The Influence Problem

INTRODUCTION

An influence is any factor that affects the thinking, behaviour or characteristics of an individual. Once an influence has been internalised, it becomes an ingrained unconscious association that arises when presented with mental triggers from the environment. Each person then becomes a carrier for this influence, perpetuating the cycle infinitely. This is largely to do with the human brain, which is wired to seek patterns and shortcuts to make decisions [1]. This predisposition makes us susceptible to influence, which conditions our behaviour over time. 

Art by Terry Miyashita

MENTAL ASSOCIATION

The foundational basis for influenced behaviour is mental association. The most famous example is that of Pavlov’s dog, where a mental association was created between a sound and the expectation of food, resulting in a measurable physiological response [2]. Memories are stored in the unconscious and can arise through triggers in the environment which then affect behaviour, these can include a location, a smell or a sound [3]. Take, for instance, the army veteran who hears fireworks and is transported back to the battlefield in his mind. The trigger is associated with a memory, the memory is associated with a behaviour, and despite all logic pointing towards rationality, influence prevails. 

Many people mistakenly overestimate the role of will power and think that nothing can happen to their minds that they do not decide and intend…  [the] unconscious contents of the mind behave as if they were conscious and that you can never be sure, in such cases, whether thought, speech, or action is conscious or not. 

• Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols, 1964 [4]. 

This is an extreme example of a phenomenon that occurs in all interactions one has with their external environment. We necessarily compare what is happening with what has happened to determine the correct reaction to the stimuli. By adulthood, our unconscious mind has an association for practically any and all possible happenings, and therefore, an internalised script of which we react [5]. 

The iconic Asch and Milgram experiments effectively demonstrate the strength of conformity and obedience [6]. However, they fail to explain why these factors are compelling to us in the first place. The underlying factor is that conformity and obedience are psychologically compelling through their association with mental states such as safety and fear. 

THE PROBLEM

The Influence Problem is that people believe that their thoughts and behaviours originate from themselves, when this is not the case.

The effects of influence in the modern world are evident. People are increasingly polarised in all corners of the public forum. From politics to social media, people are picking a side and sticking with it. This leads individuals to adopt group ideologies and identities wholeheartedly with little critical analysis, leaving discussions as competing walls of echoed sentiments. 

A question that has pervaded human existence has and always will be the meaning of life.  A cynical response may be that following the industrial revolution, the answer to this question is the growth of corporate and State profit and production [7]. Yet, it is true that the entire system is designed in order to facilitate this greater calling. Introduced by Henry Ford in 1926, the 40-hour work week was chosen as a means of enhancing worker efficiency, where 8 of our 12 hours of sunlight are spent enriching corporations. This was framed as a mercy, as we were given two days off rather than one. When compared to the 70-hour workdays of the 18th Century, perhaps it was, but it is important to note that pre-industrial individuals only worked about 120 days in a year, before globalisation and technology made it easier than ever for the individual to acquire the resources needed to live [8]. The industrial revolution had originally promised us freedom from harsh manual labour and scarcity; however, it was used as a means of optimising exploitation rather than freeing us from it. Productivity has increased, but the rewards have largely gone to corporate profits rather than the individual worker as the cost-of-living crisis skyrockets [9]. Although hierarchy is inevitable, the degree with which inequity occurs is not, and a fairer distribution of wealth and responsibility is attainable. The worker accepts these conditions because the system has successfully influenced cultural attitudes in order to view this as normal and necessary. It is important to note that whilst capitalism is flawed, the degree to which it is implemented and justified via influence is the underlying problem. Any dominant ideology that utilises influence to manufacture consent and behaviour risks recreating the same issue.

The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and extent. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates.

• Karl Marx, Estranged Labour, 1844 [10]. 

Those in power have an incentive for the system to remain the way that it is [11]. The most effective way of achieving this goal is not through force, but through the manipulation of influence in order to manufacture consent to the system [12]. By influencing the population, those in power are able to shape cultural norms to their benefit. Authority sets the rules, group consensus enforces them, and once the rules are internalised by the population, individuals unknowingly sustain the very system that exploits them. One of the most effective ways of setting this expectation is through law. 

