It's no secret that numerous media outlets around the world manipulate public opinion in favor of their owners and the government as a whole. To protect yourself and loved ones from the flow of manipulation, you need to imagine how this flow works and what it consists of. In this case, it becomes easy to outline the main directions of protection and counteraction to the manipulative flow. Let's turn to the authorities in the field of linguistics and linguistics. Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, social activist, author of books and political analyst, author of the classification of formal languages, called chomsky hierarchy, his work led to a shift in the center of gravity from the psychology of behaviorism towards cognitive psychology.Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The New York Times Book Review once wrote, "Judging by the energy, scope, novelty, and influence of his ideas, Noam Chomsky is perhaps the most important intellectual alive today."
Noam Chomsky compiled a list of "10 ways to manipulate" with the help of the media.
In the history of the development of psychology, humanistic psychology appears, among other things, as a response to manipulation. Each of the 10 methods of manipulation is accompanied by a technology of protection based on humanistic psychology, which is based on the development of personality and self-awareness.
1- Distraction of attention
The main element of the management of society is the distraction of people's attention from important problems and decisions made by political and economic ruling circles, through the constant saturation of the information space with insignificant messages. The technique of distraction is very important in order to prevent citizens from gaining important knowledge in the field of science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and cybernetics.
"Constantly distract the attention of citizens from real social problems, switching it to topics that do not have real significance. To ensure that citizens are constantly busy with something and they do not have time for reflection; from the field to the corral, like all other animals (quote from the book "Quiet Weapons for Calm Wars").
Protection against distracting maneuvers:
– the ability to distinguish the essential from the insignificant
– nonconformism
– Ability to hold attention
– ability to enjoy silence, meditation practices, communication with nature
– good taste, culture, upbringing
2- Create problems, and then suggest ways to solve them
This method is also called "problem-reaction-solution". A problem is created, a kind of "situation" designed to provoke a certain reaction among the population so that it itself demands the adoption of measures that are necessary for the ruling circles. For example, to allow the spiral of violence in cities or to organize bloody terrorist attacks in order for citizens to demand the adoption of laws to strengthen security measures and implement policies that infringe on civil liberties.
Or: to cause an economic crisis in order to force to accept as a necessary evil the violation of social rights and the curtailment of the work of city services.
Problem-response-solution protection:
– the ability to independently solve problems, at least, to look for and find ways to solve them
– do not support the proposed solutions on emotions, make an informed choice
– Track cause-and-effect relationships, for example, a violation of social rights should not improve the economy at all
– consider extremes, similar to the range of permissible values in algebra, i.e. the area of action of the proposed solution
3- Method of gradual application
To achieve the adoption of any unpopular measure, it is enough to introduce it gradually, day by day, year after year. It was in this way that fundamentally new socio-economic conditions (neoliberalism) were imposed in the 80s and 90s of the last century.
Minimization of the functions of the state, privatization, uncertainty, instability, mass unemployment, wages that no longer provide a decent life. If all this had happened at the same time, it would certainly have led to a revolution.
Protection against gradual implementation:
– the ability to foresee: what will the given trends lead to
– the ability to be attentive to trifles: "you sow a habit – you reap character" acts only at the level of an individual, but also at the level of society, it is easier not to take the first step than to turn away from the path started, therefore, not to be afraid to be "petty", to pay attention to trifles, to think about what a particular "trifle" can lead to
– ability to stop in time
– ability to argue and prove your point of view
4- Postponement of execution
Another way to push through an unpopular decision is to present it as "painful and necessary" and to obtain citizens' consent for its implementation in the future. It's much easier to accept any sacrifices in the future than in the present.
First, because it won't happen immediately. Secondly, because the people, for the most part, are always inclined to cherish naïve hopes that "tomorrow everything will change for the better" and that the sacrifices that are demanded of them will be avoided. This gives citizens more time to get used to the idea of change and humbly embrace it when the time comes.
