Propaganda is about aligning with pre-existing beliefs and desires, not inventing them.

As Eric Hoffer wrote: 'Propaganda penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion, it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients.'"

"We copy when we lack the inclination, ability, or time to work out an independent solution. People in a hurry will imitate more readily than those at leisure. Hustling thus tends to produce uniformity." — Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

“We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand”

– Eric Hoffer

If you really understand how someone thinks, you can influence them. Social engineers use this principle to guide victims without suspicion.

@0n1ydan5.bsky.social
People may doubt the facts you tell them, but they rarely question their own conclusions. Social engineers exploit this by guiding victims to infer false ideas, leading them to bad decisions they believe are their own.

I'm not a robot. But I am pretty gullible. Would you fall for this? A sneaky CAPTCHA scam tricks you into pasting malware into your command line. Is that hacking yourself? Malware DIY? Whatever it’s called, just don’t do it.
ClickFix Social Engineering Attack:
www.proofpoint.com/us/blog/thre...

Finally diving into The Century of Deception by Ian Keable. I read Mackay's The Madness of Crowds years ago, and I’ve been fascinated by public credulity ever since. What seemed like a relic of the past now feels eerily familiar—we’re just as foolish as our ancestors.

Devious !

hackread.com/fake-captcha...

We choose comfort over caution and routine over reflection. Social engineers bank on it.

Charm is a weapon for those who lack honor.

A fool and their passwords are soon parted.