The ideal antidote to the real prospect of a bunch of Bond villains vying for world supremacy – from President Musk and his willing assistant Nick Nack (aka Donald Trump) in the West, to President (for life) Xi in the far East, via the loathsome Scaramanga and Blofeld in middle earth – maybe closer than you think. But first, look into my eyes and when I click my fingers the world will be a happier and safer place for all of us …
The power of suggestion isn’t only confined to the stage where entranced members of the audience perform the strangest of behaviours once spellbound by a swinging pocket watch. Humans are hotwired to favour simple answers to complex questions, with this preference being firmly rooted in our cognitive processes. People are naturally inclined to seek efficiency in both understanding situations and achieving goals; thus, simpler explanations are often seen as more reliable and easier to manage, aligning perfectly with our brain’s desire for effectiveness. And this is where populist demagoguery exerts it significant power to great effect.
The Farage, et al, stable of snake oil sales folk are well aware of this psychological goldmine and ruthlessly excavate it by relentlessly pressing home the efficiency of the populist manifesto that feeds off the natural anxieties of economic insecurity, cultural tropes, distrust in the elites, and the perceived loss of political power. This rhetoric easily taps into strong emotions such as fear, anger, and resentment which can be more compelling than rational arguments, especially in times of crisis or uncertainty. Even the truth cannot save the day. A grotesque example being the Musk tirade about Jess Phillips MP which is abominable and wholly false, yet he and his cronies knowingly exploit the susceptibility of the human mindset.
The 2016 Brexit referendum is the perfect illustration of an insane fermentation of populist propaganda that placed the majority of UK voters into a trance culminating in the vote to usher in an economic Armageddon that didn’t deliver to anyone, especially those that voted in favour of the unicorn. But please don’t take my word for this, ask celebrity hypnotist Paul McKenna who was recruited by the Leave.Eu campaign to maximise the gullibility of the human instinct to believe in the big lie. This propaganda technique involves telling a lie so colossal that ordinary citizens would never believe someone could have the audacity to distort the truth so blatantly. When supercharged by a compliant media this creates the illusion of truth.
But please keep the faith and keep looking into my eyes and remember that I have yet to click my fingers …
Is our saviour plying a similar stage show, albeit occupying the light rather than skulking in the dark recesses of division and deceit?
Netflix original “Sacrifice” (released on October 19, 2018) features the established illusionist and mentalist Derren Brown who undertakes a psychological experiment in an attempt to transform an ordinary person into someone willing to endure harm or danger to protect someone they don’t know. But if that wasn’t a steep enough mountain to climb, the context of this endeavour is even more intriguing. Selecting a participant with strong discriminatory views, he deploys a series of psychological techniques, including subliminal messaging, fake technology implants, and high-pressure scenarios to challenge and change these beliefs. The subject, an American man with narrow-minded views on immigration, undergoes a transformative journey. The enthralling climax of the experiment involves placing the participant in a staged situation where he must decide whether to take a bullet for a stranger. The programme explores themes of empathy, prejudice, and the power of psychological influence.
And here is the spoiler – the experiment is successful. By the end of the documentary the man is put in a staged situation where he believes he is protecting a stranger from danger. He ultimately decides to intervene, thereby demonstrating a significant change in his mindset and willingness to sacrifice himself for someone he doesn’t know, a trait that was completely absent at the commencement of the study, and a powerful demonstration of how psychological techniques can influence and transform deeply held beliefs and behaviours in the most positive of ways.
And as I click my fingers, if I have persuaded you to foster the presumption that those with the most acrid of assumptions are taking you for a ride, I have completed my task – and for that I won’t even levy a charge.
Footnote: In a tweet, responding to Uri Geller, on 25th March 2019, Derren Brown joked (or did he?) that he had actually staged BREXIT in the first place.
© Ian Kirke 2025
@ iankirke.bsky.social
Title photograph reproduced by kind permission of Derren Brown.