Noam Chomsky’s List of Mass Manipulation Methods Used by Governments and Media

Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a linguist, philosopher, public intellectual, author, and political analyst. He is considered one of the most prominent thinkers of our time. His books have been published worldwide, and his list of methods for mass control and manipulation of human consciousness—used by governments and the media—has become especially popular.

Read this list to gain a better understanding of how mass manipulation works:

1. Distraction.The primary element of social control is to distract people’s attention from important issues and decisions made by political and economic elites by saturating the information space with trivial news. Distraction is crucial to prevent citizens from acquiring important knowledge in areas such as modern philosophy, advanced science, economics, psychology, neurobiology, and cybernetics. Instead, the media is filled with sports, show business, mysticism, and other content based on primal human instincts—from erotica to hardcore pornography, and from soap operas to dubious get-rich-quick schemes.
2. Problem – Reaction – Solution.A problem or “situation” is created to provoke a specific reaction from the public, so that people themselves demand measures that the ruling elites desire. For example, escalating urban violence or organizing bloody terrorist attacks so that citizens demand stricter security laws and policies that infringe on civil liberties. Or triggering an economic, terrorist, or technological crisis to make people accept measures to eliminate its consequences—even if it means sacrificing their social rights as a “necessary evil.” It’s important to understand that crises rarely arise on their own.
3. Gradualism.To get the public to accept an unpopular measure, it is enough to introduce it gradually, day by day, year by year. This is how fundamentally new socio-economic conditions (neoliberalism) were globally imposed in the 1980s and 1990s: minimizing the state’s role, privatization, insecurity, instability, mass unemployment, and wages that no longer provide a decent living. If all this had happened at once, it would likely have led to revolution.
4. Deferring Implementation.Another way to push through an unpopular decision is to present it as “painful and necessary,” and secure public agreement for its implementation in the future. It’s much easier to agree to sacrifices in the future than in the present. First, because it won’t happen immediately. Second, because people tend to nurture naive hopes that “things will get better tomorrow” and that the sacrifices demanded of them can be avoided. This gives citizens more time to get used to the idea of change and to accept it when the time comes.
5. Infantilizing the Public.Most propaganda aimed at the general public uses arguments, characters, words, and tones as if addressing children or individuals with developmental delays. The more someone tries to mislead the audience, the more they use childish speech patterns. Why? Because when someone is addressed as if they are 12 years old, their response or reaction will also lack critical evaluation—just like a child’s.
6. Appealing to Emotions.Emotional influence is a classic technique of neuro-linguistic programming, aimed at blocking people’s ability to rationally analyze and, ultimately, to think critically about what’s happening. On the other hand, using emotional factors opens the door to the subconscious, allowing the implantation of thoughts, desires, fears, anxieties, compulsions, or stable patterns of behavior. Rhetoric about the cruelty of terrorism, the injustice of power, or the suffering of the hungry and humiliated often leaves out the true causes of these events. Emotions are the enemy of logic.
7. Dumbing Down the Population.An important strategy is to ensure that people are unable to understand the methods and techniques used to control and subjugate them. The quality of education provided to the lower social classes should be as mediocre as possible, so that the ignorance separating the lower classes from the upper ones remains at a level that the lower classes cannot overcome.
8. Promoting Mediocrity.Authorities strive to instill the idea that it’s fashionable to be stupid, vulgar, and uneducated. This method is closely linked to the previous one, as mediocrity in the modern world appears in massive quantities in all social spheres—from religion and science to art and politics. Scandals, tabloid journalism, witchcraft and magic, questionable humor, and populist stunts all serve one purpose: to prevent people from expanding their consciousness to the vastness of the real world.
9. Fostering a Sense of Guilt.Another goal is to make individuals believe that they alone are to blame for their misfortunes, which supposedly result from their lack of intelligence, abilities, or effort. As a result, instead of rebelling against the economic system, people engage in self-deprecation, blaming themselves for everything, which leads to a depressed state and, among other things, inaction.
10. Expert Knowledge of Human Nature.Over the past 50 years, advances in science have created a growing gap between the knowledge of ordinary people and the information possessed and used by the ruling classes. Thanks to biology, neurobiology, and applied psychology, the system has acquired advanced knowledge about humans—both physiologically and psychologically. The system now knows more about the average person than the person knows about themselves. This means that, in most cases, the system has more power and control over people than they have over themselves.