made to measure climate hobgoblins

more exploration of the manipulation of perception

do you ever wonder where headlines like this come from or how so many suddenly seem to be in such lockstep around them?

well let’s have a look, shall we?

i recently discussed the playbook of the oxford climate journalism network. one such play was this:

in fact, the news story at the top is what you get if you click on their “UN heat officer” link so the association is theirs, not mine.

but what got me really interested was the UCL climate action unit and i thought to myself, “gato, that sounds a lot like a behavioral economics nudge unit but maybe a bit scarier and less ethical!” but of course, that could just be me, “mr cynical paws” engaging in my own biases and predilections so i thought, “well, let’s go see what they have to say about themselves!”

you might wanna cover your ears for this one, because the quiet part is about to get deafening.

“The Climate Action Unit is a group of experts in neuroscience, science communication and facilitation.”

these are actual neuroscientists. they study the way your brain responds to risk perception, responds to threatening information, and how to drive you to action with “carefully designed and facilitated interventions.”

this is a neurolinguistic propaganda factory.

they literally study how to scare you into action by making it personal and giving you a sense of impending loss and deprivation if you fail to accede to the agenda they push.

there is ZERO subtlety here. this is a brainwashing brigade for hire. tell us what you want the public to think and we’ll show you how to inflict it on them.

again, lest you think i exaggerate, here is their “how we work” page.

We work with a wide range of organisations that are keen to drive forward progress on climate change, but find themselves facing people challenges. (Our current projects can be found on our Climate Risk, Climate Action and Climate Stories pages)

On a case-by-case basis, we design and run tailored interventions to bridge disciplines and sectors. We help fix communication problems, equip people with leadership skills, and dismantle barriers to action.

it’s literally “tell us your objectives and we’ll work backwards to get there and fine tune it to shape public perception. it’s a cooking school for manipulative propaganda.

Ever wondered "What can I do about climate change?". Rather than telling people what to do, the Climate Action Unit helps them discover how to do it. We offer cookbooks and cooking classes, not menu items. 

Our sessions equip changemakers with the insights to unblock common barriers to climate action. We help align a group to find actions that are meaningful to them. We mobilise people and resources to put ideas into practice.

Our skills and insights are based on the CAU's indepth understanding of neuroscience and psychology to overcome a lack of agency (the ability to act).

We create a multiplier effect for climate action through helping an exponentially growing number of people to deliver effective projects in evermore communities.

they use “agency” to mean the exact opposite. it’s not free choice. it’s a sense you urgently need to act carefully cultivated by the best brain breaking that neuroscience can devise.

however much you think these people are out to get you, you are insufficiently convinced. this is an actual business: manipulation as vocation.

when you wonder how these psyops all surged to such sophistication, this is how. it’s being taught. people are taking classes.

and if we would retain “agency” in the more classic sense of acquiring an accurate and balanced world view and making our own decisions about our lives, livelihoods, and liberties, then so too must we.

fortunately, like penn and teller showing you how the trick is done, our school is actually easier than theirs.

you just need to learn the techniques they use and how to spot them. doubt me? go back and read the fear porn piece at the top again now knowing that the author is a student of the UCLCAU. spot the framing. see the injection of personal subject matter like “going outside.” see the fear, see the inculcation of the fear of loss unless you do something, the sense that unless you act, something will be taken from you.

it’s not a story, it’s an intervention, media as manipulation.

and i really do wonder if it’s a coincidence that they choose “you will not be able to leave you house/go outside” as the “loss” to foreground in such similar fashion to the nudge units who made similar claims for covid and vaxxes. (get the jab, get your life back) perhaps this is just convergence around obvious levers of suasion, but perhaps it’s also that it’s basically the same people from the same schools doing all the messaging.

it’s certainly the same bag of tricks to sensationalize the normal and conjure crisis from pedestrian outcomes.

check this one out:

headlines describing the high 70’s (26 c = 78.8 f) as a “heatwave” atop a story saying “normal, perhaps a bit cool for this time of year.”

it’s just another shabby perception shaping trick.

there is an amazing scene in the classic movie “my cousin vinne” where the protagonist speaks about his cousin watching a magic show and wrecking it by calling out all the tricks as they were done.

well take it from your cousin kitty, this is no different.

and most of these students are not sophisticated. they’re just journos that learned 3 sleights of hand and use them over and over.

once you know them, they just look stupid and those seeking to fool you are just fooling themselves.

so, while we citing classics of cinema, let’s hit one more:

you use a trick like that?