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Field Guide to Mind Control

Appeal to Fear

Build support for a position by making the alternative feel dangerous.

How it controls you

Fear narrows attention and speeds decisions. A frightened reader evaluates less and complies more. If the threat is vivid enough, the ask that follows it barely gets examined at all.

Spotted in the wild

"before it is too late"

"the greatest threat we have ever faced"

"your family is not safe"

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More techniques:
Loaded Language · Name Calling · Manufactured Urgency · Flag Waving · False Dilemma · Manufactured Consensus · Casting Doubt · Thought-Terminating Cliché · Whataboutism · Appeal to Authority · Causal Oversimplification · Repetition

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