That's enough. "

Notably, the party manipulating the flow of information must deliberately

choose to remain uninformed as well -- which can backfire.

In Merck's case, a study released five years after the drug was introduced

on the market showed that taking Vioxx significantly increased the risk of

heart attacks. Merck funded the study, which had been intended to see if the

painkiller was also effective against colon polyps.

Now, embroiled in a $4.85 billion settlement, the company claims that Vioxx

poses no statistically significant long-term risk to the heart once it is no

longer taken. This claim is disputed: Merck stopped monitoring patients after

only a year, discontinuing the study once the drug was taken off the market.

Similarly, the researchers explain, the head of a council may terminate

discussion and introduction of new evidence about, say, whether to continue

searching for weapons of mass destruction. Calling for a vote when sentiment

seems

biased in a certain direction effectively curtails how much all members,

including the chairperson, know about the issue at stake.

" Overall, the ability of to control the flow of news and remain publicly

ignorant gives the leader some power, which is used to influence the actions of

the follower, " the researchers wrote. " Our result suggests that the

chairperson, the President and media can bias the decision of the committee,

electorate

and public by strategically restricting the flow of information. "

Brocas and Carrillo are in the midst of a follow-up to the study that gauges

how well individuals intuitively understand the " influence through

ignorance " phenomenon: " We're interested in whether people understand their

ability to

manipulate information and if they do it optimally, " Brocas said.

The paper also provide implications for several important variants, such as

how public opinion is affected when there is more than one source of

information available to everyone and it is not excessively costly to obtain.

Competition, supported by media diversity and public sources of research

funding, not only induces outlets to release more information but also causes

the " influence through ignorance " effect to diminish -- and under certain

circumstances to vanish -- the researchers found.

Journal reference: Brocas, Isabelle and D. Carrillo, " Influence Through

Ignorance. " The RAND Journal of Economics: 38:4; 931-947. DOI:

10.1111/j.0741-6261.2007.00119.x

Adapted from materials provided by University of Southern California, via

EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the

following formats:

APA

MLA University of Southern California (2008, March 25). Too Much

Information? Study Shows How Ignorance Can Be Influential. ScienceDaily.

Retrieved

March 26, 2008, from _http://www.sciencedaily.com & shy;_

(http://www.sciencedaily.com) /releases/2008/03/080324130159.htm

**************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL

Home.

(http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030\

000000001)