Can 5GW Theory benefit by Studying Con Men and Cons?

I'm not sure this would qualify, but the study of public relations would also be beneficial in a 5GW sense, as the goal in both to shape opinion and direct a target audience towards a desired outcome that may not be in their best interest while leaving no trace whatsoever of manipulation.

The most effective public relations work is that which leaves no indication whatsoever that it was the product of a PR agency--subtly influencing newsmakers to cast a story a certain way that pertains to the desired image of said agency's benefactors. Just a thought.

Heh...I have been going through a Public Relation book looking for ideas and principles I can lift and apply to 5GW. So far, there seems to be more application to 4GW. I have thinking if there is a theory of drama or theory of theatre, that it would be worth looking to.

In general, I agree with A.E.

Reminds me of the advertiser's appraisal of industrial espionage:

“She’s … a spy?”

” ‘Industrial espionage,’ though that’s sounding increasingly archaic, isn’t it? I suppose she may still know whom to call, to have certain things done, but I wouldn’t call her a spy. What interested me, though, was how that business seemed in some ways to be the inverse of ours.”

“Of advertising?”

“Yes. I want to make the public aware of something they don’t quite yet know that they know — or have them feel that way. Because they’ll move on that, do you understand? They’ll think they’ve thought of it first. It’s about transferring information, but at the same time about a certain lack of specificity.”

Or, the difference between the swift boat type of campaign and PR/Advertising. The advertiser does not want his target to know manipulation is happening, whereas the smear campaign doesn't bother worrying over it. The smear campaign wants others to join it, network with it, gain strength in numbers and level of outrage; the advertiser may do this as well by creating a positive image, but first and foremost the consumer must feel he's made a personal decision. I.e., the smear campaign builds an image which gains strength as others perceive that other people believe the message to be true; but the PR campaign gains strength "organically," or as each individual comes to believe he personally can vouch for the message -- whether through experience or gut feeling makes no difference. So I suppose both approaches depend on larger and larger numbers of people buying into the message, for evaluating the success of the campaign, but the PR approach gives consumers the impression that they're each doing something unique: building majorities by stealth rather than by evoking a Majority View to which others must subscribe. Think of it as "Why, welcome to our group!" vs "If you don't join us, you'll be on the weak and pitiful team!" Except, the PR "group" is whatever the individual himself defines it to be.

Hmmm... Just brainstorming. I also like the idea of looking at drama and theater.

Incidentally, these subjects remind me that many factors of Modern American Culture, as well as our basic democratic & capitalistic system, etc., may mean there's hope yet for America, despite the dystopian point of view. We've been in training for conducting 5GW for a long time, though we didn't know it.

Curtis,

I think special knowledge of dramatics or story telling (theater/drama, Literature, Film Making) would be a good skill set for a 5GW or 4GW groups.