The techniques are often effective at manipulating you even if you are ‘aware’, unless you are also so very well-aligned internally that the consciously aware p

The techniques are often effective at manipulating you even if you are ‘aware’, unless you are also so very well-aligned internally that the consciously aware part of you can and does counter-affect the subconsciously affected parts strongly and consistently enough. Intelligence and knowledge won't save you. Combining them with ‘enlightenment’ and/or strong detachment might, but that's a much taller order. In the case of central/popular social/communication software, this is much, much worse, because it can be set up so that taking up the mindset for resistance directly conflicts with taking up a mindset that will be (or be read as) adequately engaged for relationship maintenance and continued connection; the persuasion can use your friends as an attack reflector, getting mixed up in the signal. And no amount of purely individual willpower will help you not get steamrolled by that so long as you remain dependent on the society around you. (I want to find an analogy to use for the latter—I'm almost tempted to say it compares to historical examples of ideological spirals the same way nuclear explosives compare to conventional ones, but that feels not-quite-right. History pointers appreciated if anyone has 'em.)