The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media.
William Colby, former CIA Director
ARE YOU A FREE THINKER OR ARE YOU SPOON FED YOUR OPINIONS BY THE POWERS THAT BE? TAKE THE TEST.
1) Do you stand by your convictions, or do you routinely change your opinions when you find out that most people think the opposite way?
2) Do you research things yourself, or do you trust others to do the work for you?
3) Do you fall for the statistics, "experts", and official opinions quoted by others without checking these sources out?
4) Do you feel that you have to quote these same sources whenever you say anything? Does it make you feel uncomfortable just to state an opinion simply because you personally believe it?
5) Do you believe that the majority is always correct, and because of this, it is advantageous to see how most people act before you make your decisions?
If you aren't in charge of your own thoughts and opinions, than someone else is. You have an opinion you say? How can you be sure it's really yours?
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." Verbal Kint from The Usual Suspects
Question:
Does a person who is brain washed know that he is brainwashed?
Answer:
No. That simple realization is the beginning of mental freedom.
Only a Fool Feels Secure in a Fool's Paradise
How are you being manipulated?
1) Pressure from above and below
This form of manipulation is based on a knowledge of human nature. It's a fact that most people want to be on the winning side. If it can be made to seem that "most people" support an idea, the vast percentage of a population will jump on the bandwagon in spite of the population's original opinions. First, you create the impression from above; someone in government or in the media touts an idea. Then you push the idea from below: Any demonstration or grass roots activity that you can highlight in the press can be used to give the impression that the average person supports the idea. You've now "sandwiched" the majority of the population. The average man looks above him and sees support for the idea. He looks below and sees support there also. He will then ask himself, "Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?" and, because an impression of vast support has been created (by a small number of people), the average citizen will then begin to change his opinion. Manipulators know that, as far as control is concerned, it doesn't matter what the truth is if you can create a belief in your target audience.
2) Through the creation of a false "prominence of being"
This is manipulation through exposure. The more a population is exposed to something, the more that population will think that the thing is important or prevalent. Unfortunately, what that population doesn't realize is that the expressed idea or opinion isn't very important or prominent at all. That impression is only being given to them through "control of exposure time". The longer the exposure can be maintained, the more likely it is that peoples' opinions will actually change. Why? Because people want to be on the winning side.
3) By appeals to emotion in spite of a person's or organization's actions
Prominent psychologists (Kolberg among them) have suggested that only ten percent of the population ever reason at the highest, or adult level. It's a sad fact that most people decide what is true and what is not true by consciously or unconsciously basing their opinions on what makes them feel good at the moment. "It feels good, so it must be true." Psychologists have identified this as one of the "cognitive distortions" (or thinking errors). If you regularly engage in this cognitive distortion then you have opened yourself up to being manipulated by those that will utilize this weakness. Those that are most easily manipulated say, "I feel it so it must be so." Those that reason at the adult level say, "I want to know the truth in spite of how I may feel right now. If my emotions conflict with the truth, I will work on lining my emotions up with what I now know is going on."
4) Through a belief in "collectivism"
This is the belief that individuals exist for the service of, or benefit of, larger organizations. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This lie belittles the importance of the individual and benefits those already in power and those who use institutions of government and media for their own selfish purposes. Collectivism also creates the illusion that the individual is obsolete as a power base, when in fact, a society is only as strong as its individuals, and all great ideas, things, and organizations are started and maintained by strong individuals. A belief in collectivism also falsely promotes the idea that great things can't be done by the common man; great things must always be done through existing institutions and already powerful organizations. Again, this is a lie being sold to keep those in power from being challenged. The destructiveness of collectivism doesn't end there. It is also used to justify unjust laws in the guise of "public safety" and lowers all of society to the lowest common denominator. If someone abuses their free agency and commits a crime in one location, because we are now mentally joined in a collective, laws must be created that now "protect" (in reality "punish") everyone everywhere. Even a child knows that it's wrong for one person to be punished for the actions of another. But through the promotion of collectivism, even intelligent individuals are fooled into believing that these same actions performed through law and organizations are now right and justified.
Cont ...