Social media and TV are being used by the clever, the crooks, the political parties, the advertising industry, businessmen, corporates, entertainers, and even sportspersons for manipulating the minds of the gullible masses so as to suit and support their vested interests. From political opinions to your personal choices and preferences everything is ‘dictated’ by this mind control—who you should vote for, what items you should buy to eat, wear, what equipment to use in your house, or what entertainment to watch, everything is ‘influenced’ by them.
They seek to influence even people’s most personal and intimate moments also. There is a Canadian-born (but American citizen) woman of Indian origin who was a rather famous porn actress abroad. She still leads TV ads and online campaigns for a particular brand of condoms in India. Her photo appears also on the special edition condom pack that bears her first name. There is nothing legally wrong in advertising—that’s a legitimate way of earning a livelihood. However, we are discussing the subtle mind manipulation in the process. It is evident from what the company claims in its website that the condom is inspired by bold sensuality and made to deliver unforgettable experiences—indirectly reminding the customer of her ‘unforgettable, screaming exploits’ in porn videos; something he is ‘suggested’ to seek and emulate.
The most interesting aspect of this mind manipulation is that people do not even realize that they are being made fool of—remaining fools and revelling in their stupidity is the new normal in today’s India.
How do they do it? The secret lies in the epic dumbness of the people. Most people do not have any critical mental faculties of their own. They do not have any desire to apply mind to anything, much less to question it critically. Application of mind requires ‘intellectual exertion’ and people are extremely averse to it. People would do anything but apply mind. That’s where social media and TV moved in to exploit this fatal weakness. People are anyway too eager to accept anything that is dished out to them. TV and social media have been so effectively used in manipulating the minds that people have simply stopped thinking, not to speak of reasoning for themselves. In other words, people have outsourced the job of thinking to TV and social media.
The clever techniques
Now you can understand why TV debates and YoutTube videos are popular. First, they save people the trouble of reading—a highly distasteful activity these days—watching is easier. That’s why Power Point Presentations became popular because people are so dumb that they simply cannot digest anything from just speech. Even in watching, the attention spans are very short—that, ladies and gentlemen, is the secret of the popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels because they are short.
How they exploit weakness of dumb people
Second, they provide them with pre-formed opinions or pre-digested mental food and people just lap it up. The primary function of social media and TV is not to inform or educate, but to indoctrinate and entertain—a playground for manipulative narratives designed to stoke emotions and suppress any kind of dissent. Gone are the days when people sought information from others but formed opinion of their own. Now, all they look for is a little bit of resonance. If the opinion being dished out on TV or social media strikes a chord with the notions or impressions that they have been harbouring, they plump for it. People only want confirmation or endorsement of their notions, not knowledge. This is confirmation bias on steroids—the tendency of searching, interpreting, and recalling information in a way that aligns with their pre-existing values, opinions, or beliefs. Viewers don’t tune in for enlightenment; they want validation. “See, that shrieking guy on TV taking a hefty salary of Rs. 4 crore a year also agrees with me—I’m right!” No cross-examination, no sources checked. It’s resonance over reason, every time.
In fact, you try to argue someone something contrary to his notions; he would become hostile to you or fight with you. Take it from me, if the matter pertains to politics or religion, they would file cases against you for hurting their sentiments, insulting their faith or defaming ‘great national leaders’! People’s aversion to acquiring knowledge is so great that the best way to avoid conflict is that if someone says that elephants fly, you must say that yeah, yeah, yesterday one was sitting on the electric wire in front of my house.
It is actually a vicious circle. To start with, people are dumb; then social media and TV are making them dumber. Dumber people depend more and more on social media and TV, continuing the cycle with ever increasing dumbness of the people. People don’t want to think; they want to be told what to think. They crave pre-chewed opinions, served hot and spicy on a platter of outrage and echo chambers. This isn’t some fringe conspiracy—it’s the grim reality of our de-intellectualized world, where notions trump facts, and anti-intellectualism isn’t a bug; it’s the goddamn feature. I am not talking about the occasional dumbass; I am talking of systemic universal stupidity, engineered and amplified by media empires that profit from keeping you dumb and dumber.
Brainwashing of a modern kind
People have effectively been ‘brainwashed’. Back in 1951, Edward Hunter wrote an illuminating book ‘Brainwashing in Red China’. Essentially the same techniques are being used even now, albeit in a modernized form. TV and social media do not employ repetition, isolation, emotional manipulation, or re-education camps of China of early years following the Communist Revolution. Instead, they use carefully crafted images, repetitive misinformation, emotionally charged videos, and influencer-driven content to create an illusion of consensus. Since most people have a desire to belong to the majority and nobody has the moral courage to be ‘left out’, everybody starts believing in the propaganda. Social media notifications ping endlessly, repeating lies until they become truths. TV ads subliminally shape desires. It’s Brainwashing 2.0—non-violent, voluntary and addictive.
