Modern propaganda works despite disbelief because it justifies itself in action

Evidence

But this kind of discourse is not terroristic. It seems unwarranted to assume that the recipients believe, or are made to believe, what they are being told. The new touch of the magic-ritual language rather is that people don’t believe it, or don’t care, and yet act accordingly. One does not “believe” the statement of an operational concept but it justifies itself in action—in getting the job done, in selling and buying, in refusal to listen to others, etc. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 417

Categorization

• XREF: Extends Marcuse’s theme of administered society; connects to attention-economy debates where users know algorithms manipulate yet keep scrolling. — connects to: Advertising’s suspicion-inducing logic extends to political propaganda; Totalitarian propaganda constructs a consistent fictional world that shelters uprooted masses from reality; The layered structure of belief makes totalitarian lies foolproof against exposure (+3 more)
• SEED: Angle: ‘You don’t believe the ad and you click anyway’ — operational language as the real mechanism of modern consent, applicable to algorithmic feeds and influencer culture.

Broader Connections

• Totalitarian propaganda wins because ideology becomes lived reality, not opinion. #corroborates (0.90) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 847
• Totalitarian propaganda constructs a consistent fictional world that shelters uprooted masses from reality #expands (0.82)
• The layered structure of belief makes totalitarian lies foolproof against exposure #expands (0.78)
• Totalitarian power makes systematic lying possible because everyday reality is already fictitious #qualifies (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 930