Psychological manipulation of the population

Most people are aware that Psychological manipulation goes on in Advertisements... Adverts (Commercials) try to persuade you to buy certain products using all sorts of different techniques... taking into consideration things such as... Timing, target audience, impact,cost etc..

For example... If you want to advertise fast food then you would target teenagers with your advertisement... Stick the advert in the middle of a popular teen program using over the top drama and excited voiceovers... maybe feature a pop stars song (or if you have the budget, the pop star themselves) highlight that the food is cheap and hey presto you have captured your target audience... Hardly rocket science!!!

However, i believe that Psychological manipulation goes much much further... I believe that we are being manipulated from the very start of our lives to the very end...

What first got me thinking about this is documentary’s... I’ve always loved TV documentary’s and have watched them since i was a kid... Anyway, one rainy Saturday afternoon i was watching a nature documentary with my daughter when i realized just how much the commentator was talking without actually saying anything informative... The commentator was speaking in an overexcited God like tone using elements of teen slang and elements of, what i can only describe as, military terminology to emphasize parts that are meant to excite...

“And check this out, just when the victim thinks he’s gotten away, the eagle kicks in the afterburners and dives in... taking out the victim in one quick move, this little rodent doesn’t stand a chance”

Complete crap... Might as well of ended the commentary with “HOORAH” or “F*** YEAH”
i can see with my own eyes that the eagle is diving onto a victim... this type of commentary is not there to be informative so much as to provoke and heighten emotions!!!

Now compare this to quotes from Documentaries that i watched as a kid...

“Life on Earth” 1979
Commentary by David Attenborough
One of the opening quotes...

“There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive. This is the story of how a few of them came to be as they are”

A quote regarding his famous gorilla episode...

“There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know”

In calm clear English David Attenborough was able to educate and captivate, as well as giving it a philosophical edge... He gave a fascinating insight into the world of Animals without making it sound like a sports car commercial!!!

OK... fair enough... there are some really good modern day Documentaries that i have seen, however, i am noticing a trend that is pushing us away from the informative documentary to the adrenalin stimulant documentary... so i hope you understand what i’m getting at!

And its not just Documentary’s... in all sorts of areas we are being manipulated to think with emotional response rather than logic and reason...

News is always presented with a dramatic twist.... have you ever noticed how everything these days is “BREAKING NEWS” and “THIS JUST IN” ???
all hype and Drama.

And every news channel seems to have an agenda which they openly tout!! Whatever happened to impartiality?
I am sure that, since the dawn of reporting, all news outlets have had a secret agenda or political persuasion... but never has it been so obvious and so flaunted!

TV shows, Music, Newspapers, Magazines, Everything... It’s all about emotion, hype and exaggeration!!! Packed with catch phrases and buzz words but almost no real content... We are becoming opinionated without really understanding our opinions... Emotional without knowing why... Ignorant while believing we know it all!!!


I believe that the entire planet is being manipulated through the various media outlets... It’s almost like a new form of control.
Think of this... Whenever a country/empire/leader has had slaves in chains, there has always been revolts. If you wish to control a population you need to control their minds first!!!

Is this what we are seeing? The mass manipulation of the population to prevent us from thinking for ourselves!! To keep us towing the line... Working for the corporates... voting for the two or three political parties under a guise of freedom and democracy?

Or am i simply reading too much unto it? Maybe it’s just the natural progression of, what is essentially, entertainment!!
Or maybe that’s what “they” want us to think (or not think at all as the case may be)

Wholeheartedly agree with you OP, we're surely not the only ones thinking "No sh~ Sherlock" to this?

The news media, I think are by far the worst culprits of this, although I'd say 90% of film, television and mainstream music treats its consumers as vegetative idiots. I think we can take industry into this as well if you want to bear in mind how many people participate in employment that is mostly mundane, repetetive and beneath their intellectual capacity.

Thing is that it makes it easier for industry, entertainment and TPTB to conduct their plans, longterm goals etc when there's a placid, easily susceptible populace, one that barely has an idea of what control OR more importantly objecting to control is.

S+F

Edit to add:

David Attenbrough - truly one of the best television presenters ever.

[edit on 25/3/1010 by jokei]

I am glad you brought this up as I feel the same way and would like to add a little more to this...

I am not proposing that I am 100% sure, I am merely saying I would like other's opions on this after checking this out for themselves.

If you have a DVR it will help for you to see what I am about to propose.
I have noticed just in the last year a change on TV. Using my DVR I have recorded news channels, commercials etc... Then played them back frame by frame, and I found some interesting similarties that one, speed past the eye at regular speed and two appear in predictable places after much research.

Recording different NEWS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC etc.. you will notice frame by frame first, BEFORE someone from Washington speaks, a flash of light comes from the corner of the screen to the middle blinding you, As you watch news and commercials, sports, you will see the same bright light and also circles swirling in the background. Also that strange new sound on television, I can only describe it as SCCHoooop, that seems to dominate the airwaves now.

I have also seen these things on my nephews cartoons.

On most News stations the circles swirl in their logos, and backdrops constantly.

Is this hypnotic? Mind Control? I am not sure but I do know that hypnoisim uses bright lights, sounds and swirls to hypnotize you.

Anyway I would love to know what other's think.

As for the heightened emotional state I agree completely. I feel they do not wish for us to use our minds, brains just our emotions. They are easily swayed.

Spot on Muckster. I enjoy watching nature documentaries too and sadly we won't see any more with the intelligence of people like David Attenborough. The recent trend (since 9/11) has been to militarize everything possible . Poor teens today think that joining the military is a "cool" thing to do (just watch the military's recruitment ads! - high-tech adventureland, it's like extreme sports meets geekdom). Of course the reason to join is to serve one's country, that is if you believe in what their foreign policies are.
My current least favorite commerical is for the new Dodge Ram, 2 tons of "get out of my way" "an iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove" etc. Given the name it's almost as if they want you to go run over someone with the damn thing. Ridiculous!
Ah Madison avenue, what will they come up with next? GI JOE vs AL QAEDA playsets?

And forget the news media - they sold out a long, long time ago when they deregulated media ownership and made the news into a profit-making enterprise instead of public service.

[edit on 25-3-2010 by Asktheanimals]

You aren't alone in your thinking.

Edward Bernays. Sigmund Freud's nephew.

Good luck with your rabbit hole.



If it used to sell products it is certainly used to control emotions, mindsets and political agendas.





[edit on 25/3/2010 by kosmicjack]

an illusion hiding the truth about reality (the matrix)

reply to post by kosmicjack


I had never heard of Edward Bernays before... I’m sure he has a throne in hell!!!

Great video... fascinating stuff that reinforces my own opinions on how the worlds is run and why it is in the state that it’s in...
I guess the question is... will we ever regain our innocence?

I’m beginning to think that we have gone too far... whenever i talk to people, about this subject, they just look at me like I’m nuts... it’s very disheartening