Education system & culture of anti-intellectualism
Since the past few decades, India has come to nurture a value system where the country is not only de-intellectualized; it has been made into positively anti-intellectual and anti-reason. Not too long ago, being stupid, ignorant or ill-informed was regarded a matter of shame; now people flaunt their stupidity and ignorance as a medal of honour.
Whatever third-rate education that is peddled in this country is actually just a means to land a livelihood. The Indian education system just grants certificates to land a job; it does not make people educated in the old sense of the word. I tell you in all sincerity, if, by some miracle, it could so happen that Indians could earn their livelihoods without education, they would not mind at all remaining illiterates and actually enjoy it.
Indian education is actually just like floodgates in dams. For a certain number of years, they hold the youth from flooding the job market so as to avoid a crisis therein—that’s the only purpose it serves. Fact is Indian women do not really need an education if all they are going to do afterwards is to play silly party games in kitty parties. Indian men do not really need an education if all they have to do is some stupid job afterwards where they do not make use of one word of whatever was heaped on them for 16 years or so in the name of education.
Power of the WhatsApp university/IT cells
Short messages on WhatsApp are tailor-made for the limited attention span and poor intellect of most people out of some 53 crore WhatsApp users in India. The so-called WhatsApp University or IT Cells of political parties have come to virtually control the minds of the people by flooding them with very carefully structured messages which distort reality in a manner that strikes a chord with the notions held in the collective subconscious of the people. People by the billions have started believing in lies because they would not, under any circumstance, take the trouble of checking the fact for themselves.
What comes on WhatsApp is the truth for them; what is shown or talked about on the TV is the ultimate truth. WhatsApp is the new gospel, TV the oracle. People feel ‘compelled’ to swallow the shit circulating on WhatsApp circuit compulsively because of FOMO (fear of missing out). WhatsApp University has become a high-speed assembly line churning out obedient, easily manipulated zombie-like followers—why bother to think when you can agree with what you perceive to be the majority’s view? It actually imbues you with a sense of belonging, safety and power.
Given the innate streak of irrationality in humans, people anyway love to believe in bullshit—the WhatsApp University/IT Cells/TV doles it out aplenty. In the end, it becomes a kind of insidious, voluntary slavery; so much so that they do not hold it against them if, by any chance, they are later proved wrong. During a recent military conflict, factually incorrect TV news touched new heights of ridiculous absurdity—yet, people still love the channels despite their falsehoods and still watch them by the millions—their viewership did not drop one bit. People simply love the Age of Mass Deception.
How cult of celebrities & influencers reign supreme
The soul of India has always been deeply feudal. Democracy is an ‘unnatural construct’ cleverly imposed upon the people to give them a false sense of empowerment. It actually perpetuates a system where a few clever people make a fool of billions every five years and effectively rule over them. The trick is that people do not even realize that they are not electing their representatives; they are electing rulers who would boss over them for five years.
Given this inherent proclivity, personality cult or hero/celebrity worship comes naturally to Indians. What Walter Lippmann wrote about the intrinsic irrational nature of the voters in his classic work ‘Public Opinion’ nearly a century ago, is truer than ever; public opinion is manufactured, it is not organic. Public opinion has never been so ill-founded as today—it is more fickle than ever and is being controlled by mind manipulation. Dictatorships of the world actually wasted time and effort in controlling people through coercive measures. The best trick in the game is to control their minds—a mental colonization—making people desire and demand their chains for the profit of the slave-traders.
Look at the phenomenon of influencers—the high priests of stupidity, the parasitic overlords of the digital age. Influencers are not ‘examples’ of any kind; they’re just exploiting your dumbness for profit. They are just attractive or sexy idiots with a good sponsorship deal. Why the hell should an educated person be ‘influenced’ by someone, however well placed he or she be? Then there’s celebrity worship, the ultimate juvenile delusion harboured by adults. Fans ape hairstyles, outfits, and lifestyles of celebrities—like zombies. Why be in awe of some actor or singer? You might like someone’s looks, acting or singing. Question is so what? Who cares? What do their looks or earnings mean to you? They are earning for themselves and would not give you a stale crumb. In any case, by aping them or waiting for hours outside their houses to catch a glimpse would not put a piece of bread in your stomach. All this happens only because you cannot think for yourself. It’s unhealthy; it’s pathetic—why waste your life aping strangers when you could build your own? Hero worship of any kind reduces you to a spectator in your own existence, controlled by the whims of the elite.
The world has been reduced to a sort of slavery in which a few clever people are manipulating the minds of the people, dictating their choices and preferences and controlling their thought process, all by exploiting their intrinsic stupidity. Here’s the brutal truth: if you’re reading this and nodding, you’re part of the problem unless you act. Ditch the social media, TV, celebrities, influencers, and the so-called great political leaders—learn to think for yourself. Otherwise, welcome to the Matrix—where your mind isn’t yours anymore.
