By Carey Burtt (2000) Thanks, Mark Frauenfelder (BoingBoing)
One of the more interesting periods of my life occurred when I was in the Army, the Army Security Agency to be precise. The ASA was, on the military intelligence (no, not an oxymoron, but I appreciate the humor in that old joke) side of the Army what the special forces on the infantry side. I was assigned to the National Security Agency (NSA, also known as No Such Agency) at Ft. Meade, Md.
This was in the 1970s, when intelligence in the U.S. was divided into categories, and there were agencies under the State Department, Department of Defense and cabinet-level departments, each responsible for a particular category. There wasn’t supposed to be much overlap, and as a result there was little inter-communication. So while the CIA was supposed to run the HUMINT (human intelligence; spies, defectors, traitors, blackmail, social instability) side of intelligence the NSA was tasked with the COMINT (communications intelligence; phone taps, line traces, listening devices) and SIGINT (signal intelligence; radar, data communications, internet) sides. Now, thanks, rather no thanks to the Patriot Act, the agency’s tasks have all been reorganized, so the above is quite dated.
Because the agencies didn’t share much of anything, each tended to duplicate the efforts of other agencies. This sometimes worked to our advantage, but more often than not it was just a waste of time and effort. So NSA, while primarily focused on electronics, also made sure we knew as much as reasonable about the HUMINT aspect of intelligence gathering. So I believe I know a bit about the application of them.
The video above is generally true. It accurately outlines the more common tactics of cult groups. Upon further consideration, though, it should be obvious that it can also be applied to religious groups (any of them), the military itself, hate groups, environmental organizations.
Another factor to consider is that these methods can be adapted to work in positive ways. The goal needn’t always be evil. Still, I suspect the number of instances where these behaviors have been misused far outnumber the instances where they’ve been applied with a noble intent.
The goal of all these “tricks of the trade” is to get you to think like I do, or at least as I want you to. It’s in direct contradiction to the goals of free thinking. Awareness of the attempts made every day to manipulate your thinking is the first step toward defending yourself against them.
Think for yourself.
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