Book review: ‘The Power of Perception – When Reality Loses the Battle’

The Power of Perception – When Reality Loses the Battle is not just another book about “fake news” or digital disruption. It is a profound exploration of a world where perception no longer just shapes reality -it often replaces it.

Dr Orhan Dragaš, acclaimed for his philosophical and sociological insights, examines what happens when feelings outweigh facts, and when truth ceases to be a universal standard but becomes subject to algorithms, group identity, and emotional persuasion.

With clarity and courage, Dragaš reveals how digital platforms, reputation economies, and the viral logic of social media have eroded traditional sources of authority and rational consensus. Truth today survives not because it is correct, but because it is emotionally compelling and socially acceptable.

This book, published by the British publishing house Chiselbury, is more than diagnosis – it is a warning and a challenge. If societies continue to treat facts as negotiable and truth as optional, trust collapses, dialogue dies, and even democracy itself is put at risk.

Drawing on philosophy, psychology, and sociology, Dragaš dismantles illusions of techno-optimism, showing how algorithms have become new infrastructures of power, quietly reshaping what we accept as “reality.” He situates this crisis on a global scale, from New York to Milan, London to Berlin, demonstrating that no society is immune to manipulation and collective delusion

2025 will be remembered for many things, but from a security and political perspective it has brought to the fore how ’truth’ and notions of separating ‘fact’ from ‘fiction’ are so important to today. In the 2020 US election it was widely reported that most Americans sought their news from Facebook, where algorithms fed them information that were aligned with and generally confirmed their pre-existing beliefs. Fast forward 5 years and the information landscape has changed significantly and continues to evolve at a frightening pace. From misinformation and disinformation, from foreign interference and manipulation, through to conceptions of what ’truth’ is and whether populations are really open-minded or simply believe their own cultist versions of what they think is correct. These are the crucial questions that all democratic societies face today, especially with the rise of populism, the rise of AI and doctored images and videos and the increasing impact they have on governments and society alike.

Michael Goodman, Professor of Intelligence and International Affairs at King’s College London, calls The Power of Perception “a hugely timely and important book” and “a captivating read”.

“The book combines philosophy, psychology, and contemporary politics, but between these weaves a whole series of examples and case-studies. Taken as a whole this is a hugely important book that serves to demystify and explore one of the most pressing issues of today”, he wrties.

Professor Goodman says that The Power of Perception should be “must reading” for aspiring politicians and anyone interested in contemporary affairs, but also for all those who refuse to accept the notion that truth no longer matters.

Caption: AI-generated image (Grok) suggesting the power of algorithms in social media.

• algorithms
• disinformation

Updated: October 9, 2025 - 15:03