Manipulations
Introduction
This is a memory aid, not academic research.
Sometimes the lines between manipulations are blurred, and the separation is not always perfectly clean.
It can also happen that people manipulate by mistake, or that one interprets too much into things.
The truth is, as always, hidden somewhere in the middle.
Divide and Conquer
Groups are split and incited against each other so they fight instead of questioning the actual system.
This creates a deep division because a whole group is deliberately attacked or stigmatized.
- "When two quarrel, the third benefits."
The War:
You support Party A, the others support Party B. While you are beating each other's heads in, you forget what is happening in your own country (rents are rising, wages are stagnating, infrastructure is crumbling, etc.).
The External Enemy:
"All foreigners are criminals."
(Creating a blanket scapegoat to distract from structural problems.)
The Gender War:
"Not all men, but always men"
"All women just want money"
"The other gender has it better"
etc.
The genders are polarized against each other, instead of fighting together for true equality and understanding.
("Red Pill", radical feminism)
The Generational Conflict:
"Boomers are to blame for climate change."
"The young are too lazy."
(Splitting by generations.)
Blame-Shifting (Scapegoating)
Instead of analyzing complex causes, one points the finger at a simple person or group to distract from true, uncomfortable causes.
This creates an enemy image and gives people the deceptive feeling of an explanation.
You no longer have to think, you just fight the scapegoat while the real problems remain unsolved.
The psychological consequences of false blame:
If someone takes the blame even though they are innocent or have nothing to do with it, their psyche is heavily burdened.
The person affected begins to question their own existence, feels deep guilt, and can consequently fall into depression in the long term.
Self-confidence is systematically dismantled.
As a result, one becomes a broken person.
The Gender War:
"The man / the woman is to blame for the current situation."
"The man is to blame because of the patriarchy"
"The woman is to blame because she ate from the forbidden apple" (Original sin, Bible, religion, Adam and Eve)
(Instead of talking about structural inequality, an entire gender is made responsible.)
Collective Guilt:
"The German is to blame because Germans caused much suffering in the 1st and 2nd World Wars."
"The Russian, Iranian, Turk, or Indian is to blame because he comes from his home country."
(Making a whole people or individuals responsible for historical acts or the actions of a whole country.)
Always ask:
"Is it really that simple? Or are there reasons that are more complex?"
Censorship
You are shown only one side of the truth, the other remains hidden. You think you see the whole picture, but you only see what they want to show you.
It is argued that the other side spreads extremism, disinformation, or hate. Therefore, one must "protect" oneself from the information.
But watch out:
Not everything the other side says is automatically wrong. And not everything your own side presents is automatically right.
What you must do:
- Research for yourself
- Listen to both sides
- Form your own opinion
Pseudoscience
Buzzwords or "intelligent" words, statistics, and quotes from scientists are used to appear academic and intellectual.
BUT
It is not described how the statistics were collected, how many participants were involved, or how the experiment even took place.
Criticism of one's own research is simply silenced.
People blindly believe the "expert" without seeing real proof or understanding the methodology.
One trusts the facade of science, not science itself.
- "Science proves that..."
- "The expert has proven that..."
But the experiments are not explained.
Science should not be an authority, but a method:
- Read and check statistics, experiments, and sources
- Understand the conclusions
- Read criticism
- Form your own opinion
Distraction
A scandal, an extreme event, or a "war" is deliberately created to distract from an even worse or more unpleasant topic.
The Legislative Trick:
A very unpopular or drastic law is passed. However, the law is so complex and has so much text that it is not clear.
As a result, even worse regulations get lost in the text of the law.
However, sometimes it is pure coincidence, but often an ice-cold tactic.
Normalization
When things are constantly repeated or shown, they become normalized. They are no longer questioned and are viewed as the "average" or "natural".
As a result, one might know that something is "bad" or wrong, but dismisses it with "It is what it is" or "That's just how it's always been".
Many people no longer see the problem at all because they know nothing else.
And if you do emphasize and question it, it is precisely the person pointing out the problem who gets attacked.
Examples
- "Men are strong, women are weak."
- "You have to protect women" (but men are ignored)
- "Don't hit a woman" / "Real men don't hit women." (Why is this gender-specific? Is a woman allowed to hit a man? It should be self-evident that you don't hit anyone).
- "Boys will be boys."
Stoking Fear (Fearmongering)
Statistics and numbers are presented in an extremely distorted way or exaggerated massively to create panic. Sometimes, direct lies are told.
One talks obsessively about one threatening thing and completely ignores all other contexts, backgrounds, or reassuring facts.
Fear makes people irrational. Those who are afraid turn off their critical thinking and seek protection. Often, they then blindly follow the one who promises to banish the alleged danger, which is usually the manipulator themselves.
Appeal to Authority
An expert is asked, but the expert is either from a company, pursues an ideology, or has a distorted worldview. As a result, people believe the expert, even though they do not see the sources, statistics, and experiments, and trust blindly.
Advertising:
An entrepreneur creates skin products and presents positive feedback from an expert who is paid by the same company.
Religion:
Something is written in the "holy" book, and therefore it must be obeyed. Anyone who questions it commits blasphemy.
Always the Opposite (Blind Anti-Mainstream)
You always do the opposite of what the media or the mainstream says. You lull yourself into the illusion of being particularly critical or "awake". In reality, however, you become just as blind as the masses.
If the mainstream exceptionally has legitimate, good arguments, you automatically reject them just because they come "from the mainstream".
- The other side of the sheep
Repetition
If you repeat a lie often enough, it is believed. Unless you criticize or contradict this lie every time it appears.
Prejudgment (Misrepresenting in Advance)
The opposing side is presented in an extremely distorted or negative way from the outset. As a result, this side gets a bad reputation before a real argument has even been exchanged. You no longer listen to the opposing side at all or automatically reject their points, regardless of whether the arguments are valid or not. The opinion is already formed before the actual discussion begins.
The Straw Man
A distorted, exaggerated, or completely false version of the opponent's argument is built, just to destroy it easily. In doing so, inappropriate examples are chosen, or ones that only support one's own argumentation.
False Alternatives
A few possibilities are presented, but all these options only serve the manipulator, not the population. In truth, both paths are chosen so that only the manipulator wins in the end. The third, fair path is simply kept silent.
Cherry Picking
One intentionally addresses only the bad, false, weakest, or most extreme arguments of the opposing side. It seems fair and as if one is seriously engaging with the other side. But one completely ignores the strong, justified points of the opposing side. You only pick the "rotten apples" to pretend that the whole tree is bad.
Do you know other manipulation techniques?