Protection against delayed use:
– the ability to think about the future, instead of the popular slogan "here and now"
– Ability to seek and find solutions to problems that may arise in the future
– Ability to say "no"
– ability not to succumb to provocations
– the ability to use the postponement to overturn the decision, based primarily on the search for alternative more promising solutions
5- Address the people as small children
Most propaganda speeches aimed at the general public use such arguments, characters, words and intonation, as if they were school-age children with developmental delays or mentally handicapped individuals.
The more intensely someone tries to mislead the listener, the more he tries to use infantile speech turns. Why? "If someone addresses a person as if they are 12 or younger years old, then due to suggestibility, in response or reaction of this person, with a certain degree of probability, there will also be no critical assessment, which is typical for children aged 12 years or less.
Protection from conspicuous opinions:
– ability to talk on an equal footing in any situation
– ability to work with information and request it, curiosity
– ability to suppress attempts of dictate, conversation from a top-down and bottom-up position
– Independence of thought and action
6- Focus on emotions to a much greater extent than on reflection
The impact on emotions is a classic technique aimed at blocking the ability of people to rational analysis, and as a result, to the ability to critically comprehend what is happening. On the other hand, the use of the emotional factor allows you to open the door to the subconscious in order to introduce thoughts, desires, fears, fears, compulsions or stable patterns of behavior there.
Protection against inappropriate emotionality:
– ability to think and speak to the point
– ability to see goals and objectives behind words
– Managing Your Emotions
7- Keep people in ignorance by cultivating mediocrity
To ensure that people become incapable of understanding the techniques and methods used to control and bend them to their will. "The quality of education provided to the lower social classes must be as scarce and mediocre as possible so that the ignorance that separates the lower social classes from the higher classes remains at a level that the lower classes cannot overcome.
Protection against ignorance:
– learn, learn and learn, especially think
– Teach those who want to think
– a banal increase in the general cultural level
– positive thinking: the ability to see the possibilities of growth and development in specific situations
8- Encourage citizens to admire mediocrity
Introduce into the population the idea that it is fashionable to be stupid, vulgar and ill-mannered …
Protection against mediocrity:
-squeamishness
– nonconformism
– spontaneity, as a rule, the first reaction of a healthy psyche is the most correct, "unfashionable", "outdated", "not in the mainstream" – these and similar thoughts are most likely dictated by emotional laziness, non-conformism or something similar, often it is enough to say "and the king is naked" alone to find out all this noticed, only afraid to say it
– classical, classical music, literature, painting, traditional folk culture can be reliable defenders against mediocrity
9- Increase one's sense of guilt
Make a person believe that only he is guilty of his own misfortunes, which occur due to a lack of his mental capabilities, abilities or efforts. As a result, instead of rebelling against the economic system, a person begins to engage in self-deprecation, blaming himself for everything, which causes a depressed state, leading, among other things, to inaction. And without action, there can be no talk of any revolution!
Protection against guilt:
– a conscious rejection of the position of "victim", since the accuser accepts the position of the victim, ready to bear punishment for the sins of his own and others, sprinkle ashes on his head and wait for punishment, instead of simply correcting the mistake made, without going into the details of whose exactness it is
– self-development, meaning the process when "I today" slightly exceeds "I yesterday" in knowledge, achievements, skills, etc.
– independence and responsibility, first of all, for oneself
– the ability to "think, plan, act" – consistency is important, allowing you to move forward, instead of treading on the spot, redoing, throwing from side to side
– the ability to recognize both the right to mistakes and the need to correct them
10- Know more about people than they know about themselves
Over the past 50 years, advances in the development of science have led to the formation of an ever-widening gap between the knowledge of ordinary people and the information possessed and used by the ruling classes.
Thanks to biology, neurobiology and applied psychology, the "system" has at its disposal advanced knowledge about man, both in the field of physiology and psyche. The system managed to learn more about the average person than he knows about himself. This means that in most cases, the system wields more power and governs people more than they do.
Protection against usurpation of reliable information:
– Ability to search, find and share information
– Reliable information sources
– Higher education
All methods of protection can be studied at school, some of them are the natural process of personality development from the age of three, gradually developing the personality can be practically invulnerable to manipulators, unreliable information and double standards. In any case, while a person is developing and looking for his own kind in a murky information flow, he has every chance to "get away with it".