Bertrand Russell Quotes
Throughout the Dark Ages, China played very little part, and Japan played none, in the minds of Western Europeans. When most people could not read, what was known to those who could remained for the most part unknown to the great majority. Now, with the diffusion of newspapers and radio, important events anywhere quickly come to be known to most people in most civilized countries. The result however is not so good as the devotees of enlightenment a century or two ago would have expected. The news that is most quickly and widely diffused is news which is exciting, and the excitements most easily aroused are hatred and fear.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 5: Cohesion and Rivalry, n12
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The prestige of the British Empire is even reflected in the division of the Earth. The meridian passing through Greenwich, England, is designated as 0 degrees, and from there, longitudes are counted up to 180 degrees eastward as "east longitude" and up to 180 degrees westward as "west longitude," dividing the world into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres with Britain at the center. Since Japan is located at 135 degrees east longitude, it is referred to as the "Far East," as if it were a remote and undeveloped region at the edge of the world.
Of course, times have changed. With the advancement of transportation (jet planes) and communication (the Internet), the world has become more unified, making such divisions seem outdated. However, the development of mass media has not always been as beneficial as the devotees of enlightenment had hoped. Bertrand Russell’s observation that "The news that is most quickly and widely diffused is news which is exciting, and the excitements most easily aroused are hatred and fear." remains just as relevant today.
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