Social Engineering: Major Players Shaping Human Society

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the major players involved in the social engineering of human society, exploring various influences such as media, religion, government, corporations, and societal dynamics. Participants examine the roles of these entities in shaping public behavior and societal norms, with a focus on both historical and contemporary examples.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that advertisers are significant players in social engineering, but others argue that they primarily serve producers who reflect societal trends.
  • There is a suggestion that society itself is the primary engineer of its own direction, with media, religion, and government as products of societal dynamics.
  • Examples of social engineering include the campaigns against smoking and the influence of organizations like MADD, which some participants note have historical ties to earlier temperance movements.
  • Participants discuss the effectiveness of social engineering in changing behaviors, questioning why some campaigns succeed (like anti-smoking efforts) while others (like the War on Drugs) do not.
  • There are mentions of education as a tool for social engineering, with a discussion on how a lack of education can negatively impact societal progress.
  • Gentrification is presented as a form of social engineering that can revitalize neighborhoods but also displace existing residents, leading to mixed views on its effectiveness and morality.
  • Some participants highlight community-driven initiatives, such as neighborhood cleanups, as simpler and potentially more effective methods of social change compared to top-down approaches.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the effectiveness and morality of various social engineering practices, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain without a clear consensus on the best approaches or outcomes.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the complexity of social engineering, including the potential for both positive and negative outcomes depending on the methods used and the societal context. There are references to historical examples and varying interpretations of success in social campaigns.

  • #31


Originally posted by Nereid
Unkaspam,

You will likely be covering this anyway, so this could be just a wasted post ...

to what extent are you looking at corporations as individual players vs some kind of a gestalt?

at some level, are the corporations - individually or collectively - acting with deliberate will? how much of an overt plan (objectives, tactics, actions) is there? is it possible to elucidate the processes by which the corporates' (corporate's) agenda(s) come together?

Nereid

Here I would remind myself that corporations and governmental departments are comprised of individual people, in any given example.

Every day will be different for the people of any corporation. Someone at corporate head office may expect North Korea to start a war (after financing their military) so they can sell more steel and bandages. But, someone in shipping may have a burst appendex. This might delay the surruptitious courier with the message of war by so much time that the message misses the plane.

Thusly, a delayed courier runs into further mishap and the whole plot is picked up by a Washington Post reporter, somehow. From there, things are often made "perfectly clear", and the result is the delay of a coup by Fancy Megacorp.

Of course there are dreams of laying waste to the small farm and building a combine that will reap all of North America in one passing sweep. Then there are the GMO crops that will reap themselves.

These corporate methodologies hold great promise of wonderous profit. But they leave little room for society - as we know it. In fact, no society of humans has survived the continuous erosion and rampant decimation of ethics for any longer than, say, 100 years.
 

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