How to manipulate the masses — 10 effective ways

We all know perfectly well that they are trying to manipulate and control us all the time. This is done by politicians, bosses at work, people who need something from you, and even relatives and friends. But the most ambitious actions aimed at controlling our thoughts and actions are undoubtedly deployed by political forces. We have described 10 main ways of manipulating the masses, which we, without knowing it, face on a daily basis.

At all times, the main way to manage people has been to divert their attention from serious problems related to the political and economic situation to insignificant events that artificially saturate the information space.

Distraction is great for preventing people from improving themselves, gaining important knowledge in philosophy, economics, psychology, cybernetics and other advanced sciences. Knowledge is being replaced by mystical stories, show business and sports news, erotic materials and "soap operas".

This technique, widely used by politicians, is sometimes called "problem-reaction-solution". To do this, a certain problem is created that causes a reaction of the population, for a qualitative solution of which the indispensable participation of the authorities is required.

Various forms of violence are often used for this purpose — from the artificial deterioration of the criminogenic situation in cities, to the organization of terrorist acts. In this case, the citizens themselves demand to "tighten the screws" — to take particularly tough measures to ensure security, as well as to take the path of a policy that infringes on basic civil liberties.

An economic, man-made or terrorist crisis can force people to sacrifice their rights by accepting the most unpopular methods of the authorities as an "inevitable evil". We should always remember that crises are not born by themselves, but, as a rule, are created artificially to force us to give up our rights.

In order for the masses to approve any unpopular measure, it is necessary to introduce it gradually. Sometimes it takes days, sometimes weeks, and sometimes years — it all depends on how serious the interference in your life will be. This is how new socio-economic conditions were imposed in the 80-90s of the XX century.

Mass unemployment, impoverishment of the population, uncontrolled privatization, minimizing the functions of the state and general instability — if all these factors fell on the heads of the people at the same time, it would inevitably cause a revolution.

You can submit an unpopular decision in another clever way — to present it as painful and extremely necessary, but at the same time inform about its implementation in the distant future. Of course, the approval of the masses must be obtained here and now — the people are more willing to agree to some sacrifices for the common good in the dim future.

Many are warmed by the thought that it will not be soon, others secretly hope that something will change for the better during the time and there will be no need to sacrifice anything. And, of course, both are gradually getting used to the idea of future changes for the worse.

If you have noticed, in propaganda speeches, speakers often address the audience as children or adults, but with mental disabilities. Patronizing intonations, primitive arguments, simple comparisons and a limited set of the most popular words — such a set of infantile phrases helps to mislead listeners.

Psychologists have noticed that when addressing a person as a child of 8-10 years old, the probability of getting an adult response formed on the basis of a critical assessment is quite small. This is due to the suggestibility of people and is actively used by manipulators who mislead or impose their opinion on others.

A classic technique of neuro—linguistic programming is to block a person's ability to rationally analyze what is happening, or better yet, to critically comprehend the phenomenon with the help of emotions. The use of the emotional factor opens up ample opportunities for access to the subconscious, where fears, thoughts, desires and even completely ready-made behaviors can be easily laid.

Emotions never contribute to logic, therefore, if the media surround you with nightmares related to terrorism, injustice of the authorities, humiliations, then they are trying to manipulate you, distracting you from the true causes of all the surrounding troubles.

The main tool in this case is the cultivation of ignorance, in order to increase the gap between the upper and lower classes of society. Most often this is done with the help of education — a gradual decrease in its quality helps to get people with primitive thinking and low demands. The goal is to prevent people from understanding the ways and techniques used to influence their consciousness.

Instilling in the population the idea that it is fashionable to be vulgar, stupid and ill-mannered. The method is directly related to the previous one, aimed at forming a "dark" society with a minimum of knowledge. Mediocre is presented as a standard of quality, and this scheme works in all aspects of society — in culture, science, religion, politics.

The "yellow press", low—grade pop music, stupid movies, toilet humor - everything that television, radio and the Internet pour out on us is designed to limit, prevent the expansion of consciousness and prevent us from delving into the real structure of the modern world.

In this case, a person is convinced that it is he himself who is to blame for all the troubles, which are allegedly a direct consequence of his low mental abilities, lack of talents or pathological laziness. As a result, a person, instead of being outraged by the treachery of those in power, begins to engage in self-deprecation and self-examination, looking for the causes of all the troubles in himself.

Politicians, scientists, religious figures have learned to influence people effectively enough, causing self-flagellation, managing their interests and directing actions in the direction they need. In this case, there can be no question of any rebellion against the system.

Over the past 50 years, science has made a tremendous leap forward, but it did not happen for the benefit of all mankind. This breakthrough only deepened the gap in the knowledge of the ruling classes and the people. Applied psychology, neurobiology and other human sciences have provided those in power with solid knowledge about the human psyche and physiology. The system has a large amount of knowledge about a person, which means it has more power over people.