Psychowars: How to manipulate the masses

Once you know the method it looses its power over you. Its easier to manipulate those who are unaware. For all of us to teach and learn about manipulation techniques and thereby become immune to them, is the purpose of this thread.

What follows are just a few examples means of infowar, psychowar and mass-indoctrination. These are used on a daily basis by mass-media, politics, schools, speakers, writers...even here on ATS. Im sure there are psychological labels for these phenomena but I dont know them so Ive devised some of my own.

1. The Yes-Street Technique

I wanna get my audience to agree with something controversial, so I´ll first start by saying a bunch of things that they already agree with and already believe in. This is how I build trust. Then, when I have them all nodding and agreeing at the principles Ive laid out, I can also sell the more disagreeable stuff. This is the basic cult-recruitment technique. You cannot recruit anyone for a cult if you do not first offer enough benefits to get the person hooked. Once hooked you can sell him anything you want. It goes without saying that politicians also love to use this one. This is called "the yes-street technique" because one first gets someone into the habit of saying yes, yes, yes, yes before offering something he/she would have otherwise said "no" to.

Remedy: Discernment. Nothing is completely black or white. Just because organization/politician/book X has said many true things in the past doesnt mean that everything coming from that source is good and true.

2. Create your own enemy

If you secretly create your own opposition this has many, many benefits. This is a technique that goes completely unnoticed by most people. Since you know that everything has its opposite, might as well create that opposite yourself. Once you have created a worldview, religion, politicial agenda, cult, company or whatever and you create the opposing side to your agenda yourself, you can:

* Control the enemy (control the extent of damage they do to you)
* Make the enemy look crazy or goofy
* Make "friends" with real enemies thus getting insight into their operations.
* Create "negative" publicity about you...which is essentially good publicity because everyone is being forced to look at you and what you have to offer. (ATS Example: Notice how negative posts bump your thread to the top of the list? You can be thankful for your enemies without which some of your threads wouldnt be getting any attention).

Remedy: Avoid extremely polarized/fanatical positions. See both sides of an issue.


3. Diverting Attention

If you want to cover something up, you divert attention. One way to do this that we might all remember having done ourselves as children is to admit to a lesser lie in order to cover-up a bigger lie. Mom asks: "Where do you have that money from?" You dont tell her that you robbed a bank but start crying and say "I admit it, I admit it. I found a purse on the street and stole some money out of it. Im so sorry". The global power players use this technique on a regular basis. One conspiracy-example of this would be: "Tell them there was a votefraud-conspiracy 2003 so that they dont recognize that they entire election process is rigged since hundreds of years" or "Tell them we´re in Iraq for oil...give them some bread to eat, so that they dont see the bigger picture" (These are only examples, not proposals for theories or discussion points).

The most basic example of attention-diversion is the politician who wants to get peoples attention away from problems in their own country so he keeps pointing at problems in another country.

Want to know how easy it is to divert peoples attention? Stop on a crowded street and start staring upwards at the clouds. Notice how other people start looking upward too. Monkey see, monkey do.

Remedy: Practice not putting your attention on where everyone else is putting their attention but looking behind the veil. Dont only look at the obvious in front of your eyes but also behind it.

4. Overload, Overwhelm & Confusion

Some manipulators rely heavily on peoples short-attention span. Overhelm and overload someone with so much information and contradictory data that his mind goes into a state of exhaustion and he either a) Doesnt care anymore what the truth is (apathy) or looses sight of the big picture (confusion). Information-overload is what is happening today, with contradictory messages being force-fed on us on a daily basis. Today we learn that coffee causes cancer, tommorow we learn that coffee prevents cancer, then we learn that you have to drink a lot of water if you wanna drink coffee, and next we learn that coffee does not suck water out of the body afterall. Being the superficial information-hounds that we are (sucking up a little bit of this and that without going into depth with anything), we loose sight of what is important and what is true.

Remedy: Choose wisely what you look into. Prioritize your reading. When a subject is overloaded with confusion (ATS-example: The 9/11 Forum), get back to the basic questions of asking what is important, what is really known and what is really unknown. Dont listen to emotionally charged people, dont listen to hysteria and hype. Rest and relax before getting back to a subject.


