How to deceive the mind of someone (anyone)

Deception: the functions of the mind

Talking about the human brain, we could say that what governs our behavior and reactions (in relation to the external stimuli) depends on:

  1. Speed and breadth of reasoning (the effectiveness of the work of our synapses)
  2. Previous experiences (what we can remember or we think to remember)
  3. Reasoning method (how we choose to think)

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes hereĀ Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Naturally, more or less consciously / unconsciously, these 3 elements can be influenced by things like emotions, sensations, psychophysical states (etc.) but they remain the bridge we use to connect us with the world we live in.

A note by Master Kongling – Why do in 6 Dragons Kung Fu we study such a topic? Fundamentally for 2 reasons: the first is the practical application in terms of combat tactics (read 6DKF: what does it teach?) and self-defense (for negotiation, etc., read Personal defense: the S.A.F.E. method and Self-defense: the power of deception), the second is to become as much as possible “waterproof” to deception.

The starting point: see the human brain as a computer

The 3 mentioned elements, connected to our senses can be easily put in parallel to the functionality of a computer:

  • The previous experiences are the “files” on our hard drive – They are what we have stored (from what we have heard, studied, tested, seen, etc.), the “files” that we continuously add, eliminate and modify on our minds
  • The Speed and breadth of reasoning represent the power of the computer – They roughly correspond to the hardware capabilities of a computer (eg. processor power, amount / speed of RAM, etc.); they determine our ability to process and collect data in a fast, efficient and error-free mode
  • The senses are the input devices – They are the collectors of data, each with its level of performance (eg. webcam, scanner, microphone, etc.)
  • The reasoning methods are the software – It is finally the software that puts together the stored information (previous experiences), the computing capability (speed and breadth of reasoning) and the real-time data (senses)

A note by Master Kongling – Why this parallel? Because (despite its obvious limits) it helps to make a clearer distinction between the basic mechanics of our mind in relation to what we are going to say.

Deception: what is the weak point of the human mind?

It is not the same for everyone, it could be one or a combination of more of these:

  1. For some, it can be the speed and breadth of reasoning (eg. get confused easily and / or need more time to elaborate correctly, etc.)
  2. For some, it can be a lack of knowledge / experience (eg. being blown away by completely or almost new situations or events)
  3. For some others, it can be a poor quality of reasoning (eg. be based on clichƩs, on absolutized personal experiences, etc.)

The key is to understand what of these vulnerabilities we have to insist on.

Deception methods samples

Ideas on how to exploit the 3 gaps

Let’s see a few practical methods:

  1. Gap 1, hide a wolf among the flock of sheep – To deceive someone with a “slower” (or temporarily slower) mind (read Deception and brain waves), the first thing to do is to sync with its speed, the second is to create a trustful connection and only then, from time to time, insert more complex / fast information that it will do not have time / capability to compute
  2. Gap 2, trick the ignorant (in a specific field) – Read Deception: the honeycomb structure
  3. Gap 3, forcing clichƩs -To delude someone who thinks by hearsay, prejudices, etc., all we have to do is make him / her reasonably trigger them and one by one, we will guide his / her mind exactly where we want

A note by Master Kongling – Naturally doing all of this is not automatic as saying it, it requires technique and training (but we will gradually deepen the path). Returning instead to the computer comparison: it goes without saying that, for example, a slower processor will never subdue a more powerful one; we simply have to choose the right strategy in proportion to the mental differences between us and our opponent.

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

  • It must be stressed that what we said so far is true regarding conscious deception, the one in which our mind directly addresses the opponent’s one
  • Negotiation is an incredibly strong self-defense tool; in many cases, the right words can stop even a bullet, maybe only the necessary time to receive help or exploit an advantage but no combat technique or defensive weapon can do the same
  • The last and most important suggestion is to always avoid facing an adversary in his / her field of excellence (this is true for mind “battles” as for the physical ones)

In the following articles of this series, we will talk about unconscious deception and subliminal suggestions (then we will slowly move from theory to practice).

In-depth video courses

In-depth articles

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

  • Have you ever avoided resorting to violence by exploiting dialectics?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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