Can the truth be worded in such a way as to make people believe the exact opposite of what actually happened?

2017-06-01T02:41:54-04:00

While in Op/Intel school in the early 70's, we were having a class on misinformation and how it could be used to direct the thinking of people to believe the exact opposite of what really happened. The example given? I'll have to make it the first comment since it's kinda long.

Response by SSG David Fetty made Jun 1 at 2017 2:49 AM

2017-06-01T02:49:59-04:00

A race was arranged between a car from the US and a car from the Soviet Union. When the day arrived and the race ran, as expected, the US car won, and the Soviet car finished second. Only those two cars ran the race. In those days, the media was more believable and less biased, so the US paper reported "US car wins in race with the Soviet Union". Which was the truth, no need for analysis, no need for them to spin it or tell us what to think.

Pravda, the official news agency of the Soviet Union also reported on the race, using only the truth. Their headlines? "Soviet car finishes second in big race, US car finishes next to last". Nothing untrue about it, but with the way it was worded it caused the impression that the US was having huge problems with their cars.

Does anyone else think that we are being told on an almost daily basis that we are finishing "next to last" in almost everything we do today?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 4:05 AM

2017-06-01T04:05:55-04:00

A couple of recent examples. When Gen Flynn's problems hit critical mass, Sean Spicer referred to Flynn during a White House press briefing as "just a campaign volunteer" which while true, belied the fact that he was a primary advisor to Trump and sat in with Trump on his intel briefings. Likewise, when Paul Manfort's Russian connections became a problem, the WH described him as "someone who played a role in the campaign for a very short period of time" which while true, also belies the fact that he was actually initially in charge of delegate operations for the convention and then made overall campaign manager. It was only for a short period of time because he stepped down over the allegations, not that the campaign no longer wanted his services. Geez, it's almost like they had the Russians coaching them or something ;)

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Jun 1 at 2017 5:59 AM

2017-06-01T05:59:13-04:00

Every day.....

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 12:08 PM

2017-06-01T12:08:01-04:00

Of course. While in college, I did a paper on the relationship between polls and the newsmedia. Long paper short, polls can be made to prove anything you want proven. This is done through the wording of the poll question, the demographic (group of people) you poll, and how many people you poll.

For example, if you go to UC Berkeley and ask 10 people if they dislike President Trump, you can honestly and factually say that 100% of people polled dislike the president. This is how polls are engineered. When pollsters intentionally design polls to be deceptive, it is called disinformation or PsyOps, as they are using misleading information to affect your opinion(s).

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Jun 1 at 2017 12:32 PM

2017-06-01T12:32:59-04:00

Absolutely, and it's nothing new. I harken back to when I attended Air Force Survival School. I was headed to B-52 training and was obviously a flyer both of which we were told by previous students we wanted to keep secret. During the E&E, capture and subsequent prison compound interrogations I wasn't too good at hiding the fact that I was a flyer but apparently hid my B-52 track very well. At the debriefing when told what the "captors" had learned about me I was told that I was a helicopter crewmember headed to Vietnam. Felt pretty good that I was able to bend the truth and fool the professional staff of instructors. Moral is that the truth can be molded into just about anything with a few well placed "alternative facts."

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jun 1 at 2017 1:38 PM

2017-06-01T13:38:44-04:00

Well the Establishment media certainly is hoping so.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2017 2:50 PM

2017-06-01T14:50:09-04:00

You bet it can...it's called Politics.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 2 at 2017 1:44 AM

2017-06-02T01:44:40-04:00

Politicians and the media do it

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jun 2 at 2017 8:11 PM

2017-06-02T20:11:14-04:00

SSG David Fetty 21 Years a Cryptologic Technician, Without a Doubt, We Used to Laugh Our Asses Off Listening to the Horseshit on Radio Moscow and Voice of America in the Cold War then I heard the Same Kind of Horseshit on FOX, Breitbart and Townhall, and It wasn't funny anymore because some people were sucking it up and believing it.

Response by 1LT William Clardy made Jun 2 at 2017 8:22 PM

2017-06-02T20:22:43-04:00

The most effective deceptions are always built on the truth, just not the whole truth.