Sometimes I say to myself, “No, these people can’t be that stupid.” With a bit of logic, they’d see that what they believe is nonsense, that what’s being said is lies.
It doesn’t work.
Worse still, they start teaching engineers engineering, doctors medicine, biologists biology. In the social sciences it’s even worse. History, sociology, psychology — everyone thinks they can do them. (I’m including myself here. What do I know about psychology? So, think twice about what I say and consult an expert.)
The quack, the madman, the half-smart one, the bespectacled and the not — they all come out with half-baked, distorted facts and fool people, building followings. The more scientific a subject is, the less they understand it; so when they see a title, they nod and believe. The more unknown something is, the more mystical it becomes. When everyone buys the mystic story someone cooked up, it becomes “true.” Meanwhile a few make a living from it and the majority end up paranoid with conspiracy theories.
Vaccines, 5G, TV, Starlink, 9/11, HAARP, the Illuminati, Freemasons — the list goes on.
Long story short: the human brain is not as advanced as we think. It’s very easy to manipulate. White can become black. The Mandela Effect, the Stanford Prison Experiment, Milgram’s obedience study, Loftus and Palmer, the “lost child in a mall” technique — these are good examples. Look them up when you have time. (Also: The Politics of Design by Ruben Pater.)
Another example is elections. You might not have noticed, but the ruling party’s statements were technically always correct — yet by themselves they meant nothing. Someone who can’t read data would easily say, “Look how much we progressed, how far we’ve come, it used to be like that,” and they did. Another manipulation was the leadership blaming the opposition for every failure. Because the rulers managed to dump all shortcomings onto the act of governance. Then, when the non-ruling side said, “We’ll do this,” people’s answer became, “Why didn’t you do this before?” It should have been the other way around, but the one with all the manipulative tools and successful propaganda won.
Manipulation exists in every area of life and occurs with many different methods. Mastering the methods and techniques can take a long time — sometimes proper training is required. Still, understanding when and how manipulation is used in human relationships and recognizing these techniques is important.
Manipulation is applied through various means aimed at preventing the person from noticing they’re being influenced. Learning these methods is the greatest defense against them. That’s precisely the purpose of this entire series: to help you recognize them.
Learning to apply manipulation techniques is a personal choice. If you’re ignorant about this field, succeeding in life may be harder because it means you’re open to being used. Your personality, education, and life experience all affect your awareness, understanding, and ability to learn about manipulation.
First, it’s important to know which type of manipulation is used in which situations — and to choose the right target.
For example, possible targets might include:
- People’s attention, needs, and tendencies
- Appearance and worldview (political, religious, moral)
- A person’s behavior, thought patterns, personality, professional abilities
- Mental and emotional state (their condition at the moment)
For a manipulation to succeed, gathering information about the person and preparing for the target is important. Experienced manipulators consider the conditions and the environment when preparing. They try to amplify emotional and cognitive effects to encourage the desired behavior. That’s why isolated places are often preferred — so the person’s attention won’t be distracted and they can’t escape the effects of manipulation. Sometimes the opposite applies. You can think of this not only on the individual level but also socially and systemically. Echo chambers, poverty, and anxiety about the future create ideal conditions.
A successful manipulation depends on how you communicate, how you prepare the environment, and the setting itself. Communication is very important in social life and the workplace.
Experienced manipulators know what they’re doing. They communicate with many people and do everything that can strengthen their relationships (building trust). This is their preparation period, during which they use many communication techniques and conversations.
The basis of the techniques used is common interest, openness, and a smiling face — these are key to creating a good communication atmosphere. Some manipulators mimic the other person’s gestures, facial expressions, and movements. This method, called “mirroring,” unconsciously affects the other person, gives them a sense of trust, and makes them feel close — like “they’re one of us.” (Emotional bonding: feels like me, feels like one of us.)
When the preparation stage is complete, all information is gathered and the other person’s weak points are identified, it’s time to use manipulation techniques. Although some situations don’t require preliminary preparation, careful planning and personal understanding are often needed for manipulation to be effective.
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