Conspiracy and Shadow Government in 5GW

Interesting feedback. However, I think this is only half the story. The most compelling adversaries in 5GW are not agents of a massive, cohesive entity like a nation-state — but rather the self-subsidized, self-motivated and super-empowered individuals who attack our core values through twisting perceptions of reality.

This is why 5GW is of so much more concern than a popularly-embraced 4GW campaign against a monolithic power like the U.S.: 5GW by its very nature does not require any coordination or cohesion amongst its foes in order to erode the foundations of our perceptions. In fact, a lack of cohesion would make 5GW actions even more effective, since it will add to the complexity of our perceived world.

sf/ shane

Shane,

The most dangerous adversaries for a 5GW organization are any fighters who attempt to degrade them into a 4GW organization — to make them fight in the open where they will lose.

In fact, a lack of cohesion would make 5GW actions even more effective, since it will add to the complexity of our perceived world.

Fascinating!

Exactly, Shane. As I replied on my site before expanding it here, the way I see it, 5GW could encompass ideological swarming and other uncoordinated but coherent attacks. It could also encompass open-source conspiracies, memetic engineering, and bespoke ideologies intended to transform our allies or enemies, or influential third parties. This makes the composition of the 5GW force very flexible.

Further, as an attempt to change the reflexive actions of people in the society, 5GW clearly involves ideological changes to the target society. The active phase of a 5GW could consist of ideologues attacking using ideology as their weapon. And that’s why it’s dangerous, because it just keeps on going, rebuilding itself automatically whenever it is attacked, until the ideological/memetic programming behind it gets subverted/disarmed.

Once the ideology/meme is made ready and turned on the conspirators can retire. Their weapon and army will continue with its programming without any further intervention.

What interests me is how to subvert/disarm an attacking meme/ideology. What does it take? How long does it take? Etc.

“What interests me is how to subvert/disarm an attacking meme/ideology. What does it take? How long does it take? Etc.”

Probably by co-opting it, or embracing and extending it.

The general 4GW approach is to try to fight those ideologies and memes by making them to appear inferior, evil, shameful, silly, harmful, useless, and so forth. This may work to some degree when the target is also caught in a 4GW mindset and is prone to see things in these terms, particularly if the 4GW attack comes in the form of swarming. Most people have an inherent disposition to judge the value of ideas by the number of people who share in those ideas, and swarms give the sense of validity. However, if an ideology or meme is very entrenched, such 4GW attacks upon it often strengthen the dedication to that ideology or meme, and in fact the label of silly, evil, and so forth may settle on the attacker in a kind of blowback; the attacker may be labeled fringe.

It is my opinion that ideologies and memes which have become quite entrenched must have some validity when viewed in particular contexts. Different people sharing in that ideology or meme may in fact judge it from different contexts and see different validations; but nonetheless, however peculiar the perspectives, something true is being seen even if not everyone sees the same truth, and in fact even if no one can put all these truths together to build a unified and cogent whole. (Often, much that doesn’t “validate” is never seen or might in fact be consciously ignored.) A 5GW approach would recognize these validations and use them, co-opting the ideology/meme, but would also alter the contexts — often, simply by altering the environment — which would force the ideology/meme to operate in those new contexts. Since no ideology or meme operates in isolation from the objective environment (to include the media which broadcasts images and sounds…), changes to that environment may subtly alter the way these ideologies and memes are used even if they themselves persist in some form. The use will actually alter them because the actors themselves are put in a position to reconcile their own thinking with the altered environment; however, unlike 4GW memetic attacks, 5GW attacks offer something for these actors to use when interacting with their new environment: i.e., their current ideologies, beliefs, etc. (4GW tries to destroy those previous ideologies and beliefs…..

which is to say, 4GW memetic attacks operate a lot like 3GW kinetic attacks; the swarm and seemingly random maneuvers, when perceived, are the equivalent of 3GW kinetic attacks but within the realm of cognition. A 5GW memetic attack is more like a 4GW kinetic attack within the realm of cognition: the active agents, in this case the altered environments/contexts, are not “seen” very well, leaving the target to rely on his own previous understanding of force, i.e. his ideology, rationality, etc., in the same way that an actual 4GW force may leave its target with no apparent option but the previous 3GW method of fighting.)

Okay, this comment was longer than intended and is mostly brainstorming, perhaps too esoteric!