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Let me ask a related question looking at it from the other direction: can you encourage an idea by spreading it more widely?

If not, then propaganda and advertising are both myths that don't really work.



Related: can you make an idea more appealing to some people by contemning it?


Propaganda and advertising absolutely do work.

Chess set sales were up a huge percentage when the Queen's Gambit became popular. Daenerys became a somewhat popular baby girl's name after Game of Thrones became popular. These are super simple, super obvious examples, but you can find more.

They're not guaranteed to work, but they do work.




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