5. Mystery-Maker

Mystery attracts attention. Present something with a few knowns but many unknowns. What happens is that peoples attention is sucked into the subject, causing hours or even a lifetime of preoccupation. Manipulators use this by making a few remarks about a subject and intentionally withholding the rest. So they get the person interested. Then bits of information are revealed piece by piece to keep the dog on the hook of wanting more food.

Remedy: Give money only to those who can tell you squarely and clearly what something is about.

6. The Fear/Desire Circus

The power player, knowing that humans are driven by fear (survival) and desire (survival) can easily play ball with mass-attention. Find out what someone wants and make the impression you that you offer that. Find out what someone fears and make the impression you offer the solution to that.

Remedy: Dont let your fears and desires be too strong, otherwise you can be played like a ball by any con-man or scam-artist around. Notice how our whole civilization is being controlled with the Fear/Desire Circus. Notice how you can find fullfillment within and dont need all of the stuff they offer. Someone who doesnt need much cannot be manipulated. Neediness = Powerlessness.

I have about a dozen more techniques Id like to write about in this thread, but I dont want to overwhelm the reader so I will add them later.

I welcome your realizations on manipulation-techniques or your examples on how they are applied in world politics, media and "education" and look forward to learning a lot from my fellow ATSers.



[edit on 6-3-2008 by Skyfloating]

I love this old zen-parable about a farmer who will not be swayed by the hysteria of the masses. I read it for the first time 10 years ago and its stayed with my as an attitude ever since. Its something to consider when the majority of people are stuck in some kind of pro or con frenzy on something the mass-media fed them.

There's a story about an old, poor farmer in ancient China who worked a small plot of land with his teenage son. During this time, horses were considered a sign of rare wealth; the richest person in the province owned no more than a few of them. One day, a wild horse galloped into the town, jumped the old farmer's fence, and began grazing on his land. According to local law, this meant that the horse now rightfully belonged to him and his family. The boy could hardly contain his joy, but the father put his hand on his son's shoulder and said, "Who knows what's good or bad?" The next day, the horse, not surprisingly, made its escape back to the mountains, and the boy was heartbroken. "Who knows what's good or bad?" his father said again, with the same equanimity. On the third day, the horse returned with a dozen wild horses following. The boy could hardly believe his good luck. "We're rich!" he cried, to which the father replied, "Who knows what's good or bad?" On the fourth day, the boy climbed on one of the wild horses and was thrown, breaking his leg. His father ran to get the doctor; soon both of them were attending to the boy, who was moaning and complaining about his miserable fate. The old farmer wiped the boy's forehead with a wet cloth, looked deeply into his eyes, and said directly, "My son, who knows what is good or bad?" And on the fifth day, the province went to war, and army recruiters came through the town and conscripted the eligible young men—except for one with a broken leg.

you would be VERY interested in a book called "The Crowd" by Gustav Le Bon. he basically breaks down the various ways to manipulate large groups of people as a science.

etext.virginia.edu...

it gained notoriety for being on Hitler's reading list, among many others.

[edit on 6-3-2008 by scientist]

reply to post by scientist


Im just back from browsing the book. Im pretty excited to see that it was written 1896!. They knew all this back then, while most of us were still...well, naive. This is something I´ll be reading, thanks for the addition.

reply to post by Skyfloating


glad to share, it's extremely dry at times, probably because of the writing style of the time, and from the translation... but its a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

I would compare this book to its modern counterpart, "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. Except Cialdini wrote from the perspective of an observer. Le Bon wrote from the perspective of a manipulator, treating his work as somewhat of a guidebook, instead of a compilation of research.

[edit on 6-3-2008 by scientist]

This is a great thread, SkyFloating!

The fun will be when we take a look at all of these 'basic' techniques and correlating them with modern day application.

'The Yes Street Technique'(subtly) and 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' principle are in play in Advertising....many times there are excited expressions on the faces of people. One of the oldest of the techniques and it gets so much more fun when we start looking at the information that is readily used by by media(s), i.e. trance states induced in movie theaters and the physiological impression made by virtual experiences....

