(5ExQ) + (7CxA) = EEE – The formula for mass indoctrination

PROGRAMMING YOUR REALITY

(The Sabido Method with updates, stay tuned for more on Esta de Fossard)

(5ExQ) + (7CxA)=EEE – The formula for mass indoctrination (14)

Humans tend to learn values and morals from their peer group. Although these concepts are actively taught in religious and educational institutions it seems that few people have the desire or ability to put abstract theory into action and mold their behavior according to prescribed concepts of which behaviors are proper. The behavior and actions of those around them is much more influential. While many people claim to live by principles which guide their actions most will mimic the behavior of their peers. At one time this meant people would learn from family and friends the values, morals and beliefs which influenced their opinions and shaped their behavior. With the advent of television and the subsequent diminishing role of community and family peer groups have shifted from intimately known live individuals to actors portraying characters. This shift has had the effect of transferring values from scripted characters to the viewer in the same way that values were transferred from family and friends in the past. And that is precisely what the Sabido method is intended to do.

In the 1970’s Miguel Sabido, then vice president of Research at Televisa in Mexico, developed a method based on “character development and plot lines that provide the audience with a range of characters that they can engage with — some good, some not so good — and follow as they evolve and change.” [1] The intention of this method is to introduce characters in a serial drama that the viewer can identify with or relate to. Some of these characters will have positive traits, some negative. Over the course of the series situations and ideas are introduced which pose challenges to the characters and cause them to change their behavior, which the viewer will relate to and mimic. The stated goal of the Sabido Method is to portray “pro-social” behavioral changes.  Pro-social being a subjective term defined by people other than the target audience. In plain language it is intended to manipulate the target audience into changing a behavior deemed undesirable by the authors of the program. The Sabido Method has been used most notably for population control and HIV prevention in the “third world”. (1,2,3,4)

A more modern terminology for the Sabido Method is “education-entertainment”.(5) Although the Wikipedia entry gives the perception that this is an innocuous, above board technique the application of it is not so innocuous. Regardless of the intention behind its use, whether well or ill, the methodology is inherently deceptive and manipulative. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health offers a course titled Education Entertainment for Behavior change which “examines and teaches ways in which education can be subtly but effectively worked into both new and time-honored genres of entertainment to foster positive behavior change and life improvement in both developing countries and local environments. The course develops students’ ability to understand the ingredients of successful entertainment (emotions, empathy, efficacy and empowerment) and how these ingredients can be employed to enhance social and personal health and life skills.” (6)

The formula at the top of this page, (5ExQ) + (7CxA)=EEE, is the actual formula used to create mass indoctrination programs. This is explained the John Hopkins lecture entitled “The Entertainment Education Equation”. 5E means the 5 E’s of entertainment, which are emotion, empathy, example, efficacy and enhancement. The Q is quality, because “entertainment that is engaging truly must be of the highest quality”. 7C means the 7 C’s of education, which are correct, clear, complete, concise, consistent, compelling, culturally appropriate. And A means accountability, because “It is essential to hold ourselves accountable for the changes we promote in the lives of others.” This equation can be used in serial dramas or soap operas, public service announcements, songs, puppet shows and even dance routines, and, according to the author of this program, Esta de Fossard, provides a successful platform for “social and behavior change communication for adults and social behavior development for children and adolescents”, ensuring EEE, or Excellence in Education Entertainment. (19)

Like all social engineers the people implementing these programs seem to believe they know best and that the target audience cannot be trusted with straight forward information and so must be manipulated. The World Bank has even developed a project using this method to impart financial knowledge using a soap opera in which one man shames another for being foolish and keeping cash at home.(7)

This method is based on the work of psychologist Albert Bandura and his Social Learning Theory, which is a successor of behaviorism. (8) Social Learning Theory states “People, especially children, learn from the environment and seek acceptance from society by learning through influential models. Social learning theory states that social behavior (any type of behavior that we display socially) is learned primarily by observing and imitating the actions of others. The social behavior is also influenced by being rewarded and/or punished for these actions.”(9)

The publicly stated goals of the Sabido Method are “pro-social” changes such as population reduction, HIV prevention, financial responsibility, etc. However, it  is also being used for other messages, such as environmentalism as in the notorious “behavior placement” concept. (10,11)

Below the sources for the above information is a list of further reading and viewing on this topic. You’ll see that the CDC regularly inserts the culturally accepted authorized views on health and medicine into television series. A cursory search of the internet for “Sabido Method” or “education entertainment” brings up a plethora of information not included here which suggests that almost all serial dramas on television are used for this type of purpose, ie. intending to influence behavior and beliefs through deceptive manipulation, all with the best intentions of course.

