Fictionarium Chapter 4. The News- Three Primary Types of Tin-Foil Hats
Perception Management was simple business for a trained Observer like Arlo. Recording all of the news broadcasts, he professionally observed changes and fashions, fads and potential fads, and collected video samples to send to the Universal Board of Scientists, allowing developing trends to be managed by the real experts.
On Tuesday's evening news, it was reported that officials weren't sure if the computer "malfunction" that had disabled all of the town's traffic lights was related to yesterday's lightning storm, but did say that they expected to have the system repaired soon.
In other news, Hill Valley Police have arrested one of their own. Officer Karen White, active on the force for only a year, was today placed in custody, accused of leaking sensitive confidential HV Police files to the press. Her leaked data- reportedly stolen classified files- included the following accusations:
1. That the Hill Valley police were managed by the UBS as part of a mass mind-control experiment.
2. That the police and news media hire actors to play parts as eyewitnesses to events.
3. That HV Police and media routinely work together in a conspiracy to create false stories for TV.
4. That the 'UBS' (Universal Board of Science) is preparing to end the experiment using 'brain gas', a forced evacuation of the town is imminent.
Arlo lit his pipe, watching like a pro as they worked their magic on the dancing screen before him. With the usual blue 'accept/submit' subliminal background color theme and with the right words and well-placed inflections, the News had handily placed a tinfoil hat onto the disgraced Police officer. By showing a picture of the accused officer's smiling face next to her shocking list of accusations, Officer White could easily be made to look like a lunatic if the News lady sang through the list with a sarcastic enough tone. She did, and this is how it was done.
Watching this, Arlo's eyebrow raised up, and he coughed through his pipe, "GIFH!"
3 TYPES OF FOIL HATS
There was actually a whole section in Arlo's Observer's Manual on tin-foil hats- the three main types, their subgroups and various combinations.
1. Self-issued Foil Hat (SIFH) A whistleblower, or anyone who 'knows too much' might fear for their own safety, and may choose the protection of a SIFH. This is basically as simple as acting crazy- or publicly embracing wildly unpopular ideas- to discredit oneself on purpose, ultimately to be rendered 'unreliable but harmless' by public opinion.
2. Media-issued Foil Hat (MIFH) Extraordinary people who bravely come forward with damaging evidence against any popular societal belief or custom, or who may have evidence which could damage Media or any of it's sophisticated social conditioning methods might unwillingly be assigned a MIFH so that their message is effectively marginalized.
3. Government-issued Foil Hat (GIFH) Science Board Agents who have infiltrated a subculture can 'poison the well' of information by mixing truth with absurd nonsense. Further, by then latching on to popular figures in underground movements, an SB agent can thereby discredit these activists through guilt-by-association.
For Arlo, it was second nature to pick out the points that are presented in a way as to discredit someone, and to locate any disinformation hidden within the truths: "The police were managed by the UBS." This was of course true, though the fact had been carefully turned into myth by UBS local Conditioners over the years, a fact now considered by most subjects to be just more conspiracy theory.
"The police and news media hire actors..."
Arlo laughed. Of course they hired actors- it was a Fictionarium.
"UBS is preparing to end the experiment with 'brain gas', a forced evacuation of town is imminent."
This allegation Arlo knew to be false. Brain Gas was a real thing, but public-mind knew it as one of those conspiracy theories- not to be taken seriously. And, Officer "White" was a Science Board agent. She was playing the media, and Arlo knew it because she was a high-level agent, and this was high-grade tinfoil. This was damage-control… but for what? Arlo knew that he was missing something in the puzzle.
Forced evacuation! The UBS had never forced an evacuation of a Fictionarium project, nor did it have any inclination to do such a thing, especially with the Board's psychopathic Don Felger (Arlo's boss) in charge of both Hill Valley and the neighboring town of Lakeland. Old Felger's pastime and favorite hobby was the art of persuading the two towns to remain divided- he did it for fun and for profit. For Felger it really was fun, and it generated a fair amount of profit.
Furthermore, Arlo was aware that nothing in a Fictionarium is forced, it's all done by words and subliminal messaging, spells and enchantments. The subjects voluntarily agree to it all, they inevitably forget that it's an experiment after a year or two of genuine struggle under the spell of real life, and their children inherit the amnesia. One of the objectives of a Fictionarium, in fact, is to scientifically determine how long it takes for a society, given regular diversions, to forget exactly what in the world they are supposed to be doing.
As an experiment, the Fictionarium's mission started 60 years ago, when selected groups of volunteer subjects- people who were homeless or otherwise needing a new start in life- were relocated to these prefabricated remote towns in Area 12BX, or 'The Box' as they called it. Researchers were to study, over the course of a generation or two, the subject's behavior during the organization of these experimental new societies.
It sounded good enough to get funding from the Science Board, but the way Felger had probably seen it from the start was: a select group of workers would relocate to a remote region to harvest it's resources for him, while his Observers monitored their labor closely.
The TV news was still covering the news leak story, and a guest pundit was now on the screen discussing Karen White's arrest and her wild allegations: "...now, do you think that if the news was creating fake news stories, that you would ever hear about it on the news?" The news team laughed as he continued "And if you did hear it on the news, then according to Officer White, it's probably a fake story anyway, right?"
Arlo was staring at the floor now, and yawned. He was actually starting to get tired of all the twisted tales. It was all becoming so mundane and dull. He had actually considered leaving the Project a few times recently, but realized that there was something about the little town of Hill Valley that he liked, and the thought of leaving it would always negate the idea of quitting.
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Fictionarium
Chapter 2. part II