Keeping people in a controlled state is an entire science, dating back to the dawn of civilization and forming an integral part of it. The drive for power and control appears to be part of human nature—though I dare to hope, of its lower aspects. From the age of shamanism, through the mechanical tricks of the ancient Greek inventor Heron—thanks to which temple doors would “open by themselves,” supposedly by the will of the gods—through religion, and all the way to today’s political and PR campaigns, psychological operations, and global manipulations, this drive has manifested in countless forms and by every conceivable means. And it continues far beyond the imagination of the average person, toward the frightening possibilities of the digital and virtual world to exert control over consciousness—possibilities long foreshadowed by dystopian novels and films that attempted to warn us.

Poking, probing, and manipulating the human soul and psyche—with the aid of science—are simply too tempting an opportunity for those in power. As a result, Humanism seems to be trampled by Power, rushing toward total control over human consciousness. We see how the lust for power, having placed Reason in its service, gradually turns into a threat to the Human Spirit. In an age of technological progress, psychological and social technologies have become an indispensable component of the modern social order—without them, societies could not be kept within the framework desired by elites.

Without mass-produced illusions about tomorrow, without the repetition of specific slogans and mantras tied to elite-approved social behavior and thinking, without the cultivation of particular fears, the current order could not survive. It would disintegrate into public dissatisfaction, nihilism, and likely descend into unrest and revolutions. Yet even without such dramatic outcomes, the gradual pursuit of greater justice would replace the status quo with social orders and paradigms more aligned with public expectations and with human nature itself.

Instead, agencies and centers working for elite power quietly impose social control. They operate around the clock to keep us divided—to keep us living in half-light, among shadows and mirages, drifting between fears, hopes, everyday pleasures, and anxieties, without a genuine connection either to ourselves or to one another.

These centers employ scientists, psychologists, political scientists, sociologists, PR specialists, advertisers, economists, writers, journalists, and more. Together, they attempt to shape and steer public discourse and to control socio-economic processes—keeping society within their preferred boundaries at the cost of lies, manipulation, and ruined lives. They seek to influence our notions of good and evil, moral and immoral, right and wrong, using the tools of contemporary sciences of the human psyche and behavior, through channels far more numerous and diverse than those of the past.

All spheres of human activity are now entangled in a web of influence and control. In essence, this web is global, though manifested to varying degrees in different countries. It is the result of the worldview of global elites, expressed in a drive to accumulate power and dominance. And because these goals conflict with the interests and aspirations of ordinary people, human freedom and the pursuit of personal growth are taken squarely into the crosshairs.

In reality, an undeclared and dirty war is being waged by elites against ordinary people. Part of it is the so-called war against the global middle class—a class that is steadily shrinking and losing significance. The very concept of the middle class is being hollowed out, gradually reduced to merely those earning around the national average income, rather than understood as the backbone of society and the foundation of democracy—educated, ethical, independent, and possessing property.

Wikipedia defines psychological warfare as:

Any action that primarily uses psychological methods to provoke a planned psychological reaction in a target group.

Psychological warfare employs various techniques aimed at influencing an individual’s value system, beliefs, emotions, motivations, reasoning, and behavior.

It is poetically called the “war for hearts and minds.” In reality, it is a war for control over consciousness—one waged by many governments against their own populations in covert and insidious ways.

Wikipedia defines psychological manipulation as:

A form of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through covert, dishonest tactics. Such methods are often exploitative, abusive (if not physically, then psychologically), unethical, and deceptive.

A prerequisite for successful manipulation is deep knowledge of the target.

Before continuing, it is important to distinguish persuasion from manipulation. Persuasion is an open and conscious process that uses explicit arguments and addresses the interlocutor’s capacity for analysis. It is not coercive: if it fails, the other person’s free will and right to decide are respected.

Manipulation, as we have seen, is dishonest. It exploits weaknesses, relies on lies, half-truths, omissions, and suggestions, and seeks to achieve its goal at any cost—even at the expense of morality and the interests of the individual being manipulated.

We can note several dimensions of manipulation:

Rational (Logical) Manipulation

This involves skillful orchestration of arguments, reasoning, facts, truths, half-truths, half-lies, and omissions so that the conclusions formed by the manipulated individual push them toward actions that benefit the manipulator.

Emotional Manipulation

This seeks to activate specific emotions in the target that facilitate reactions or behaviors favorable to the manipulator.

Such emotions can be positive or negative: joy, anticipation, desire, parental instinct, hope, pride, moral sentiment, a sense of propriety, fear, anger, helplessness, inferiority, and so on.

Suggestion

Suggestions can take many forms. They may enter consciousness through all the senses and be imprinted directly or associatively, consciously or subconsciously. A conversation may be saturated with combined suggestions—embedded in meaning, associations, tone of voice, body language, setting, the nature of the meeting, clothing, gaze, gender, actions during speech, and more.

Suggestions can exist in texts, images, videos, gifts—indeed in anything—because the brain interprets incoming information to build a map of reality.

Because language is the primary medium of communication and information exchange, it is also the most widely used vehicle for suggestion. Its richness allows for nuance and ambiguity. Expressions can evoke emotions, attitudes, and states indirectly—“between the lines”—often without conscious awareness. Suggestions may be layered, direct or deeply veiled, reaching consciousness through associative pathways. It all comes down to skillful juggling of concepts and their combinations to produce the desired effect.

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The boundaries between different forms of manipulation are blurred, and they are often intertwined. In most cases, a manipulative strategy combines multiple approaches to amplify impact and achieve deeper influence. For example, to implant an idea more easily, a person must first be brought into an emotional state where critical thinking is lowered and suggestibility increased. Only then is the desired idea—or the raw material from which the individual will construct it—introduced through specific techniques.

Psychological manipulation affects the formation of ideas and decisions. It changes the individual and their life. That is why it is crucial for people to build defenses against such influences, to avoid becoming victims of manipulations that today can come from all directions. Despite sounding conspiratorial, a large portion of manipulation, suggestion, and media/internet spam is a core element of policies designed to control and suppress human consciousness. Scientifically grounded and methodically developed, these intrusions into consciousness pose the greatest threat to our inner freedom.

Their goal is to transform external constraints (laws, bans, repression) into internal ones—values, thinking patterns, habits, and behaviors. A robot needs no coercion; it cannot rebel. It is simply programmed. Unfortunately, laws and justice systems often cannot protect us from manipulation and techniques of mental influence. Developing defenses against them remains both a personal and a collective responsibility.

In the following chapters, we will examine key psychological concepts in detail and explore techniques for influencing human consciousness, attitudes, emotions, and behavior. We will also focus on the specific conditions in which these techniques are applied—especially the virtual world, where they operate most freely and unobstructed. But first, we must become familiar with some fundamental principles of psychology on which technologies of psychological influence are built.