Do we still have free will? Glenn reviews how the government, media, and educational system have been using an old advertising technique to sway the opinions of American in directions they never thought they would go. It used to be called "propaganda." Now, it's called "priming." Ever wonder why so many Americans accepted things like the BLM movement, the anti-Israel movement, and the idea that America is systemically oppressive? Thank priming, Glenn says. Ever wonder why the government and media are always screaming about crisis after crisis, from the pandemic to climate change? That's priming in action. So, what are we being primed for?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So priming is done, it is -- it used to be known, as propaganda.

And this is why some futurists say, that by 2030, we will begin, and I think we already have begun, having this discussion.

But it will be everywhere. The discussion of, do you really have any free will anymore?

Or have you been primed or influenced by several different things, without you even noticing or knowing about it?

Priming when it comes to social psychology, and cognitive psychology, it's the process by -- by which exposure to one stimulus, influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without any conscious guidance or intention. You just do it.

Now, this was first harnessed by advertisers. And social media platforms. Are really bad. And governments.

And a when it's used by governments or God forbid, all three together, you're pretty hopeless and helpless, unless you know about it.

So let me explain it. The human brain is constantly bombarded with sensory data. And so it uses shortcuts to expedite decision-making. And priming exploits these shortcuts.

When an individual is exposed to a specific stimulus. The prime. It activities related notes in your memory.

And once that has an activated concept or idea, that influences your response. So let's take advertising.

Let's take Coca-Cola.

When you see Coca-Cola, when you see seven up. When you see those commercials, what do those commercials, usually show you?

With Seven-Up.

It's usually like somebody in a swing, you know, going on a tire swing, going into a lake. And everybody is there, and having a good time. Coca-Cola is always with your friends or your family.

Having a good time. Laughter.

Romance. So what happens is priming.

That's all they're doing is priming you.

So when you look at the product. You think of family, friends, laughter, good times. When you're in those situations, you want a Coke. That's priming, okay?

And it influences your decision, whether you know it or not.

Social media platforms, really, really use this.

The algorithms dictate what you see on your feet.

You can say, I want to see Glenn Beck. On Facebook.

I sign up. I follow him. I want his posts.

You will miss 95 percent of my posts now.

The algorithm has shut me down, so hard, hardest ever.

They've shut me down so hard, only 5 percent of what I post gets out. So it's not you. You're not being influenced by the things you're asking to be influenced by. They are priming you. And showing you, other things that they think you need to see.

By controlling the content, and the sequence, and the frequency of whatever it is, you see.

They can prime users to spend more time online. Engage with certain types of content. Or even influence political and social attitudes. And that's what's happening now.

The black box? Did you post the black box? Did you post the black box?

Everybody is posting it, you know. BLM was not tracking. It was not trending. When the riots first started and then they boosted the algorithm, and put that in the top ten. And that you were primed.

And that became BLM.

Now, the same thing is true with governments.

Governments can prime you to support certain policies.

They know you love -- you want to be called a patriot. You don't anymore. But you wanted to be called a patriot after 9/11.

So we have the Patriot Act.

They associate things. They can get you to support policies, and civil activities.

They can get you to view situations in a particular light.

Then they also can shape what the national identity is. This is why the progressives wanted to take over public schools.

Because they could shape the public and national identity. And that way, you would conform.

This is basically, manipulation.

It is propaganda. That's what we used to call advertising. It is propaganda.

Now, if a government wants to use this to manipulate a country, here's a couple of ways that they can do it.

First, if it's just the country, they can create -- I love this. This is from the textbook.

They can create a sense of crisis or threat.

Hmm. Do you feel that?

A government seeking to consolidate power or justify authoritarian measures might use priming to create a heightened sense of crisis or external threat.

Climate change is worse than nuclear war.

Climate change is worse than nuclear war.

Who believes that?

Unfortunately, a lot of people. They believe that.

What is that doing?

It is activating that group of people. And priming them, so they are ready to fight for global warming solutions.

This happens all the time.

They can also make a population feel fear, and insecurity.

They can isolate groups. They can make you hate the Jew. They can make you hate the Teabagger, as Obama used to say.

Or the MAGA Trump supporter.

The next thing they can do, if they want to take control, is they shape the national identity and values. Now, this can be done in a good way or a negative way.

They can use priming to redefine national identity and values in a way that supports its agenda.

Do you notice that what Hitler did, he took the Weimar and the old republic of Germany. And he took things like the Iron Eagle.

But then he cast it in an entirely new light.

He washed away the old Germany for the new German Reich? The Third Reich.

The rise of a new Germany. That was all priming. Okay. So what are we being primed for?

I think we're being primed for a few things. First of all, we are being primed to accept a new America. To forget the old America.

This is -- this has been happening by our government institutions. Through our teachers.

It has been happening on social media. It has been happening through our corporations.

So you're being primed now, by the three culprits, that know how to use priming.

They study this. This is what they do for a living. This is how they sell products. Get you hooked online.

A new America, with new values, new history. So we're being primed to go in to a New Age. Just like the people of Weimar. A New Age.

A greater America.

But it is not going to look anything like the old America.

And notice, nobody in the government, in the media, in the educational -- educational probably is the most honest about it. But nobody is talking about what it's going to be.

They just talk about what we need to destroy.

Well, we've destroyed everything. We've destroyed everything.

What are we creating?

I think if you read my book, Dark Future. You know what's being created.

So now, how do we make sure? Because I think that the next thing that we're being primed for.

I think we're being primed for violence.