bro... the government has been us gov has been testing and implementing this since before project mkultra... look it up. and have your mind blown...
furthermore its still used in behavioral modification therapy by psychiatrists today to eliminate the effects of traumatic experiences... and i'm sure it has more nefarious applications... gaslighting is actually a great example of such manipulation... over time a manipulator can actually reinforce new memories in their target...
well, there is a subjective and an objective reality, while we can manipulate our subjective reality we must still maintain a balance with our peers subjective reality. but as the old adage goes if a wreck a 4 wheeler in the woods and we were the only ones to see it happen we can always blame it on wild life.
We can manipulate our reality to the extent that we can manipulate our peers reality.
Indeed. And sometimes it is easily done. 'Objective reality' is too complicated for people to process sometimes; they like things to be explained for them and fit into a narrative, when it comes to relationships anyway. I know a brother and sister who grew up in the same house, close in age, would have experienced the same events, and yet have such completely different interpretations of it you can't believe they are talking about the same family.
You're wrong. This doesn't just work on the "gullible". Yes, it works easier on some, but you can use it on anyone who is unaware of the tactic. Politics shows examples of this over and over. People that otherwise seem like reasonable human beings believe in the most bazaar things.
That's because most people are gullible.
Look at religion and religious cults as a prime example. Look at how many stupid people have been prepared to kill themselves because someone manipulated them.
Of course politicians are going to take advantage of whatever strings they can pull. How could they not when people are that gullible.
This isn't about Gullibility Thrillkill, this is about a simple underlying concept of reality.
Perception IS reality, and perception is maleable for EVERYONE... Granted some are more easily suggested too. But anyone can fall prey to the concept of memory reconstruction.
Everyone has done it to themselves and had their perceptions of memory altered by other people viewpoints. It happens all the time. Even people who are very aware of this kind of thing is subject to remembering something wrong, because of outside influences. That is the organic or natural version.
The other version is picking a target and doing it to them. This is harder to do to someone and there are those more susceptible than others. Some people are more malleable about certain subject matter and others at certain times of day.
I have to check my "related to you" posts from time to time...
Getting over past trauma was something I had in mind too. Of course some stuff can already be done with this memory plasticity thing. I wasn't really thinking of mental reinforcement (I am aware of what Inquirer said, good point in a way), I was thinking of actually modifying memory to such an extent that you can plant or delete memories inside your (or other people's) mind(s). Imagine convincing someone they did your crimes, for example, or giving them motives to actually do the crimes for you themselves.
And no one would ever be sure of what's real and what's not... (Not just some weird smart nihilists like Turncoat :D )