The battle to control your thoughts rages on, between politicians, advertisers, social media, apps, causes, movements, they all want to hijack your attention, and more to the point your thought processes.
In the last article Mind Control - How To Defend Against Brainwashing we looked at three ways in which your mind can be controlled into thinking a certain way about a product, person, or group of people. In this post we will look at a few more sneaky tactics used to get you to think how they want you to think.
As we humans progressed from the plains of Africa to the multitude of villages, towns, and cities we have today. We would have had to deal with some pretty base instincts surrounding trust.
Herd animals trust each other out of necessity, one gazelle on its own will not fair as well as if it is in a group of hundreds.
Conversely dominant carnivores only need to trust enough their immediate and extended families, thus they tend to live in smaller groups.
If human beings were going to overcome the urge to mistrust anyone from outside the group, certain things had to happen. For one, qualities like reliability would have become valued social currency. Thus social-Darwinism would have taken care of untrustworthy individuals.
Knowing that information gives those who would want to control us a backdoor key to our minds, and it is a key that they are continually using.
These dastardly men and women know that if they get you to commit to something, even in private, then you are much more likely to stay committed to that thing. If they get you to do it in public, then all the better!
For example you may watch a facebook post that is advertising a particular brand of clothing. The video used is pretty funny, so you watch it. Underneath in the comment section there is an innocuous looking poll.
Do You Prefer The Pink Spandex Or The Blue?
I Like Fashion Co. Pink
I Like Fashion Co. Blue
Though it may look a silly and harmless part of the funny video you have just watched; the fictitious poll above is used to get your commitment to the pretend company Fashion Co.
Notice the question, it asks; Do You Prefer The Pink Spandex Or The Blue? Then the actual poll questions are not questions at all, they are statements and if you click on one of the 'answers', you are in fact making a statement, you are saying that you like Fashion Co.'s spandex line of clothing.
It may seem small, and it is, however from this first small acorn of commitment, can grow a mighty oak tree of brand loyalty. Perhaps at some point down the line, you see a competition being run by Fashion Co., they are giving away $25,000. All you have to do is write 250 words on the subject of why you love the company and its products.
Maybe in between the funny promo video and the essay competition, you have been on twitter or instagram, retweeting or favouriting depending on which particular fashion item you prefer.
Before long, you come to the decision, seemingly of your own volition, that you love Fashion Co., they are a company that just speaks to you, and their clothes are comfortable and fashionable which is why you love them soooo much.
Because women are more susceptible, and generally more amenable to advertising; you will find these tactics used in women's magazines and advertising aimed at women in general, though it is by no means gender exclusive.
If you're still in doubt, consider the findings of Dr Edgar Schein regarding American POWs in the Korean war. The Chinese decided to take a much more subtle approach than their North Korean counterparts, to the problem of gaining intelligence from captured enemy soldiers.
In an initial interrogation, a Chinese officer might ask an American POW to make small concessions. For instance they might ask them to admit that perhaps America wasn't perfect. Or maybe it's possible that there might be less unemployment in a communist country.
Then later down the line, they may ask them to list things that were not perfect about America. In a parallel with competition marketing, the Chinese officers would hold a weekly essay writing competition; to which the winner would get extra rice rations, or some other small prize.
The subject of the essays were things like Why Capitalism Is Not The Answer, or Ways In Which communism may improve America.
Any essays that were too obviously trying to cosy favour with their captors were dismissed. Instead the winning essays were ones that gave well balanced facts, with only a slight anti-American feeling.
The results were that all American soldiers at some point collaborated with the Chinese, through varying degrees. Some only made small concessions, others made much grander gestures. So much so, that even after returning to America, they stood by some of those essays, simply because of the natural need to appear consistent and reliable.
Mind Control Points: 5/5
Best Defence Mechanism: Always question your need to take part in a poll or fill in a survey. Is it a genuinely important enough subject to warrant you filling in the poll, and will the results of the survey make any difference to the issue(s) its addressing? Refrain from affiliating yourself with one brand over another, recognise when certain products are the same regardless of who makes them.
Most of us understand what social proof is, put simply, social proof is the tool which we use to work out if something is worth doing or not. It is why social media sites, including this one, display how many followers a user has, and how many people that person is following.
The ultimate status symbol on Twitter is to have a million followers, yet only be following one person. It is the social proof that you are popular, and so sends a message out to anyone thinking of following you, That message is simple, it says; you won't be doing anything weird by following this person.
Another message might be; Don't worry, others find this person entertaining, which means you will too.
Of course both of those messages might not be true, however due to the fact that we're always looking to lighten our cognitive load by using shortcuts in our thinking. Social proof works time and time again, why else do you think a movie broadcasts how much money it has made in its first weekend?
As you'd expect, social proof is the main tool of influence for social media. This is why facebook informs you of what your friends are voting on and liking. It is also why politicians hold rallies, so that you can see how popular they are with everyone else. We are much more likely to do things if others have done them first.
Mind Control Points: 3/5
Best Defence Mechanism: There is nothing wrong with using social proof as an action indicator. For instance a busy restaurant probably has great food. In the same way an empty one, in a busy part of town on a Friday night, may well be an indicator that the food is bad. However it may also point to the fact that everyone thinks like that, and the empty restaurant provides a great dining experience, it's just that nobody has wanted to be the first customers. Just be aware if you are liking something because everyone else does, or you genuinely want to take part in whatever being presented to you.
Further reading:
Studies On American POWs during Korean War. Source: Edgar Schein Brainwashing Pdf
Mind Control - How To Defend Against Brainwashing
DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER MIND CONTROL TECHNIQUES THAT ARE BEING FOIST UPON US DAILY? ARE YOU AWARE OF ALL THE SNEAKY WAYS YOU ARE BEING COERCED INTO BUYING STUFF AND SUPPORTING CAUSES THAT LEFT TO YOUR OWN DEVICES YOU WOULDN'T?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