Althusser argues that reproduction of the dominant ideology is grounded in normalisation through law [13]. The law is backed by the Repressive State Apparatus (RSA) in the sense that the government has the ability to enforce consequences for non-adherence [14]. However, it primarily functions through the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) by establishing and normalising behaviours to the point where repressive tactics are no longer needed. Individuals begin to pre-emptively adopt behaviours that align with the legal-moral ideology, creating willing compliance through the internalisation of norms that are no longer perceived as coercive. Foucault provides the mechanism through which the legal-moral ideology becomes internalised via disciplinary power [15]. The metaphor of the Panopticon is a prison in which guards are situated within a tower that constantly monitors its inhabitants. Thus, permanent visibility is a primary method of exercising disciplinary power and internalising what Althusser calls the legal-moral ideology. The prisoner self-disciplines due to the watchful eye of what George Orwell would call Big Brother [16]. 

Although Althusser, Foucault and Orwell wrote these critiques in the 20th century, the introduction of surveillance analytics softwares spearheaded by companies such as Palantir Technologies and facilitated by legislation such as The USA PATRIOT Act (2001), or the Australian Assistance and Access Act 2018 and Identify and Disrupt Act 2021, means that the Panopticon has become ever more sophisticated in maintaining the legal-moral ideology [17]. Thus, law is far more than a set of rules, but a means of maintaining conformity and surveillance, where enforcement is merely the last resort, as individuals are compelled to self-regulate.

Beyond the law, a classic form of societal manipulation is divide and conquer, which has been utilised extensively throughout history and will continue to do so. By dividing a population by race, religion, ideology, gender and sexuality, a population becomes too busy fighting amongst themselves to turn their eyes to the conditions they have consented to. They forget that the power to change the world falls on the 99%, more so than the 1%. Essentially, it is a method of fracturing group consensus to the detriment of the majority. 

For example, the recent distribution of the infamous Epstein files has revealed that the disgraced financier had been in contact with 4chan creator Christopher ‘Moot’ Poole. They were introduced by Boris Nikolic, former science advisor to Bill Gates, stating ‘[t]his article describes why I find [M]oot interesting. The potential for manipulation is huge,’ linking an article by The Washington Post titled ‘4chan users seize Internet's power for mass disruptions’ [18]. The notorious /pol/ (politically incorrect) discussion board was created around the time of their meeting, although Poole vehemently denies Epstein’s involvement. This discussion board has been commonly associated with extremist rhetoric and even real-world violence, with the Christchurch mosque shooter believed to have been radicalised on the discussion board [19].

Conversely, internet sleuths have speculated about covert influence in other digital spaces. Specifically, one of the most prolific Reddit accounts, u/maxwellhill, ended a 14-year streak of almost daily content two days before Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on July 2nd, 2020 [20]. Some believe that the username is a combination of Maxwell’s surname, as well as a reference to her family estate, Headington Hill Hall. The account was a prominent moderator on r/worldnews, Reddit’s largest news subreddit. The subreddit is commonly perceived as containing a strong leftist bias in its sentiment and content curation. As with the creation of /pol/, this evidence is non-conclusive; however, it does open the discussion of manufactured fragmentation within society. 

A proven example of manufactured fragmentation is the so-called Russian ‘troll factories’ of the Internet Research Agency [21]. This organisation was responsible for creating thousands of fake social media accounts that promoted directly opposing ideologies simultaneously. Some promoted leftist narratives, whereas others promoted those of the right, even going as far as planning real-world protests in the United States. By inflaming both sides of the culture war, these accounts effectively sowed discord and amplified social tension. By merely giving the impression of a group consensus, individuals became stuck in a left-right paradigm, and a manufactured fragmentation was simple to achieve. 

By controlling what we see and how often we see it, public narratives and group consensus can be manipulated effectively. This is accelerated by the recent AI boom that leaves us in a post-truth world, making it harder than ever for individuals to distinguish fact from fiction.

