But when Trump was elected, the man who designed the software and the following excerpt was working for a military contractor to do so, rather than a political party. I'm having trouble continuing to read his book ;p
> Insurgencies, by nature, are asymmetric, in that a few people can cause large > effects. So catalyzing an insurgency within the belligerent’s organization > requires first concentrating resources on a few key target groups. This is > optimized by good profiling and identifying the types of people who are both > susceptible to new ways of thinking and connected enough to inject our > counternarrative into their social network. > > The most effective form of perspecticide is one that first mutates the > concept of self. In this light, the manipulator attempts to “steal” the > concept of self from his target, replacing it with his own. This usually > starts with attempting to smother the opponent’s narratives and then > dominating the informational environment around the target. Often this > involves gradually breaking down what are called psychological resilience > factors over several months. Programs are designed to create unrealistic > perceptions in the targets that result in confusion and damage self-efficacy. > Targets are encouraged to begin catastrophizing about minor or imagined > events, and counternarratives attempt to remove meaning, creating an > impression of confusing or senseless events. Counternarratives also attempt > to foster distrust in order to mitigate an existing hierarchy or group when > you begin to think that you are being used in some unfair way, or when events > seem senseless or purposeless. You become less willing to accept setbacks, > take risks, or comply with commands. > > But simply degrading morale is often not enough. The ultimate aim is to > trigger negative emotions and thought processes associated with impulsive, > erratic, or compulsive behavior. This moves a target from mild or passive > resistance (e.g., less productivity, taking fewer risks, rumors, etc.) into a > realm of more disruptive behaviors (e.g., arguing, insubordination, mutiny, > etc.). This approach has been taken in South America, for example, to provoke > disunity among members of narcotics operations, increasing the likelihood of > information leaks, defections, or internal conflicts that erode a supply > chain. The most susceptible targets are typically the ones who exhibit > neurotic or narcissistic traits, as they tend to be less psychologically > resilient to stressing narratives. This is because neuroticism can make a > person more prone to paranoid ideation, as they tend to experience more > anxiety and impulsiveness and place more reliance on intuitive rather than > deliberative thinking. People high on the narcissism scale are susceptible > because they are more prone to
