Confronting Sophistry is a video series about critical thinking, self-education and deconstructing the techniques of those who seek to control our mental processes.

In this episode, I talk about the roots of political corruption and discontent in the US. I also give an operational understanding of concepts like the Hegelian Dialectic, Controlled Opposition, and Psychological Operations. I present a basic framework for how policy is actually engineered, as follows:

Goal : Policy Y

Step 1

Create the perception of Problem X in society, which Policy Y will appear to solve.

Use intellectual and emotional reinforcement (conditioning) techniques to achieve this result.

Step 2

Create Opposing Viewpoints

Frame the debate in a context where Policy Y seems like the inevitable compromise between these opposing viewpoints. Employ key agents on opposing sides to escalate emotions.

Step 3

Allow the public to adopt the seemingly inevitable Policy Y.

Use media commentators and "experts" in the field to shame people into conforming to the compromise reached by the (controlled) opposition groups.