Priming, the art of brain manipulation

     I am always fascinated by Malcolm Gladwell's thoughts and analysis. I am increasingly interested in his observations on a tactic called priming that he examines in his book Blink. Here's a brief introduction to the concept.

     A professor of psychology gave student volunteers a set of scrambled sentences. The professor didn't tell the participants anything about what the study was designed to do or what the sentences were intended to do. Here are some examples:

1.     him was worried she always

2.     shoes give replace old the

3.     be will sweat lonely they

4.     should now withdraw forgetful we

5.     sunlight makes temperature wrinkle raisins

     The sentences are not meant to form a sentence or use words to form one. It’s to give indicator words to elicit an emotional response. What could be the object of such sentences? They all contain words that denote getting old.  There are terms such as “worried,”  "replace," “old,” “lonely,” “withdraw,” “forgetful,” and “wrinkle.”

     Okay, that’s interesting, but what’s the importance from the standpoint of psychology? Those selected words not only form the foundation of idea but of action. The professor noticed that college students who took the test walked slowly out of the room and down the hall after doing the work. Why? Ideas give rise to action, and the use of certain words tries to determine response.

     We are guinea pigs in this type of experiment all the time. Advertisers know words and images that spark interest in products. Those words make us consider purchasing items, attending a movie, etc. Advertisers spend millions to measure how certain words affect reaction and action. Focus groups are formed and analyzed to find the best ways to use words to influence us.

     Who else is skilled at doing this? Politicians and political commentators. They litter their messages with words designed to spark emotions. As the words become more extreme, so does the reaction to them. Politicians and news providers like to use words such as “chaos,” “calamity,” “danger,” “abyss,” “threat,” “witch hunt,” “fake news,” “un-American,” “danger to democracy,” and such.

     Can you feel your heart racing a little faster? Can you feel that bit of dread settle in? Now, take those words and repeat them again and again and again and again. What happens to the listener? They feel a pit of fear that anchors inside them.

     Unfortunately, that is the way our political discourse goes these days. They aim to form such fear, whether it from a leftist view or a right-wing view, that it establishes a wall of reaction in you. Once that wall is established, you will see and hear everything political from behind that wall. What’s worse, you will see all those who have different ideas and use other words as enemies and threats. Drop the words "fake news" into a liberal's lap and the heart palpitates. Drop the words "threat to democracy" into an arch-conservative's lap and the bile begins to rise.

    What is the result? We are divided farther apart. That is intentional. Today’s politicians feast on causing fear because that's an exploitable commodity.

     Need recent examples? Watch the ongoing Senate hearings on the articles of impeachment then go to Facebook and other social media outlets. The words, cartoons, doctored photographs, etc., all use extreme language to elicit reaction. I watch with a journalist's eye and see knee-jerk reactions from those on the left and the right. They write that dastardly deeds are being done. The only difference is who is seen as the dastardly perpetrators. Those on the far left see Trump pulling the strings of the Senate Republicans. (Worse yet, I saw one ultra-lefty say that all Republicans in office are receiving money from Russian oligarchs, so the strings are really being pulled by those in Moscow.) Those on the right see Adam Schiff (often referred to as Shiftless), Nancy Pelosi, and Jerry Nadler as enemies of the state. The one constant between both sides is that they see those of the opposite side of the political divide as being antithetical to American democracy.

     See how it works?

     There is one question for you to ask yourself in order to judge the degree to which you have been primed: What is the greatest threat facing America now, a phone call between Trump and Zelensky, or the coronavirus spreading from its place of origin in China? It's your choice, and your choice speaks volumes.