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Together with continuing terrorist attacks on Ukraine, Russia tries to maintain the falsified narratives abroad to undermine the support of Ukraine in the world. To help you better understand this informational vanguard, we’ve published an excerpt from the updated 2022 edition of Dmytro Kuleba’s book «War for Reality: How to Win in the World of Fakes, Truths and Communities». As the author states, his impetus for writing this guide on survival in the information space was the annexation of Crimea and the beginning of the war on Donbas in 2014. In these events, lies and manipulation became key tools. These principles of protection in hybrid warfare have not changed since 2014 and became even more relevant after a full-scale invasion.
«First of all, during the acute phase of the real war, in the war for reality, emotions completely supplant critical thinking. Whoever doesn’t give in to this pressure will become similar to Ukraine: he will master himself under the pressure of the heaviest vices and fight back, – the author insists. – Secondly, the war shows us how complex the phenomenon of deep beliefs is. For example, the majority of Ukrainians, who even after 2014 retained some sympathy for Russia, completely changed their minds after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. However, some still do not believe that Russian atrocities even took place, [and some] justify them.»
Dmytro Kuleba explains how not to lose a sense of reality when fakes have mixed with the truth, and the communicative war has become no less fierce than the physical one. The diplomate convinces: informational aggression can be resisted. Using the examples of Ukraine, other countries and companies, he analyses how the war for reality is continuing.
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In this excerpt, the author singles out five rules from the Ukrainian experience of the last eight years. These are instructions that might help win in this and other information and communication wars: rely on reality, think critically, manage emotions, feel the community and interact with the state.
The score is 3:1 in favour of positive news
This is the approximate proportion of positive and negative emotions that a person needs for successful development and psychological prosperity. This is an experimentally proven model (professor of psychology Barbara Lee Fredrickson, who studies emotions and positive psychology, describes it in the article «The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions», published in 2004 at The Royal Society):
«When there are not enough positive emotions, people get stuck. They lose freedom in behaviour and become painfully predictable. But when positive emotions come in sufficient quantity, people rise up. They become productive, creative, resilient, and full of opportunities.»
This is especially important in wartime. The war generates mostly negative news. That is why the first elation felt by the citizens at the beginning of the war, under the pressure of the information flow from the front, turns into fatigue, disappointment and, ultimately, irritation with the war.
However, let’s imagine that the war dragged on and negative news dominates the positive. We are already used to them, and the receptors of the soul have become coarse. However, this does not mean that negative news does not affect us. We simply do not notice this influence anymore and imperceptibly degrade ourselves emotionally.
It is enough for the communicator to make us believe that everything is bad. Then, our brain itself will begin to distort reality.
When we are in a bad mood, we ourselves begin to feed it, seeing everything in dark colours. It is possible and necessary to fight against it, but the struggle must be appropriate. It is really worth increasing the dose of positive news in your daily diet. However, this alone is not enough.
The key to striking a balance is to change attitudes toward the news, not the news itself. The purpose of this practice is not to transform yourself smoothly into a carefree dork. The goal is to learn to perceive reality with a healthy scepticism; go from a reflexive to a thought-out reaction. Giving a chance to a positive perception of reality will protect us from wrong decisions.
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«Upward spiral» – that’s what neurophysiologist Alex Korb calls the process of getting out of the peak, where we are driven by negativity, in particular bad news. Based on brain science, he recommends seven simple steps anyone can take to get on the upward spiral:
• set goals and make decisions – this will encourage you to focus on achieving goals, and you will feel satisfaction from each success on the way to them;
• train your body and sleep well – physical activity and the corresponding changes in your body that you observe (weight loss, appearance of relief muscles, etc.) bring pleasure, and proper sleep gives the brain discharge;
• form several habits that will give you joy. This will promote the production of serotonin and will be a guarantee of regular receipt of positive emotions;
• live in the here and now – the source of most anxiety is projecting yourself into the past or the future. Living here and now reduces the impact of negative emotions on you and allows you to better control your reactions;
• give thanks – expressing gratitude to another and receiving thanks is a great source of positivity;
• trust and love – a person who does not trust cannot love. Lack of trust and love makes us unhappy. This is especially true of trust, one of the most precious luxuries of our time;
• smile.
In short, with the help of willpower, find sources of regular positive emotions for yourself and keep them close.
In the world of war and communications, no one will give these sources to you voluntarily. You are easier to manage when you are immersed in negativity. Getting out of it is a personal matter.
Calibrate your news sources and social circle so that there is more positive news than negative. And don’t let any of them sway you either towards euphoria or depression.
Even a simple recognition that they are trying to knock us out of the saddle with communication will help calm emotions and think more critically about reality. You will definitely do your best, and you will win.
Mockup: Dmytro Taradayka
Translated by Vitalii Holich
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
