> As opposed to “conventional warfare,” this kind of war is not primarily about the use of physical force, and it is not primarily about targeting an adversary’s military assets. ... In this kind of war, the mind of every citizen is a potential target, and tactical victories could include a delegitimized election, implosions of civic discourse, and mutual hatred sparked between fellow citizens.

>Just as the destructive power of nuclear weapons forced humanity to reorient to the idea that mutually assured destruction exists at the extremes of physical violence, so advances in information warfare require us to face the same truth of inevitable self-destruction, and to mutually back away...

> One common misunderstanding of information war and propaganda is that it only involves the spreading of lies and fake news...one possible goal of information war is to sow seeds of internal dissension, confusion, and ultimately epistemic nihilism...

>We have reached a point at which a difference in magnitude has become a difference in kind...

>Information warfare targets the deep social structure of societies, just as the destruction of roads, crops, and military assets targets the deep physical infrastructures. Both create conditions in which normal life cannot persist. Societies are made vulnerable to disunification, mutual antagonism, and manipulation by outside actors.

https://consilienceproject.org/its-a-mad-information-war/

We're in the trenches and need to remain diligent. Be aware of motivations and our suspecibility to propaganda, yet do not fall into the epistemic nihilism sinkhole.