Manipulation can consist of providing biased information to favor a certain interest.
Before proceeding to determine the meaning of the term manipulation at hand, we want to make clear what its etymological origin is. Specifically, we can state that it emanates from Latin, and more precisely from the word manipulus , which was used to refer to that military command that was "manipulated" or directed by a specific command.
Manipulation is the action and effect of manipulating (operating with one's hands or with an instrument, manipulating something, intervening with skillful means to distort reality to serve particular interests). For example: "In the laboratory we work with dangerous elements: the manipulation of work objects has to be done with great care" , "The manipulation of acids generated serious problems for my health" , "Don't be fooled, your father is an expert in manipulating people .
Information manipulation
No less important is that we refer to what is known as information manipulation . It is a term that is basically used within the media sector, and it defines those actions carried out by journalists and image and sound editors with the clear objective of serving some people. determined interests.
In that sense, what they do is offer biased information about a specific event with a clear intention, that of being able to favor their like-minded people. Thus, for example, throughout history, countless information manipulations have taken place on news programs to, in this way, benefit a certain political party and harm its rival.
Specifically, the pillars of said action are the misrepresentation of the events on which it acts, the selection of information, photographic retouching in the case of written media, the so-called false takes, the use of layout and the typography used and even the semantics.
Based on these elements is how any fact can be manipulated in an informative manner.
Through psychological pressures and persuasion techniques, mental manipulation of an individual can be achieved.
Mind control
Mental manipulation is associated with taking control of the behavior of an individual or a group through persuasion techniques or psychological pressure. The manipulator tries to eliminate the person's critical judgment, distorting their reflective capacity.
Through various techniques, the manipulator manages to influence the actions, thoughts and emotions of the subject. Manipulation can develop in any type of environment and relationship. There are manipulative relationships within families (father-son, mother-son, husband-wife, etc.), but also in many broad contexts (such as the manipulation that a political leader exercises over his followers).
Examples of manipulation
A crude manipulation situation occurs when a mother tells her son that if he behaves well, Santa Claus will bring him gifts for Christmas . This is a minor manipulation, which does not cause harm, but which includes the presentation of a fictitious reality to a subject (the child) who believes the words of the other (the mother).
A riskier manipulation takes place when a social leader presents a biased vision of reality to induce a certain behavior in the people, by blaming immigrants for economic problems, for example.