"Those who consider dreams a game of intellect are mistaken. No, dreams are the opposite; they are an escape from reason," noted Japanese writer Yukio Mishima in his novel "Confessions of a Mask."
A significant portion of consciousness manipulation is built on this division between fantasy and reality.
Scientists distinguish between two types of thinking – realistic and autistic.
According to E. Bleicher, who first described autistic thinking, this type of thinking is a complete opposite of realistic thinking. It is driven solely by desires.
In human consciousness, both types of thinking coexist, complementing each other, serving the construction of goals and their realization. It is important to maintain a balance between them.
The goal of realistic thinking is to create accurate perceptions of reality, while the goal of autistic thinking is to create pleasant perceptions of it, with any unpleasant aspects actively pushed away.
In the normal course, the interaction between these types of thinking looks like this: a person indulges in pleasant fantasies, for example, about a car – the comfort associated with having one's vehicle, speed, travel, elevating one's status in the eyes of others – this is the work of autistic thinking.
Next, realistic thinking comes into play: the person strives to earn more, saves money to buy a car, or takes a loan, carefully assessing the convenient balance between the car's price and their financial capacity.
They weigh all the pros and cons, acquire the car, and enjoy it, sequentially or even simultaneously realizing their fantasies about owning a car.
However, there are cases where immersion in a dream prevents a person from taking any actions to turn it into reality: they only indulge in fantasies, and sometimes even create a sort of "theater for themselves" – interested in the prices of expensive cars, visiting car showrooms without the intention to buy anything, just to play, and so on.
It cannot be said that they are doing anything criminal. After all, everyone has their ways to relax, and if they do not contradict the criminal code, do not hinder anyone, and primarily the person themselves in the fundamental aspects of their life, then why shouldn't they occasionally enjoy their own fantasies?
However, it is essential to remember that realistic and autistic thinking not only interact but also conflict, allowing individuals not to spoil their lives by yielding to unrealized dreams.
For example, buying a car within one's means rather than selling a property for the sake of buying the latest model of a "Mercedes."
It's an entirely different matter when manipulators connect to individual fantasies.
In this case, their main task becomes to "disable" or suppress realistic thinking and attempt to spread the fantasy itself, such as "everyone wants this," "everyone does this," to as many people and social groups as possible.
To achieve this, collective perceptions of "good," "convenient," "right" are created, exploiting traditionally attractive images and stereotypes, which, in practice, may turn out to be entirely different from what was initially claimed.
Exploiting Fantasies: A Tale of Deception
Allow me to recount the story of an elderly woman who fell victim to cunning, criminal entrepreneurs. They convinced her that it would be convenient for her to sell her massive apartment in the city center. In return, they promised to buy her a lovely house with a huge garden. She would live off the interest from the money left in the bank after the transaction.
According to the fraudsters, all "smart" elderly people are doing this nowadays. In the end, the protagonist finds herself in a rented cottage on a cemetery caretaker's property. While the cemetery does indeed have many green plantations, the remaining money promised to her was transferred from an account that never existed.
The housing promised as a replacement for valuable square meters in the city turned out to be unsuitable for living, and escaping from there was nearly impossible.
The manipulators successfully played on the fantasies generated by autistic thinking. They not only needed to understand the structure of desires in various layers of society but also had to excite these desires, making their fulfillment crucial for the targets of manipulation.
To achieve this, realistic thinking, and consequently, the perception of the world, is "blurred" through associations and metaphors. Let's delve into this further...
