Excellent points, Steve.

In my life, and especially since the advent of the Internet, email and social media, I have witnessed entire groups of people being mislead by 2 or 3 words. Completely swayed to believe one thing or one side of an argument, because someone's name was mentioned. Or someone put (" ") marks around a passage that was in fact entirely made up.

And that's just one perspective, in one place and time.

Imagine what 300+ years of false data and fixed perception will do?

Everything that mankind does; every thought or idea is communicated through words and symbols. Alter them - just a little bit - and the outcome is entirely different. This has been understood from the very beginning. Look at the Cave Art in France from 30,000 years ago. The animals depicted always looked big and formidable - making the hunters look skilled and fearless. See, they understood the power of perception long before the internet and social media.