Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
Illustration: a dossier collage of an intelligence briefing room with case files and behavioral-analysis notes on a chalkboard.

Learn

A short course on the basic techniques

One technique per lesson. Each lesson takes a few minutes: what it is, how it works, why it works on people, real examples from different sides and eras, a question to check yourself, and a real archive object to analyse.

Illustration, not an archive object

Start lesson 1

Unit 1: Borrowed weight

Techniques that make a claim feel true or settled because of who or how many stand behind it.

  1. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for BandwagonLesson 1BandwagonTreat popularity, momentum, or 'everyone knows' as proof.About 8 minutes
  2. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for TestimonialLesson 2TestimonialA named person or institution vouches; the vouch is meant to end checking.About 7 minutes
  3. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for TransferLesson 3TransferBorrow prestige or stigma from a respected or hated symbol and paste it onto the message.About 8 minutes
  4. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Plain folksLesson 4Plain folksThe speaker performs ordinary-person identity to make the message feel homegrown.About 7 minutes

Unit 2: Feeling before thinking

Techniques that reach the emotions or the label first, so the claim itself is never weighed.

  1. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Fear appealLesson 5Fear appealImminent harm is staged so the audience accepts the offered protection without comparing base rates or alternatives.About 8 minutes
  2. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Glittering generalitiesLesson 6Glittering generalitiesVirtue words (freedom, security, the people, science) used as substitutes for a testable claim.About 7 minutes
  3. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Name-callingLesson 7Name-callingAttach a loaded label so the audience rejects the target without checking the claim.About 7 minutes

Unit 3: Us, them and the missing half

Techniques that draw the line between groups, or show only the part of the evidence that helps.

  1. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for ScapegoatingLesson 8ScapegoatingPark blame for a complex harm on a bounded out-group so the in-group stays clean.About 8 minutes
  2. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Identity fusionLesson 9Identity fusionCollapse checking the claim into betraying the tribe, so method-critique feels like treason.About 8 minutes
  3. Illustration, not an archive object: technique card for Card stackingLesson 10Card stackingSelect, omit, or order facts so the remaining pile can only be read one way.About 8 minutes

Every lesson uses the same definitions for every side, party and country, and every example is a real archive object with its source. Your progress is saved only in this browser.