Valdai 2015 Session 2. IS WAR PEACE? Incompatible Perceptions of Reality in the Era of Total Communications
Sochi

We live in a new communications environment. The pervasiveness of communication seriously influences people’s lives and events. At the same time human nature is still controversial and aggressive, while communications reflect the ideas that form their essence. Therefore, Internet is a neutral medium for the distribution of information.

The session participants discussed the influence of communications on society, the distortion of reality in the media, using communications to model the world, and the role of government propaganda.

As one of the Valdai experts said, society is molded by the media, while the polarization of information divides people. The same information sometimes breeds diametrically opposite views and opinions. People’s views tend to become more radical through communication with like-minded people, but people are not even aware of this happening, which complicates the assimilation of other ideas. The process of the productive exchange of ideas is more effective when it is targeted, for example, when reading a book where interaction between the author and the reader leaves space for dialogue and compromise.    

The session also focused on universal and national values and traditions. The experts pointed out that no national system is universal and hence must not be forced on others. All countries and societies should only be judged by their internal criteria. In this age of big ideas, the striving for tolerance is the key requisite for peace and mutual understanding. 

Session participants also talked about the presentation of information, saying that good news is less interesting than bad news. One of the reasons behind this is that readers mold their own information reality, which leads to the interdependence and mutual promotion of anti-utopian news. Modern technology unites the world, but it also creates the impression that there are more negative events in the current period than in all of human history before it. As a session participant said, society also needs positive development models, or else it will push itself into a worst-case scenario.

One of the experts said that it has become easier to lose power and that managing power has become much more complicated in this age of ubiquitous information. This explains the exceptional importance of propaganda as the main tool for maintaining power. Therefore, the disappearance or dilution of reality is one of the biggest political issues. The feeling of defenselessness makes people believe their own propaganda, as a result of which they lose touch with reality. Crucial elements in the state and national development of other countries are replaced by newly coined clichés. 

Session participants see a way out of this situation in people’s ability to work together and cooperate in the name of achieving common goals. The experts highlighted the following basic principles of successful cooperation: trust in your partners, a desire to cooperate, acceptance of cooperation, and rejection of black-or-white thinking. Based on these principles, successful communication is not only necessary but also possible. They also agreed on the importance of taking responsibility for information, which, if misapplied, can lead to irreconcilable conflicts.