Obama Staffer Wants ‘Cognitive Infiltration’ of Conspiracy Groups
January 14th, 2010The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information.
—Henry A. Wallace, The Danger of American Fascism
Sunstein’s paper may be downloaded here. Wow. Clip a clothes peg over your nose if you try to make it through that one.
Via: Raw Story:
In a 2008 academic paper, President Barack Obama’s appointee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs advocated “cognitive infiltration” of groups that advocate “conspiracy theories” like the ones surrounding 9/11.
Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor, co-wrote an academic article entitled “Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures,” in which he argued that the government should stealthily infiltrate groups that pose alternative theories on historical events via “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine” those groups.
As head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Sunstein is in charge of “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs,” according to the White House Web site.
Sunstein’s article, published in the Journal of Political Philosphy in 2008 and recently uncovered by blogger Marc Estrin, states that “our primary claim is that conspiracy theories typically stem not from irrationality or mental illness of any kind but from a ‘crippled epistemology,’ in the form of a sharply limited number of (relevant) informational sources.”
By “crippled epistemology” Sunstein means that people who believe in conspiracy theories have a limited number of sources of information that they trust. Therefore, Sunstein argued in the article, it would not work to simply refute the conspiracy theories in public — the very sources that conspiracy theorists believe would have to be infiltrated.
oh, the horror. An invasion of pod people to take over all our favorite sites on the web …
after all, how shall we know it’s really still YOU, K ?
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
cybele
How will we know it’s really Kevin? He and the true ‘goners are the only ones who know exactly when and under exactly the right circumstances to term something “batshit insanity”. Clumsy misuse of the term will be a dead giveaway that we’re dealing with some sort of disinfo robo-kev.
such conspiring against conspiracy theorists is the absolute epitome of stupidity.
this is crazy. literally.
it reminds me of the Corporation documentary recently linked to on cryptogon,
http://www.thecorporation.com/
in the youtube video there were illustrative sequences of ticking off items on a mental health checklist with regard to corporate behavior…
politicians are no different, for sure. these people are nuts.
i really think the world has grown so toxically large in it’s complexity and power that positions of authority and power have become detrimental to their own point. inescapable power intoxication overdose. psychopathy. cognitive dissonance.
from http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopath.htm
The point that the researchers noted was that psychopaths seem to have trouble monitoring their own speech.
we’ve all been living in “batshit insanity” for at least the last two years … i’ve gotten to kinda like it: I can now chirp with the best of them …
giggle
cybele
The Pod Kevin would almost certainly bathe more frequently than me…
Oh, no, here’s the one: The Pod Kevin would wake up at 6am and be asleep by 10pm (NZ time). HAHA
‘cognitive infiltration?’
What in God’s name is this sad psych 101 terminology usage?
And how in the name of Christ does this bogus term differ from counter-intel?
Answer: It doesn’t
What an utter clown.
Cognitive infiltration? More like business as usual. If one considers the amount of time the average person spends being indoctrinated by schools, and in their “free” time by religious institutions, and more recently, the “recreational” mass media, and then after school, the work-place, it becomes clear the people exist in a state of cognitive infiltration in perpetuity.
Right. If you have people who distrust the government, the best way to put them at ease is to plant government agents in their groups. That’ll reassure them.
Sounds a bit like those parents who shake their babies to stop them crying.
More re. Sunstein:
http://www.amics21.com/911/mysterious.html
CORRECTION:
More re. Sunstein:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53534
A conspiracy to infiltrate the ranks of conspiracy theorists, thereby providing clear evidence of the ongoing existence of conspiracy as a centuries-old means of governance.
In a logical universe, this would remove the word “theorist” from the equation.
Amazing what you can do with the power of the word and the appearance of authority.
As for Kev’s “batshit insanity”, I use that term to describe the people like Steinie, who actually create and publish and discuss this stuff out in the open in an earnest sort of way, as if what they’re spouting makes any sense whatsoever.
But being the sort of person I am, after another bout of reading from questionable sources (like Cryptogon, natch), I nearly always wind up back at “crazy like a fox”.
The monsters and their loyal intellectual minions aren’t stupid. They just play their roles, as required by the CFR/Bilderberg/etc. playbook.
“…no ma’am, I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV…”
Shakespeare was ever-so right even then, all the world truly is a stage. Now more than ever in the Digital Age.