Post #4179675

#ExplainItLikeImAChild #HashTagGames The human mind has three layers. We're a lizard brain under a pack mammal brain overseen by a human brain. The lizard brain handles things like hunger, and the fight or flight reflex. The pack mammal brain handles our social emotions so that a tribe of angry violent sapient apes can live together without killing each other. The human brain handles things like language and algebra. There are three different types of power to control another person depending on which layer of the brain you are influencing. Violence compels the lizard brain, control of collective resources (money) compels the mammal brain, and lies compel the human brain. Outside of a startle reflex, it's the human brain that casts the deciding vote, so power exercised against the other two layers must be done in such a way that the human brain chooses to go along. This can happen very quickly if, for example, someone is feeding you feet first into a wood chipper. The preeminent type of power is determined by the technology available. For most of human existence, violence was the best way to make someone do what you wanted instead of what they wanted. The best warrior was the one in charge. The invention of the gun changed that. A lifetime of discipline and practice became irrelevant to winning. It didn't matter who used the weapon any more, but who could afford to buy the most guns. The merchants supplanted the warriors at the top of society. Note that it is still rooted in violence. It always is. The merchants were on top until about a hundred years ago when America discovered the old Asian governance technique of, well, lying. We call it "marketing" or "propaganda", but it's basically just lies. It's the secular version of religious power. The advantage of lies is that you can convince someone's human brain that they want to do what you want them to do, so you don't have to use threats of violence or poverty. They willingly do your bidding and, done right, never even know they were manipulated into it. Lies work directly on the human part of the brain which, you'll remember, casts the deciding vote. The invention of mass media--radio and video--significantly entrenched this kind of power, and the internet supercharged it. The way the internet works, the people with power can track the mind-to-mind transmission of a good lie and calculate very accurately which lies work best for which people. Which brings us up to, and helps explain, today's post-factual world. Now finish your breakfast, son. Your Fruit Loops are getting soggy.