Art by Terry Miyashita

MANUFACTURED CONSENT

What is considered acceptable is the basis of human interactions and behaviour within a society. If this can be manipulated, then the nature of a person’s free will comes into question. If we only do what we believe is normal, and what is normal has been manufactured, then our free will has been manufactured and therefore, is not truly free but constrained. For example, if you are in a tunnel with a blazing inferno behind you and fresh air in front of you, you will naturally run away from the flames and towards the light. This may appear as free will, but it is entirely controlled by circumstance and consequence. When cultural norms become ingrained and are punished for inadherence, free will in everyday behaviours acts in the same way. If these cultural norms arise through deliberate manipulation rather than the natural ebb and flow of ideas, then free will becomes controlled. 

In 1917, the public opinion surrounding the United States’ role in the unfolding First World War was divided [22]. Many viewed the escalation as a contest between European powers for European land, and not intrinsically tied to United States involvement. George Creel, head of the newly minted Committee on Public Information, was placed in charge of swaying public opinion. His plan was to increase the national war will through the comprehensive implementation of propaganda through the lens of modern scientific advertising techniques. There was not a single medium that was not utilised for the purpose of promoting this agenda, with ‘[v]irtually every physical interface with the public—[becoming] a venue for a CPI message’[23]. The strategy was simple, yet effective, overwhelming repetition and volume, as well as silencing dissenting views. 

Federal prosecutors were given the power to silence and threaten any anti-war dissenters through the newly created Espionage and Sedition Acts [24]. Political activist Eugene Debs gave an impassioned anti-war speech, quoting Albert Camus’ The Rebel.

[There is a campaign to place a] brand of treason to the men who dare to even whisper their opposition… You need to know that you have a mind to improve, a soul to develop, and a manhood to sustain. 

• Eugene Debbs, 1918 [25]. 

He was subsequently charged with ten counts of violating the Espionage Act and sentenced to ten years in prison. Only recently, we have seen an eighteen-year-old woman arrested at a political rally in Queensland for donning a shirt with the banned pro-Palestine slogan, ‘From the River to the Sea’ as part of the Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026 [26]. When the law functions as a means of controlling speech, it becomes a way to shape the legal-moral ideology in order to establish and protect a certain narrative.

As we are all aware, Creel’s strategies were successful in achieving their goal of manipulating public opinion for the means of entering the First World War. Following this victory, Walter Lippmann, who worked closely with Creel during the propaganda campaign, found himself completely disillusioned with the concept of democracy due to the new standard of public manipulation that had been reached. He wrote in 1922’s Public Opinion, that a simplified black and white narrative was promoted in order to manufacture the consent of the general public [27].

It is no longer possible… to believe in the original dogma of democracy; that the knowledge needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to self-deception, and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify.

• Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, 1922 [28].

This repetition is effective due to the human tendency to believe in induction [29]. If every time I see something, it is represented in a certain way, it must really be that way. When applying this logic to the danger of snakes or the effects of the sun, it is a logical method of acquiring knowledge. However, when applied to purposely manufactured ideologies and narratives, it is a key exploit of the human psyche.  

Herman and Chomsky focus their analysis of manufactured consensus on media conglomerates, which they say function as propaganda machines [30]. They offer five filters that affect newsworthiness; we will focus on the first four. The first is the centralised nature of media ownership and the orientation towards profit which limits the scope of newsworthiness to their interests. Second, the advertisement is the primary source of income, which leads to content curation that avoids upsetting advertisers in order to prevent reducing customer confidence. Next, the media relies on information given to them through official channels provided by the government, corporations, institutions and experts funded by these powers. This leads to narratives that are dominated, creating a built-in bias towards authority. Finally, the disciplining of the media by these powers, which may include lawsuits, campaigns and lobbying, results in the media self-censoring in order to avoid backlash. These filters function so effectively that journalists wholeheartedly believe that they are operating with integrity and objectivity, when the reality is that their free-will is entirely constrained by circumstance and consequence. In fact, within these constraints they are acting objectively, however, the filters alter what is considered permissible in such a fundamental manner, that anything falling outside this scope is rendered unthinkable or illegitimate. 