(1) Sabido Methodology – Background. http://www.populationmedia.org/what/sabido-method/
(2) Sex, Soap & Social Change – The Sabido Methodology. http://www.populationmedia.org/2007/08/09/sex-soap-social-change-the-sabido-methodology/
(3) Sabido Methodology. http://www.comminit.com/content/sabido-methodology
(4) The theory heard ’round the world. http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/theory.aspx
(5) Educational Entertainment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment-Education
(6) Entertainment Education for Behavior Change. http://ocw.jhsph.edu/index.cfm/go/viewCourse/course/EntertainmentEducation/coursePage/index/
(7) The World Bank Entertainment Education Project, June 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M6y06gjdQ8
(8) Albert Bandura. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bandura
(9) Social Learning Theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_learning_theory
(10) What Your TV Is Telling You To Do. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304364904575166581279549318.html
(11) NBC’s ‘Behavior Placement’: NBC Pushes Eco-Friendly Messages Through Shows. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/07/nbcs-behavior-placement-n_n_528701.html

Further Reading/Viewing

(12) Dr. Miguel Sabido – The Telenovela – A Motor For Social Change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ_0w2LzNCc
(13) CDC – Entertainment Education. http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/2000survey.html
(14) JHSPH Entertainment Education for Behavior Change Courseware. http://ocw.jhsph.edu/courses/entertainmenteducation/lectureNotes.cfm
(15) CDC – Entertainment Education in Hollywood. http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/index.html
(16) CDC – Delivering Public Health Messages Through Popular Entertainment. CDC Speaks Directly To Audiences Through Television. http://www.cdc.gov/news/2007/07/pubhealth_tv.html
(17) Hollywood, Health and Society. http://hollywoodhealthandsociety.org/
(18) Norman Lear Center. http://blog.learcenter.org/
(19) The Entertainment Equation. http://ocw.jhsph.edu/courses/entertainmenteducation/PDFs/The_Entertainment_Education_Equation.pdf

 

 

The Opinion Algorithm

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” – The Wizard of Oz

“Trotter and Le Bon concluded that the group mind does not think in the strict sense of the word. In place of thoughts it has impulses, habits and emotions. In making up its mind its first impulse is usually to follow the example of a trusted leader. This is one of the most firmly established principles of mass psychology. It operates in establishing the rising or diminishing prestige of a summer resort, in causing a run on a bank, or a panic on the stock exchange, in creating a best seller, or a box-office success.”

– Edward Bernays. Propaganda. 1928. Page 50.

Algorithm is defined as “a set of rules for solving a problem in a finite number of steps”. The existence of a pubic opinion shifting algorithm is not officially recognized, but it exists. The algorithm is sometimes referred to as the Hegelian Dialectic, and is made up of three components.

1) The existing public opinion (thesis).

2) A fabricated opposing opinion (antithesis).

3) The desired final public opinion (synthesis).

An organization wanting to influence, control and guide public opinion to a pre-determined conclusion must control the thesis and the antithesis. If this is done properly the public can be directed to accept almost any opinion as their own given enough time.

This works in the following manner. There are, within society, cultural norms accepted by most people, we will refer to them as  “established norms.”  In this example the established norm is the thesis. If an organization with the ability to disseminate information en masse desires to change this norm they can bring to the attention of the public a debate of the established norm (thesis) versus the fabricated opposing norm (antithesis), perhaps allowing a celebrity to speak on behalf of the antithesis. A public debate ensues in the media. Television shows and movies are produced with the antithesis as the backdrop, books are written arguing for and against it.

The public gets caught up in the debate and decides they stand on the issue. The organization in charge of placing this debate in public view understands that the decision reached by most people will be a compromise somewhere in between the thesis and the antithesis. And this compromise eventually becomes the new norm, the synthesis, which was the goal to begin with. The norms have now shifted from the original thesis to the synthesis, which now becomes the new thesis and a new starting point. Using this algorithm public opinion can be shifted over time to almost anything desired by anyone capable of disseminating information en masse.