One of the most effective and insidious techniques of many cult leaders, is the way they 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

They begin by making followers feel special, part of an “inside” group

“Trump uses all kinds of cult tactics...to confuse, disorient, and ultimately coerce his followers ...

𝑹𝑬𝑷𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 programs the beliefs into the unconscious.

...fearmongering tops the list”

— Steven Hassan

Phobia Indoctrination: “the creation of fearful thoughts to promote & reinforce a desired set of beliefs or behaviors...”

“The more vivid the thought or image installed...the greater a hold it has, and the less susceptible it is to rational or critical thought” — Steven Hassan

“Inspiring fear ..overrides people’s sense of 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚.”

Your sense of 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 is your FREEDOM to make your own choices, to act on your own. Your free will.

“It ...can make them more 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 and 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕.”

MAGA: Give up your freedom, be obedient

“the stronger the emotions involved, the likelier something is to go viral.”

— LikeWar: P. W. Singer, Emerson T. Brooking
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1287103917894107137?s=21 https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1287103917894107137

Your need to belong...
To be part of something...
To be accepted
To have a purpose
To feel important
To feel like you matter

All of that ↑ can be exploited by:
Cult leaders
Extremist orgs
Trump
https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1287113088806920193?s=21 https://twitter.com/lululemew/status/1287113088806920193

Also...it doesn’t just affect the right.

Using 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍, bad actors can—by manipulating your emotions WITHOUT YOU REALIZING IT—make you do things that can be used against you & can harm your cause.

Check your rage before you tweet.

“...there is a constant battle ... for the possession of man’s thoughts, emotions, & attitudes—influencing his will to fight, to stop fighting...”

—Robert D. Leigh, director of the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service, in testimony before Congress in 1944

Ahem: Rallies

Argumentum ad populum
“Appeal to the crowd”

from Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump by @jenmercieca
https://a.co/9SkVwKN 

#rallies
“..demagogues can use the presence of a large crowd of people as evidence of widespread support, claiming that the size of the crowd is evidence that the demagogue speaks the truth and represents the true voice of the people.

Demagogue for President by @jenmercieca

‘demagogues can use large crowds of people to heighten the emotional responses...to manipulate “the emotions of those present” in order to “to get his way.”’ —Demagogue for President by @jenmercieca

#rallies

Demagogues, dictators, cult leaders, abusers, corporations, extremist orgs...
there’s one common thread:

The need to control.

“Active measures erode that order...slowly, subtly, like ice melting. This slowness makes disinformation that much more insidious, because when the authority of evidence is eroded, emotions fill the gap.“ —Thomas Rid

#emotions

“What made an active measure active was not whether a construction resonated with reality, but whether it resonated with 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔...”

— Active Measures: by Thomas Rid

https://twitter.com/glennkesslerwp/status/1287120381644505089?s=21 https://twitter.com/glennkesslerwp/status/1287120381644505089

Historical example of emotional manipulation in active measures campaign:

“...unlike facts...𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 are processed in the limbic part of the brain, the 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏-provoking part of the brain. And when the emotion-provoking part of the brain is stimulated, it tends to *shut down critical thinking*.”

— Words on Fire: by Helio Fred Garcia

“within the context of modern radical terrorism, outrage can be the more important consequence of terrorist acts...”

“Online influence operations involve the weaponization of emotion, of technological innovation to better capitalize on those emotions, and of a keen understanding of the growing distrust in democratic societies...”

— How to Lose the Information War
by Nina Jankowicz