How Would a Global Conspiracy Work? Part 2

In the post war era, the art and science of changing behaviour leapt forward. Dr Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence were a major landmark. Working in the 1980s, he identified 6 ways in which we are hardwired to respond to our environment. Reciprocation, Commitment, Social Proof, Authority, Liking and Scarcity.

For example, we trust authority so we’ll do what doctors tell us. This principle drove pharma’s corruption of the medical establishment. Reciprocation is the reason shops give us freebies. It triggers our impulse to return the favour and buy their product. Social Proof means that we are more likely to conform to the behaviour around us. Even if it means killing people. Scarcity is why we stampede when we’re told there’s a shortage.

These principles have become part of a wider approach to changing human behaviour known as Neuro Linguistic Programming. NLP uses skilfully chosen language and imagery that communicates with both our conscious and subconscious mind. This process can change our thoughts and behaviour.

Hypnosis is similar, though designed to speak only to our subconscious in a controlled environment. Some experts such as Derren Brown bring NLP and Hypnosis together with amazing effect. But the critical link is that both approaches rely on our brain entering an alpha state. This is where we become more suggestible to the desired messages.

It’s not easy, as the subconscious mind isn't rational. It can’t even tell the difference between reality and imagination. Yet complex emotions and impulses are stored there. Fear, love, need for affirmation, status, shame, guilt and much more. When these emotions are triggered through the correct words and images, new beliefs and habits can take root.

Think it couldn’t happen to you? Think again. Have you ever driven safely for 10 minutes while having no conscious recollection of doing so? You were in a state of mild hypnosis. That is why corporations worked so hard to get radios into cars in the 1920s. It also why billboards on busy roads are expensive to hire.

We enter alpha, or subtle hypnotic states throughout the day. Waiting for a train, in a boring meeting, or a long, stimulating conversation. Even our peripheral vision can pick up adverts and imagery during these activities. Watch this to see how it works.

Corporations know this. That’s why social media is so important. Our peripheral vision is bombarded by countless adverts all the time.

They also know how to hack our unconscious. Remember the Silk Cut poster? A slash through smooth purple silk. It was an image designed to produce subconscious stress. What happens when smokers get stressed?

Remember the Cadbury’s TV advert of a gorilla playing the drums? It triggered our sense of freedom and fun. Many see a bite of chocolate as something naughty and liberating. So this was an effective appeal to our subconscious. You could also have used the superb L’Oreal line, “because your worth it.”

And if you are a parent, you are more than familiar with the “pester power” of your children.

NLP is also a two-way door. Our body language tells others about us. It is why police or customs officers often ask you obvious questions when they first stop you. They are gauging your facial reactions as you tell the truth. If these reactions change in response to the important questions, they know you might be lying.

Politicians have only recently understood the power of NLP. Some were pure naturals, like Winston Churchill or Martin Luther King. To a lesser extent NLP was intuitive for Tony Blair and Barrack Obama. Some of their advisors were also trained in its use.

Yet neither came close to the devastating NLP of Donald Trump. He neutralised wedge issues like the border wall, with incongruous yet devastating language: “A big, beautiful powerful wall…with a tremendous beautiful wide-open door.” Trump also seemed to understand that our subconscious likes being spoken to as a child.

He also named his opponents to reflect what the public saw. Jeb Bush was ‘low energy’. His presidential opponent was ‘Crooked Hilary’. These tags resonated. So they stuck like glue.  

Can words really be that important? Yes. Look what happens when they go wrong. Hilary Clinton portrayed Trump as Hitler. His voters were ‘deplorables.’ It simply didn’t match reality and helped her lose. Though it may have helped some democrat activists to perceive electoral fraud as acceptable. Wouldn’t you commit fraud to stop Hitler?

Remain campaigners displayed bad NLP during the Brexit campaign. Many called leave voters ‘thick’ or worse. It backfired spectacularly. A well-known NLP trainer told me, “If I didn't know better, I would say they were trying to lose”. 

Alastair Campbell may have understood this. He used conciliatory language to give Brexit voters permission to change their minds. He blamed people like Nigel Farage for misleading them. It didn’t help. It still implied people were stupid. Also, voters identified so strongly with Farage, another NLP natural, that an attack on him, was an attack on them.

History tells us that simple and positive tends to work better. American First World War song ‘Over There’ is a good example. In 1917 many Americans didn’t know much about Europe and, understandably, still didn’t care. So the line ‘Over There’ was empathetic. It gave them permission to feel that way. So they listened to the catchy tune as the real message went in. “Get your gun…The Yanks are coming.” It was deployed again for the Second World War.

But fear is the most powerful emotion. It works in a different way. Scary news stories can cause our limbic system to kick in. This is our ‘cave man’ brain. Part of our subconscious. It controls “fight or flight”. It evolved thousands of years ago to protect us from wild animals. So a scary headline can be misinterpreted as a mortal threat. It then makes us monitor the source of the danger to look for an answer. That is why bad news sells newspapers.

That is also why the climate crisis is favoured as the open-ended successor to Covid. Fear can be used to anchor the message in every part of our lives.  The fight against climate change. It is being used to install new beliefs and habits in society. A CNN news director admitted much of this in a Project Veritas sting, saying the pandemic was a ‘trial run’.