“The Times They Are a-Changin'” – Bob Dylan
Fredericton -Is it only the bad guys who use propaganda to persuade people to conform to their ideology, or is propaganda is all around us, the news, the billboard signs, advertisement, and so on?
If you look at the objectives of persuasion of the masses, you will see that all follow the same principles. What are these principles to persuade the masses? 1. Scarcity, 2. Consensus 3. Likability 4. Authority, 5. Reciprocity 6. Consistency. These are the six principles that Robert Cialdini put forth back in 1984. However, there is another principle that Cialdini never spoke about, and that is messages the elicits a strong emotional response either in support or against a given thought, which would be the seventh principle of persuasion.
Yet, we are constantly bombarded with messages that attempt to cater to our emotions, more so than our rationality when it comes to influencing our thoughts.
Edward Bernay, Sigmund Freud’s nephew understanding his uncle’s psychoanalytical theories, realized very well how the unconscious mind can be manipulated if the correct stimuli are applied to the human organic processing unit (the brain … lol). [Bernay is also known as the father of propaganda]
If we are unconscious of the forces that influence our thinking, then free will is just an illusion that the ruling elites manipulate to advance their power and control. Whether or not one accepts it, we are programmed right from birth and on.
The only defence is understanding the psychology and the sociology behind the schools of influence and persuasion, which interesting enough isn’t taught in school.
The Left Eye 