I am at work and as well busy with many things but this thread is starred and flagged so that I will come back to it...

Continued from opening post

7. Give Love / Withdraw Love

With this technique, attention is given to someone and then deliberately withdrawn. This is one way to fix/stick someones mind to something/someone. An example from relationships: A guy gives a woman more love, care and touch than she has ever received. She had been longing and thirsting for it, now she gets it. Once she´s addicted to the attention, he withdraws it, making her run after the drug even more.

On a mass-scale this technique is used with deliberately creating scarcity for something that is actually available in abundance. I hope readers can see the connection here. For example, the diamond-industry might keep diamonds horted and hidden pretending they are scarce in order to pump up the price. Oil industry will first overflow the market with its product, getting everyone used to it, and then claim its scarce.

This is the salesman who preys on people in desperate need.

This is the power player who steers the financial market.

The push- and pull technique can drive masses nuts for yet another few decades of preoccupation with consumerism.

Remedy: When someone tries to apply push and pull with you, stay in the middle.



[edit on 6-3-2008 by Skyfloating]

Originally posted by MemoryShock
The fun will be when we take a look at all of these 'basic' techniques and correlating them with modern day application.

Its spooky how those who dont know them dont see them and fall for them time and time again. This will be especially interesting when the elections come up.

'The Yes Street Technique'(subtly) and 'Monkey See, Monkey Do' principle are in play in Advertising....many times there are excited expressions on the faces of people. One of the oldest of the techniques and it gets so much more fun when we start looking at the information that is readily used by by media(s),.

Yeah...except that we´re overloaded with the fake-excitment used in advertising and dont fall for it anymore. But there are many out there who still do. That fake excited voice making a huge life-changing and transformative subject out of some mundane product like bread or butter really, really gets on my nerves.

i.e. trance states induced in movie theaters and the physiological impression made by virtual experiences....

Thats point 8 on my list. Absolutely.

Continued from opening post


8. Belief-Imprint in hypnotic trance

When people are in a state of emotional arousal or semi-trance (either half-hypnotised or very relaxed) certain concepts/beliefs can be imprinted and/or re-inforced.

This is TV-advertisment that will bombard with colours, music and high emotion before driving home the message several times.

This is the TV-preacher who will whip people into ecstatic frenzy before asking for donations.

Remedy: Get excited only about what you would like to have imprinted in your mind.


9. The "this or that" Technique

This technique preys on the fact that people seem to have a difficulty focussing on more than two to three things at the same time.

When applying it, I give someone the choice of two options without mentioning the dozen other options available.

"Do you want choclate or vanilla?"

Most of the time he will think he has to make a decision between the two.

This is apparent in the two-party system that doesnt really give the populace much of any choice at all.

In U.S. politics the populace is offered two utterly predictable, stereotype, bland sides to choose from. So much so that we have forgotten what enlightened politics would look like...it would look much more diverse and interesting.

This technique is used in the divide of religion/atheism, liberal/conservative and many, many more areas, blinding the masses towards third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh alternatives.

Remedy: Stay aware that there´s more out there than two sides.

Absolutely brilliant, and yet true. I use these on a daily basis to control the people around me. Sorry if it makes me sound really manipulative, but its all true and it all works perfectly.

Originally posted by Mulphia
Absolutely brilliant, and yet true. I use these on a daily basis to control the people around me. Sorry if it makes me sound really manipulative, but its all true and it all works perfectly.

You know what...everyone uses this stuff to some extent, knowingly or unknowingly.

And then they come to a conspiracy website and blame "them" for doing it.

Your honesty is rare though.

Once again - great thread Skyfloating

Bit busy at work right now but will certainly be participating in this one.

I often wonder though - would these manipulation techniques be even remotely successful these days without the idiot box? That, to me, is the greatest manipulation weapon of all time.

Originally posted by srsen
I often wonder though - would these manipulation techniques be even remotely successful these days without the idiot box? That, to me, is the greatest manipulation weapon of all time.

