Truth activists have all the facts on our side, but how do we persuade people who stubbornly refuse to listen to those facts? I read a book recently which provides expert marketing and psychology advice for political activists1. This essay summarizes principles of persuasion for use by truth activists.
Those promoting a fascist agenda -- from those who coach political candidates to those who sell wars -- have long been using advanced marketing techniques and psychology to manipulate people. We must understand these techniques in order to shield ourselves from manipulation.
In addition, using these tools in our work to protect our liberties, spread truth and promote justice will make us more effective. 3 Brains
The first thing to understand about persuasion is that every person actually has 3 brains. Top-notch communicators appeal to all 3 brains.
The 3 brains are:
(1) The reptilian brain, which focuses solely on survival, fight-or-flight, and getting away from pain.
(2) The mammalian brain, which handles emotions: love, indignation, compassion, envy, hope, etc.
(3) The human brain (neocortex), where we handle logic, abstract thought, words, symbols and time.
Most people incorrectly assume that if enough facts and logic are presented, people will believe the truth. In fact, psychologists, marketing experts and trial lawyers have found that facts are less persuasive for most people than emotions in reaching decisions.
Why?
The reptilian and monkey portions of our brain reach decisions based upon survival and emotion before the neocortex can make rational decisions. So facts alone won’t convince most people. Instead, stories, images and emotions are what sway most people.
Associating an issue or person with an emotion is called “anchoring”.
Some words convey strong positive or negative emotions, and act as powerful anchor words. For example, Newt Gingrich pushed the following positive words for use by politicians (I have deleted the anchor words which are not appropriate to truth activism, such as "crusade"):
peace... rights... pioneer... proud/pride... building... preserve... pro-(issue): flag, children, environment... reform... confident... incentive... hard work... initiative... common sense... passionate
Just using these words to describe one's position helps to persuade people towards that position. For example, for those who work to expose the fact that the 9/11 Commission did not provide a complete accounting of what happened on September 11, both "truth" and "activist" are positive anchor words, but "truther" doesn't appear on the list, and is not a good anchor. "9/11 truth activist" is a lot more powerful a phrase than "9/11 truther".
George WashingtonGeorge Washington is a pen name. I am using the pen name, with the approval of the publisher, because I have received death threats due to my 9/11 research and writing. I am using a pen name to protect myself and my family.
The answer is "yes." Some of these techniques are routinely taught in business and marketing courses at universities and assorted workshops elsewhere. Given the history of psychology and courses focused on the psychology of propaganda, Nazi psychological tools, Stan Milgram's work on authoritarianism and so on, one can surmise that some of the information in this report is aired in classes. In addition, one can assume that ad agency personnel are aware of some of this information, as are some of the more popular and effective lawyers, writers, etc. In the same vein, one can be sure that there are books and other materials extant covering this sort of subject, although probably not at all as concisely as does this particular, excellent writing!
Hopefully, the author of this fine piece will contact Garda Ghista to find out about the following conference with the thought in mind of his possibly attending a number of its events and/or giving a presentation at one of them.
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