# manipulation

Ad Hominem

Attacking the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.

Appeal to Emotion

Using feelings rather than evidence to persuade - bypassing the argument and going straight for the heart.

Psychological Phenomenon

Cognitive Load

When the demands on your working memory exceed its capacity, your ability to think clearly, make good decisions, and resist manipulation drops sharply.

Controlling the Narrative

The power to decide what a story is about - and, just as importantly, what it isn't about.

Dark Patterns

Deliberately deceptive design choices that trick people into doing things they didn't intend to do.

Euphemism

Softening harsh realities with gentler language - sometimes kindly, sometimes to hide the truth.

FOG (Fear, Obligation, Guilt)

A manipulation pattern that uses fear, obligation, and guilt to control another person's behaviour and override their independent decision-making.

Gaslighting

Manipulating someone into doubting their own perception, memory, or sanity.

Loaded Language

Words chosen to trigger an emotional reaction rather than communicate neutral information.

Loaded Question

A question that contains a built-in assumption, making it impossible to answer without appearing to accept that assumption.

Love Bombing

Overwhelming someone with excessive affection, attention, and praise early in a relationship to create emotional dependency and control.

Cultural Influence

Manufacturing Desire

The systematic creation of wants that didn't previously exist, turning luxuries into perceived necessities.

Moving the Goalposts

Changing the criteria for proof or success after they've been met - ensuring that no evidence is ever good enough.

Poisoning the Well

Discrediting a person or source before they've even spoken, so that anything they say is automatically dismissed.

Psychological Phenomenon

Priming

When exposure to one stimulus unconsciously influences your response to a subsequent one - shaping your thoughts, feelings, and behaviour without your awareness.

Psychological Defence

Psychological Projection

Attributing your own uncomfortable feelings, motives, or traits to someone else.

Red Herring

Introducing an irrelevant topic to divert attention from the original issue.

Salami Tactics

Achieving a large objective by slicing it into small, individually insignificant steps that each seem too minor to resist.

Scapegoating

Blaming a person or group for problems they didn't cause, diverting attention from the real source.

The Big Lie

A falsehood so enormous that people struggle to believe anyone would fabricate it - which is precisely why they accept it.

Thought-Terminating Cliche

A commonly used phrase that shuts down critical thinking by making further discussion feel unnecessary.