ryoung5367's blog

how your mind is being manipulated

 abuse

I was reading something and I found it interesting even though it was written with comedic language.  I just want to make it clear that these are not my original ideas and therefore I do not want to be accused of plagiarism.

With the two political parties now trying to convince each of us why we should vote for them.  It is interesting to see how politicians, salespeople, and generally anyone trying to convince you to support or buy something can employ techniques to bypass the thinking part of your brain.

The first method is thought-stopping.  This is usually done by having the crowd participate in some type of repetitive chanting of some phrase, such as FOUR MORE YEARS.  The "Analytical" part of your brain and the "Repetitive Task" part tend to operate in separate regions of the brain. But you didn't need an expert to tell you that. You know you can't solve a complex logic puzzle if you are forced to repeat a chant or slogan over and over again while you're doing it. Try it.  This is also why chants are used during meditation to calm the mind.  This is particularly useful when you are giving a stump speech and really don’t want the people to think to deeply about what you are saying.  Both parties utilized this technique during their conventions.

The second method is slipping items into your subconscious. The rise of the internet news portal has given birth to a whole new, sly technique of subconscious insertion. What they have figured out is that most of you don't read the stories, you just browse the headlines. And there's a way to exploit that, based on how the brain stores memories.

The Drudge Report is a great example of this. A single anonymous source will report to some news blog that, say, Senator Smith runs a secret gay bordello in New Orleans. Drudge will run the headline:

NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT SMITH'S SECRET GAY BORDELLO

It doesn't matter that the headline merely involves "questions" about the bordello. The idea has been planted, and two months later when somebody mentions Senator Smith around the water cooler you'll say, "The gay bordello guy, right?"

This is called source amnesia. In the era of the web and information overload, that's a mechanism they can exploit very easily. What they have found is that a piece of information--say, an ugly rumor about a politician--can be presented with all sorts of qualifiers but often the brain will only remember the ugly rumor and completely forget the qualifier.

The third method is controlling what you watch and read.  Now you may think this is nearly impossible in the information age.  Yet they have figured out some sly methods to make sure you only see and read what they want you too.

"Of course the public is misinformed! They're reading that trash in the liberal mainstream media!"

"Of course the public is misinformed! They're watching Faux News and the other trash in the corporate mainstream media!"

Studies show the brain is wired to get a quick high from reading things that agree with our point of view. The same studies proved that, strangely, we also get a rush from intentionally dismissing information that disagrees, no matter how well supported it is. Yes, our brain rewards us for being closed-minded.

So with a little prodding, the followers will happily close themselves in the same echo chamber of talk radio, blogs and cable news outlets that give them that little "They agree with ME!" high.

The fourth method is keeping you in line by using shame. Professionals have more sophisticated methods, but it boils down to the same technique. "They" know that if they can paint an idea as ridiculous, the listener usually won't bother examining it any closer to find out if the ridicule is justified.

After all, why even consider something that's ridiculous? That's only something a ridiculous person would do! And you're not ridiculous ... are you?

"So now they're telling us that--get this, folks--global warming is caused by cows farting! Priceless!"

"And then he said we could save gas by inflating our tires! I couldn't make this stuff up, folks!"

But why does it work? Well, there are these primitive, lower parts of your brain called amygdalae that controls those base, emotional reactions. That's where things like contempt and shame come from, and stimulating it can completely shut down the analytical part of your brain.

Fifth is the use of black or white choices. Listen to an argument between your friends. Any argument. Listen to one guy say John McCain is a Fascist, while his opponent says Barack Obama is a Communist. Watch as even fans of the same football team bitterly divide themselves over whether the new quarterback is going to be "awesome" or "garbage."

Never anything in between. Everyone is a friend or enemy, every band either rules or sucks, black and white, nothing in the middle. They love this, because They can convince you that you must choose either their way, or the most utterly ridiculous option on the opposite extreme.

"Will we fight? Or run away as cowards?!?"

"You're not in favor of the death penalty? So you want murderers to just roam free then!"

Finally is the use of the US vs. Them strategy.

"The heart of America ain't in Hollywood! It's right here in [insert name of small town]!"

"You can listen to what I have to say, or bury you head in the sand with the rest of the sheeple!"

But to really make this one work, they can't just define your group, but have to define your group as the elite group, a shining beacon in a world full of weak-minded walking idiots.

Often this is combined with siege terminology ("The whole country has gone to hell, but we've got to stand up for common sense, folks! It's us against the world!")

The Clinton campaign did this, talking about small towns as being the backbone of America where real, honest people are found. Always there is the unspoken reminder that these honest rural folk are under siege from those scary, phony freaks in the city.

When speaking to those city folk, on the other hand, Barack Obama made the infamous reference to those same small town types clinging to guns and religion, talking about them like they were savages to be studied through binoculars from a tower, with some peasant disease that needs cured by the enlightened.

Just found these interesting.