"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed"

The assertion speaks to the manipulative power of propaganda and psychological conditioning within mass communication. When a falsehood is sufficiently grandiose, its sheer scale can make it difficult for individuals to conceive that someone would fabricate something so significant or outrageous. Human psychology is often wired to assume a correspondence between the magnitude of a claim and the level of evidence required to support it. However, when a lie is massive, people may doubt that anyone would dare to say it unless it were true, thereby reducing sentiment to skepticism and surrendering to belief through cognitive dissonance or social conformity.

Repetition acts as a psychological tool, reinforcing the veracity of the falsehood. The more often people hear the same idea, regardless of its veracity, the more familiar, and thus more plausible, it becomes. This phenomenon, known as the "illusory truth effect", relies on the principle that repeated exposure increases perceived truthfulness. Over time, individuals may forget the original sources or the context in which they encountered the information, but the content persists and shapes their perceptions. When authoritative figures or organizations reiterate the lie, its acceptance infiltrates collective consciousness and becomes part of the fabric of society’s beliefs, making future dissent more difficult.

Such tactics are hallmarks of totalitarian regimes that seek to monopolize truth and manipulate public opinion. Instead of encouraging critical thinking or open debate, those in power double down on manufactured narratives, stifling opposition through intimidation or censorship. The ultimate goal is not only to deceive, but also to erode confidence in objective reality, making the population more malleable and easier to control. In the long term, the normalization of manufactured falsehoods undermines democratic institutions and public trust, creating a society where truth becomes a matter of political will rather than empirical fact.