A Recent Washington Post Puzzle Delivered More Than Just the Results

I originally posted the following on my Facebook Page, hence my reference that I could not bold text. The link to the test is at the bottom.

SCIENCE/QUIZ "Puzzle"

"A Quick Quiz/Puzzle to see if You can tell What Other's are Thinking"

MY TAKE, It's Long, butI hope you will think it's WORTH IT once you see a few of the items I point out. *winks* I FELL FOR IT, at 1st too!! (Only so far as the taking the test, because I ALWAYS question everything, especially, the source!)

This is a more Scientific Results type quiz result, not an "Oh You are or You are NOT Psychic, fyi, just so you won't expect that ending.

I found the concepts interesting & STRONGLY encourage everyone to SHARE AWAY! 

1) ELECTION GAMES = Because, of the up coming Presidential Election, so maybe we (notice I'm including myself), ALL REMEMBER, the factors Politicians, Lobbyists, and even our OWN Social Media now plays in our decision making versus our deciding What we as an INDIVIDUAL wants. In other words, the Psychological GAMES THEY PLAY!

2) HOW THEY ARE SWAYING OTHERS OPINIONS = 

 I'm pointing this out, simply because, well, it TICKS ME OFF THEY'RE DOING IT!! Not, because I wish to sway your opinion. 

You'll notice that at a point in this 'Quickie' Test (that has such an inviting, "only takes a sec" title, the Authors throw in the issue of "Gay Marriage." If you take 2 seconds to notice, they will make a statement about the vote on Gay Marriage, and then they immediately follow it up, with a sort of "fact' about how Gay Marriage got passed. No Biggie, Right? And all this isn't "conspiracy theory" people *laughs* they are USING PROVEN PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES through out the ENTIRE article. I mean come on, that is what the entire article is about! (I do the same when I capitalize words, because I can't bold them & also so people who skim read, can easily pull out the key points.) 

Some of the techniques used: COLOR association (Blue = For & Orange = Against) Blue is viewed as a calm color, so those "For" an issue must be calm, peaceful, good. Orange = is interpreted as excitable, agitated,therefore, "Against" must be bad; the FONT bolding/stressing, the visually interactive GRAPHICS; STATEMENT QUESTIONING, and on and on..*chuckles* My Point? 

3. WHAT THEY ARE SWAYING YOUR OPINION ON IN THE ARTICLE:

The fact that there is an underlying theme here that they CHOSE to slip in on Reader's AND:

1) Gay Marriage

2) The Vote was swayed

3) The results would not have turned out the way that they did (i.e. Wrongly) if people had not allowed themselves to be swayed by their friends & their social media exposure.

4. HOW TO AVOID FALLING FOR IT, the most COMMON TECHNIQUE:

Notice that this test started with a FICTIONAL town, they easily could have used a fictional example in order to explain the test results, but they CHOSE to TARGET the issue of "Gay Marriage", and how they set the entire article up, was psychologically done in a way to CHANGE/SWAY OPINION IN A SPECIFIC DIRECTION, in this case, "Against".

THE TECHNIQUE USED:

Make a statement, immediately question the truth of that statement as incorrect. 

EXAMPLE 1:

Billy wore blue today. Billy would not have worn blue, if Billy had washed clothes last night. Billy actually prefers his favorite Red shirt. 

So..Blue = Bad, Red = Good

EXAMPLE 2:

John ordered tacos on Tuesday. John ordered tacos, because he was with his wife, Angela, a taco addict.

So..Tacos = Bad

3 PORTIONS:

The Statement, The Questioning & Substitute, The Link (good or bad)

Above you'll notice that I made a statement, then questioned its validity, pointing out it was wrong, then I planted the substitute and linked an emotional response ("Favorite", "Addict") The word "Favorite" is associated with GOOD, you like whatever is your favorite whatever. The word "Addict" is of course BAD, being addicted to this is, well, bad. I could have said Angela loves tacos, but I chose to use the word "addict" to show you the negative association words can have by themselves.

See, it's an easy game to play, and one you can use on others when trying to change their minds on something, plus Marketing brands pulls them on YOU, ALL of the time, if they're good at what they do! *winks* *chuckles* Just saying!! 

MY OPINION?

Also you'll notice, I have not shared with you, MY OPINION on the topic of 'GAY MARRIAGE', and I have NO INTENTION of SHARING it here, because my point is to just show what THEY are doing, not TO SWAY YOU to share my views. (See how I cap'd my points? And just by reading the capped you can get the idea/summary? *winks*)

It's fitting considering the topic, and with this one, it applies, because it's all about mind games. As Agent Molded of the X Files has on his wall, I believe, when reading an article, watching media/news, etc. "QUESTION EVERYTHING"  

* What is the topic?

* Why are they telling me this?

* Who is the source? 

* What is their motivation?

* What is their view presented?

* Are they trying to change my views?

Psychology is Cool!! But, Dangerous when used to CONTROL the POPULATION, like Facebook's past "experiment" where they intentionally FED NEWS FEEDS of certain people, negative and depressing stories & topics and pictures, just to gauge the effects it had on them.

A quick puzzle to tell whether you know what people are thinking - Washington Post - www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/wonkblog/majority-illusion/ 

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