MANUFACTURED NORMS 

Cultural norms are a form of ingrained group consensus, yet are fluid and can be manipulated through ideological subversion [31]. Unlike the short-term propaganda techniques used to conjure a temporary war-will, ideological subversion operates on a generational level by gradually shifting cultural norms within a society. It effectively alters what is considered normal behaviour to the detriment of the subverted society.  

All warfare is based primarily on deception of an enemy. Fighting on a battlefield is the most primitive way of making war. There is no art higher than to destroy your enemy without a fight - by SUBVERTING anything of value in the enemy's country.

• Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 5th Century BC [32].

Former Soviet journalist and propaganda agent, Yuri Berzmenov, outlined the framework for ideological subversion in his book, Love Letter to America [33]. His framework operates in four stages; our focus will be on the first two. It functions over a 20-year period, the amount of time needed to educate a new generation of individuals on the subverter’s ideology. 

Demoralisation is done through the corruption of core social institutions, such as education, media, religion and general culture. The suppression of the inherent moral values and ideologies of the state is imperative for success. It is for this reason that states with a weak national ideology are easier to subvert as core principles go out of fashion easily. The process of demoralisation requires that the targeted state be an active or passive recipient of the ideas of the subverter. As we have covered, simple exposure, repetition and suppression have the potential to dramatically sway public opinion, the tactics implemented here are no different. This process is streamlined by democratic nations due to their inherent globalist and permissive perspective. Being open to all ideas leaves one susceptible to the bad ones, which, for some, are only revealed with time.

To this end, the subverter will promote entertainers, educators and professionals that align with their subverting ideology, disguised as progressiveness. This facilitates the demoralisation of the state by shifting mass culture through the manipulation of the ‘useful idiot’ within these industries. These unwitting agents help to promote ‘non-issues’, debates (typically semantic) that benefit the few, yet create larger problems for the many by side-tracking public opinion and resources needed for substantial change.

The miseducation of students is paramount to the demoralisation of a nation-state. The methods are simple, relying on the infiltration of student ideology through exposure, repetition and suppression. This can be done through student exchange programs in order to facilitate exposure, stocking campus bookstores with literature that supports the subverting ideology, as well as organising seminars that do the same. What follows is a sea of unwitting ideological agents, students and professors who have absorbed the ideology and advocate for it on behalf of the infiltrating state. These individuals then lead organisations, media outlets and study circles in order to disseminate the ideology in greater detail (remind you of anyone?).

The next step, destabilisation, is focused on creating a wedge between the people and the government by weakening a nation’s core political institutions. Due to the previous demoralisation, individuals become more susceptible to politicians who offer short-term fixes, such as cutting student debt or free social services. This results in political institutions losing authority and legitimacy over time, as core societal issues are swept under the rug. This lack of faith leads to the rise of socialist ideology among the masses, further isolating the people from their government. 

Whilst I am not necessarily suggesting that Western society has been ideologically subverted, and this is far from a call for an uprising, the similarities between Bezmenov’s framework of the 1980s and the contemporary cultural climate are remarkable and deserve further study. 

Indeed the safest road to hell is the gradual one- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts… 

• C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, 1942 [34]. 

THE SOLUTION

(The Influence Paradox)

The solution to the Influence Problem is deceptively simple: it is to consider every option, no matter how outside of one’s own preconceived beliefs they may be. This leads one to the Influence Paradox, where attempts to circumvent the negative effects of influence lead one to draw in as many diverse influences as possible in a consistent application of dialectical thinking. Always be willing to ditch an idea for a better one. In other words, the way to solve the Influence Problem is to have even more influence.

We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind.

• Marcus Garvey, The Work That Has Been Done, 1937 [35].

Keep a lookout for Part II of The Influence Problem, where I consider whether it is even possible to avoid influence, in an analysis of cause and effect and what I call existential influence. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011).