I guess anything that can work to our benefit can also work against us, cant it.

As far as Im concerned, Television will raise the intelligence of a stone-age brain, but dumb-down the intelligence of the average brain. Its all a matter of perspective

The problem is that Television hasnt seen any development in the last 50 years and tries to limit its focus to a very narrow band of blandness and brazen stupidity.

This is why the internet, which is at least interactive, is slowly taking away TV-consumers.

In 20 years nobody is going to buy a TV-set anymore because all multimedia (radio, internet, TV) will be combined into a single device.

(imo)

i dont think any of it is manipulative. the fact is, some people are just born with this stuff ingrained in their personality - others have to learn and practice the same techniques.

Just because its natural for one person, and learned for another, shouldn't mean one person is being themselves and the other is being manipulative.

fantastic!,id give you a hundred stars if i could!.man if this stuff was taught on the syllabus the world would be such a better place,democracy would truely mean democracy!.

if you believe in a better world,a democratic world i see it as everyones duty to teach others about how they are manipulated,do it for the sake of all that is good!.

hmmm perhaps we need to start writing about how to manipulate those who wield the power in an abusive way?,turn the tables,ey?....

....i imagine a packed election rally,crowd cheering,fevered,at the beck and call of the roaring politician...broadcast live throughout the nation.....then suddenly the crowd stops cheering to the orators rammed home points,the crowd gets bored,falls increasingly silent and agonizingly makes for the exits as mr manipulator rants on!,result mr manipulator looks an utter fool ranting to an empty hall live on national tv and will have no chance of winning an election!.

heheheheheh




[edit on 6-3-2008 by welivefortheson]

reply to post by Skyfloating


Despite the obvious use of number seven...I really like this thread but have nothing useful to add so I will keep reading. I always enjoy your posts. Starred and flagged.

[edit on 6/3/08 by kosmicjack]

Originally posted by scientist
i dont think any of it is manipulative. the fact is, some people are just born with this stuff ingrained in their personality - others have to learn and practice the same techniques.

Just because its natural for one person, and learned for another, shouldn't mean one person is being themselves and the other is being manipulative.

Oh boy....in your own words, you state that some people are ingrained and others have to learn. Myself? I had to learn. And I didn't learn in a comfy cozy atmosphere with other people.

Which leads me to speculate upon the possibility that people knew about this and didn't tell me. Which leads me to also think that may have been attempting to influence my thoughts and behaviour...or manipulate me.

I have real world experience, not just paranoia and conspiracy theory. I know, the much bally-hooed "Trust me, but I'm not going to prove it" situation.

Difference is, I don't really rely on you, or anyone for that matter, believing my expression of personal experience. I am more of a, let's discuss the 'mechanics' of a situation.

My two cents...

One of the Caesars(don't remember his name), did something like this; He
would have a gathering and fill the air with a noxious smell before his arrival, then right before he came out, he would have perfume diffused into the area!

Good cop/Bad cop, I guess.

Originally posted by MemoryShock
Which leads me to speculate upon the possibility that people knew about this and didn't tell me. Which leads me to also think that may have been attempting to influence my thoughts and behaviour...or manipulate me.

Unless a person is a sociopath or a psychopath, the use of these techniques is more subconscious and impossible to curtail. You just do it, it's second nature. Often, children of divorce learn these techniques first hand by observing the open warfare of their parents and by playing their parents against each other as a means of controlling an out-of-control situation and also gaining attention.

edit: Upon reflection, children use it for reasons not so different from the PTB!

[edit on 6/3/08 by kosmicjack]

Here's a link to a great four part documentary on Edward Bernays, who had a huge influence on how media, corporations and politicians conduct business. It's a good starting place to understanding how things work the way they do. Mass manipulation works. It's real easy - "Drink this beer and you will have hot chicks surrounding you in moments, ready to throw off their clothes and do all sorts of things, just because you drink some cruddy beer that makes you COOL!" - yeah, right.

www.freedocumentaries.org...

For some reason I have the urge to go watch "They Live". Seems appropriate.