4 ms·

KGB Manual: Training the Operative for Psychological Influence of Foreigners [pdf]

46 points by Anon84 6y ago

throw1234651234 6y ago
"Various applied aspects of the problem of psychological influence have been widely studied in psychology abroad. Every year, a large quantity of works is pub- lished on the issues of persuasion, suggestion, and placing psychological pressure on people in various situations. Recently, it has been observed that Soviet scholars have increased their interest in this problem. A significant number of books have appeared in which directly or indirectly, issues of psychological influence are covered. The problems of educational, managerial and propaganda influence have been studied. " Aka marketing and corps use the same tricks as ABC agents trying to get you to act in their interest, against your own best interest. Without any exaggeration. My marketing class was more brutal than this - turn on some music so that individuals lose track of time and become more impulsive, turn on music that alienates "undesirables" loitering around the store, lightning to make clothing look most appealing in the mirror, form rapport as a salesperson so the customer feels like they are declining a close friend once they walk away from a sale. Etc.
- virgilp 6y ago
  - publish "KGB manual" as an apparent-poor-quality-scan to increase credibility and make it seem like a 'scanned original' when in fact it's a carefully-crafted font.
  - Enginerrrd 6y ago
    Nice catch. And what a weird thing to do...
    - codetrotter 6y ago
      This, along with what others ITT said, makes me think that the document in question is fictional. Flagged the OP post accordingly. Need proof that this is in any way connected to KGB at all.
      - injb 6y ago
        Someone replied to my claim that it's a font earlier with a link to the original. It definitely is still a font, but apparently there is an original Russian document.
      - IngvarLynn 6y ago
        But can you _imagine_ this kind of a proof? Hint: it's mostly impossible.
    - ta988 6y ago
      Some people have interests in doing such things.
versale 6y ago
> it is prudent to use the following formulas: "I understand you...", "I am not surprised that you have said this...", "I predicted your concern...", "It is good that you have mentioned this...", If I were in your place, likely I would feel the same way...", "There is much that is just in what you are saying..." > ... > The best way of letting him know that in fact he has asked a question is to say something like: "You have raised a very interesting question". "Your question gets right to the point." "I wasn't surprised to hear this question from you," and so on Hm.. I hear this from my corporate superiors every now and then during All-Hands Q&A sessions. Better check their background... EDIT: formatting
- commandlinefan 6y ago
  The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if you wanted to psychologically manipulate westerners... you might try leaking a fake "psychological manipulation training manual" that causes them to cast doubt on ordinary everyday interactions.
  - ericmay 6y ago
    Yea for real. That was my exact thought too. Make the population see conspiracies everywhere and question everything. Even if they don't do it in practice (i.e. you still go to the doctor even though on Facebook you reject all the science) it'll have a wide scale detrimental effect. What a world
    - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
      https://www.rt.com https://www.rt.com a.k.a. Russia Today > RT QUESTION MORE
  - bananapub 6y ago
    I have the exact same thought about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics - it makes way too many people go "ah yes".
  - 6y ago
PaulHoule 6y ago
What is the provenance of this? It wholesale incorporates western psychological concepts such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and extensively references CIA documents. There is a large Russian literature on psychology and it doesn't get referenced at all. (e.g. Russians used gabapentinoids for anxiety in the 1960s) One could imagine they painted on a few words like "Bourgeois", references to marxism and added some stilted phrases to make it look like a translation from the Russian. Most of what I've read about spycraft indicates that the Soviets quickly learned not to trust people who "liked communism" (e.g. loose canons like Lee Harvey Oswald) and instead to cultivate agents who were motivated by money, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker for one of their biggest success stories.
ta988 6y ago
Do we have any idea when this was written and how sure we are it is genuine and unaltered?
op03 6y ago
The latest edition is being rewritten with a chapter on how to handle crank calls from victim. Being James Bond these days is fucking hard man.

46 points by Anon84 6y ago

"Various applied aspects of the problem of psychological influence have been widely studied in psychology abroad. Every year, a large quantity of works is pub- lished on the issues of persuasion, suggestion, and placing psychological pressure on people in various situations. Recently, it has been observed that Soviet scholars have increased their interest in this problem. A significant number of books have appeared in which directly or indirectly, issues of psychological influence are covered. The problems of educational, managerial and propaganda influence have been studied. " Aka marketing and corps use the same tricks as ABC agents trying to get you to act in their interest, against your own best interest. Without any exaggeration. My marketing class was more brutal than this - turn on some music so that individuals lose track of time and become more impulsive, turn on music that alienates "undesirables" loitering around the store, lightning to make clothing look most appealing in the mirror, form rapport as a salesperson so the customer feels like they are declining a close friend once they walk away from a sale. Etc.

virgilp 6y ago
- publish "KGB manual" as an apparent-poor-quality-scan to increase credibility and make it seem like a 'scanned original' when in fact it's a carefully-crafted font.
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  Nice catch. And what a weird thing to do...
  - codetrotter 6y ago
    This, along with what others ITT said, makes me think that the document in question is fictional. Flagged the OP post accordingly. Need proof that this is in any way connected to KGB at all.
    - injb 6y ago
      Someone replied to my claim that it's a font earlier with a link to the original. It definitely is still a font, but apparently there is an original Russian document.
    - IngvarLynn 6y ago
      But can you _imagine_ this kind of a proof? Hint: it's mostly impossible.
  - ta988 6y ago
    Some people have interests in doing such things.

versale 6y ago

> it is prudent to use the following formulas: "I understand you...", "I am not surprised that you have said this...", "I predicted your concern...", "It is good that you have mentioned this...", If I were in your place, likely I would feel the same way...", "There is much that is just in what you are saying..." > ... > The best way of letting him know that in fact he has asked a question is to say something like: "You have raised a very interesting question". "Your question gets right to the point." "I wasn't surprised to hear this question from you," and so on Hm.. I hear this from my corporate superiors every now and then during All-Hands Q&A sessions. Better check their background... EDIT: formatting

commandlinefan 6y ago
The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if you wanted to psychologically manipulate westerners... you might try leaking a fake "psychological manipulation training manual" that causes them to cast doubt on ordinary everyday interactions.
- ericmay 6y ago
  Yea for real. That was my exact thought too. Make the population see conspiracies everywhere and question everything. Even if they don't do it in practice (i.e. you still go to the doctor even though on Facebook you reject all the science) it'll have a wide scale detrimental effect. What a world
  - LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
    https://www.rt.com https://www.rt.com a.k.a. Russia Today > RT QUESTION MORE
- bananapub 6y ago
  I have the exact same thought about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics - it makes way too many people go "ah yes".
- 6y ago

PaulHoule 6y ago

What is the provenance of this? It wholesale incorporates western psychological concepts such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and extensively references CIA documents. There is a large Russian literature on psychology and it doesn't get referenced at all. (e.g. Russians used gabapentinoids for anxiety in the 1960s) One could imagine they painted on a few words like "Bourgeois", references to marxism and added some stilted phrases to make it look like a translation from the Russian. Most of what I've read about spycraft indicates that the Soviets quickly learned not to trust people who "liked communism" (e.g. loose canons like Lee Harvey Oswald) and instead to cultivate agents who were motivated by money, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anthony_Walker for one of their biggest success stories.

ta988 6y ago

Do we have any idea when this was written and how sure we are it is genuine and unaltered?

op03 6y ago

The latest edition is being rewritten with a chapter on how to handle crank calls from victim. Being James Bond these days is fucking hard man.