Anatomy of a Psychological Operation

Dissecting Modern PSYOPS...and a resurfaced video worth watching twice.

Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) conducted by foreign, domestic, or non-state actors have grown so pervasive that one can assume they are simply all encompassing, cross all dimensions and time, and manifest in every variation possible. The nature of PSYOPS themselves — being an attack on the mind to influence, persuade, or change/form opinion — is such that most of the time, the intended audience (or victim, as it so happens) is unaware they have been targeted by a structured psychological attack designed to work against their unconscious mind.

How do you tamper with a mind? How do you structurally alter a thought?

PSYOPS take the fundamental malleability of the human mind to the next level and seek to alter conscious thoughts through unconscious means. They play against the innate fears, weaknesses, and fragilities of the human thought process and inject by overt means, covert means, or somewhere in between — thoughts, ideas, and concepts that are foreign. After a successful PSYOP, an opinion not previously held may now be held, or an opinion held may be dropped. Sometimes they are more subtle in nature, merely influencing to varying degrees opinions already held.

In a way, advertising and propaganda are — while as old as time itself — precursors to modern day PSYOPS which have become fully militarized in every sense of the term. There is no line between ‘military’ and ‘civilian’ space when it comes to the preponderance of modern day PSYOPS in everyday life. Gossip and rumors are the most basic and easily understood concepts of a LITE-PSYOP. For example, young school children spread false information about one another on a playground. If they are caught in the lie, sometimes they get into trouble. Humans seem to universally learn this behavioral pattern early on in life. As a consequence of modern technological advances, young people have become exposed to increasingly greater degrees of PSYOPS and propaganda beginning at a much earlier age. Into adulthood — modern marketing and public relations departments exist to represent the commercialization (or democratization..) of the types of techniques developed by military propaganda departments the world over.

These techniques were specifically brought into more widespread utilization by Edward Bernays who — while recognizable as the preeminent public face of both modern propaganda and modern public relations — is actually a forefather of many psychological warfare tactics. When you watch something as seemingly benign as an advertisement on TV or YouTube, you are bearing witness to the 100+ year old brainchild of one of the earliest identifiable PSYOP warfare operatives. Consider this before your next major purchase decision.

via Unseen Engineers: Biography of an Idea

In a sense — these attacks constantly surround and impact everything in our daily lives. When you are bombarded with ‘news.’ When you are trapped in a no-win discussion over petty conversational topics like ‘current events,’ ‘politics,’ or ‘geopolitics’ as they are commonly understood. Who made them commonly understood, and why?

Watch the video on this post closely.

Who is the intended target? Who is the ‘enemy?’ Why isn’t it self-evident?

Traps above, snares below.