[2] Ivan Pavlov, Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex (Oxford University Press, 1927).

[3] Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols (Aldus Books, 1964).

[4] Ibid. 

[5] John Daido Loori, Riding the Ox Home: A History of Meditation from Shamanism to Science (Shambhala Publications, 2002).

[6] Solomon Asch, ‘Effects of Group Pressure upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgments’ (1955) 70(5) Scientific American 31; Stanley Milgram, ‘Behavioral Study of Obedience’ (1963) 67(4) Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 371.

[7] Theodore Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future (online, 1995). 

[8] Juliet B. Schor, The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (Basic Books, 1992). 

[9] Alexandra Koster, ‘Impossible choices: The data that proves living costs are rising for Australians’ (6 February 2026) SBS News https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/impossible-choices-the-data-that-proves-living-costs-are-rising-for-australians/smm4voks8; The Salvation Army Australia, The Cost of Living Crisis in Australia (Web Page, 2026) https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/red-shield-appeal/the-cost-of-living-crisis-in-australia/; 

[10] Karl Marx, 'Estranged Labour' in Robert C Tucker (ed), The Marx-Engels Reader (W W Norton, 2nd ed, 1978) 70.

[11] Hedley Bull, The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (Macmillan, 1977).

[12] Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (Pantheon Books, 1988).

[13] Louis Althusser, ‘On the Reproduction of Capitalism: Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses’ (1971) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays 127.

[14] Immanuel Kant, Metaphysics of Morals (Cambridge University Press, 1991).

[15] Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Vintage Books, 1995). 

[16] George Orwell, 1984 (Secker & Warburg, 1949).

[17] Digital Rights Watch, ‘Palantir in Australia’ (Web Page, 1 February 2026) https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2026/02/01/palantir-in-australia/; USA PATRIOT Act, 107th Congress, Pub. L. No. 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (2001); Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth); Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (Cth). 

[18] Boris Nikolic, Re: article (Email to Jeffrey Epstein, 28 October 2011) https://jmail.world/thread/EFTA01990136?view=inbox.

[19] Chris Wilson, Ethan Renner, Jack Smylie and Michal Dziwulski, ‘Christchurch gunman discussed attacks online a year before carrying them out’ (21 February 2024) The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2024/feb/21/christchurch-gunman-terrorist-discussed-attacks-online-4chan. 

[20] maxwellhill, ‘Someone mysteriously sent almost $1 billion in Bitcoin’ (r/technology, Reddit, 30 June 2020) https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/hiwcq1/someone_mysteriously_sent_almost_1_billion_in/.

[21] University of New South Wales, Understanding Mass Influence: A Case Study of the Internet Research Agency (Report, 2023). 

[22] Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads (Alfred A Knopf, 2016).

[23] Ibid. 

[24] Espionage Act of 1917, Pub L No 65-24, 40 Stat 217 (1917); Sedition Act of 1918, Pub L No 65-150, 40 Stat 553 (1918).

[25] Eugene V Debs, ‘Speech at Canton, Ohio’ (16 June 1918). 

[26] Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026 (Qld); Lottie Twyford, ‘Pro-Palestinian group accuses Queensland police of “overreach” after “From the river to the sea” arrests’ (12 March 2026) ABC News https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-12/qld-speech-laws-protest-students-for-palestine-responds-police/106445318.

[27] Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922).

[28] Ibid. 

[29] David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (Oxford University Press, 2000) Book 1, Part 3. 

[30] Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (Pantheon Books, 1988).

[31] Yuri Bezmenov, Love Letter to America (W.I.N. Almanac Panorama, 1984).

[32] Sun Tzu, The Art of War (transl J. Minford, Penguin Classics, 2002).

[33]Yuri Bezmenov, Love Letter to America (W.I.N. Almanac Panorama, 1984).

[34] CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (Geoffrey Bles, 1942). 

[35] Marcus Garvey, 'The Work That Has Been Done' (Speech, Menelik Hall, Sydney, Nova Scotia, 31 October 1937) published in Black Man (July 1938).