Information Manipulation: 5 Steps to Discern Truth

Duck! Run for cover! Protect yourself! Wherever you turn in this information age, information bombards your senses. From the videos you watch, to the music you listen to, to the words you read, the world attempts to push its narrative into your mind through information. And discerning the truth within this information barrage is a daunting task. But fear not, hope is on the horizon.

Because of the Fall of Man, sin abounds through the Sin Matrix. One of those sins is information manipulation; the art of twisting the truth to manipulate others through weaponized information dissemination. This includes; misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and various psychological operations, all to induce fear and control us. But why?

For two reasons:

• to subjugate your critical thinking
• to subvert your situational awareness

By short-circuiting your critical thinking and situational awareness, the powers that be can then influence your mind to further their narrative.

This article will go over several ways the information you consume manipulates you, and show you 5 steps to see through these control tactics to take back the truth through JIADS. The JIADS 5 steps are:

1. Jesus Christ is the Truth
2. Identity is Found in Him
3. Analyze Information Sources
4. Detect Keywords and Phrases
5. Supplemental Information Sources

But first, let’s define information and then false information.

Information

Information surrounds us. It’s even inside of us in our DNA. But what is information?

Merriam-Webster defines information as:

knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) goes further and defines information as:

Information is a sequence of symbols that carries a message, a set of items in which meaning is conveyed, or a specified arrangement of complex structures that convey a message to a receiver. Information does not exist on its own. It is contained within something and is coded. Information can be coded in different forms, i.e., a written sentence on a piece of paper or on a computer disk. Information has no mass. It can be transferred, conveyed as a picture, sight, sound, an idea, spoken word, mathematical equation, etc. For information to exist, there must be a sender and a receiver. For example, the word “CAT” has no meaning outside a receiver (someone to read it).

Information requires context and a receiver, otherwise, it is just data.

For example, if you ask me, “should I wear a coat today, it’s 30 degrees outside?” Without the proper context for the data, the information I provide back to you will change. What would my answer be if the temperature was 30 degrees Fahrenheit vs. 30 degrees Celsius? 30 degrees Celsius, no coat, and 30 degrees Fahrenheit would need a coat.

The example above combines both of the aforementioned information definitions. Let’s identify the various steps in formulating information and then analyze the diverse ways information manipulates you.

Information Formulation

For information to get from point A to point B requires several steps. Each step represents a variable in the information formula, and any variable contains a level of error. Many times these errors are assumptions and if you choose the wrong assumption, the higher the error. Information is no different. Let’s view the information formula steps:

• Data input
• Data processing
• Information output
• Information storage

But what happens when one of these steps corrupts data or information, either accidentally or purposefully? Information mutates into false information.

False Information

Misinformation

False information shared without the intent to mislead is misinformation. We can find misinformation within the news, entertainment, social media, and science industries where they accidentally mislead the information receiver.

Merriam-Webster defines misinformation as:

incorrect or misleading information

But misinformation’s malicious sibling is disinformation.

Disinformation

Also found in the news, entertainment, social media, and science industries, disinformation is information used to purposefully deceive, mislead, or manipulate the receiver.

Merriam-Webster defines disinformation as:

false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth

The difference between misinformation and disinformation is intent. Is the information disseminator trying to deceive the receiver?

Debunking and Fact-Checking

When the internet went mainstream, cyberspace became a virtual wild west, where information was a free-for-all. This led individuals and groups to take it upon themselves to become the online arbiters of truth. Determining what is true or false became a cottage industry called debunking or fact-checking. 

Cambridge Dictionary defines debunk as:

to show that something is less important, less good, or less true than it has been made to appear

They also define fact-checking as:

the process of checking that all the facts in a piece of writing, a news article, a speech, etc. are correct

We include debunking and fact-checking under false information for this reason; who vets the debunkers and fact-checkers? Who determines if the information the debunkers and fact-checkers present is true? Because of this, debunking and fact-checking became weaponized in the fight for truth and became another facet in Truth Psyience. 

Propaganda

Cambridge Dictionary defines propaganda as:

information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people’s opinions

Propaganda became infamous during the rise of the Third Reich, but it did not originate with the Nazis.

Influenced by wartime propaganda, Edward Bernays harnessed propaganda’s power to influence generations. Realizing propaganda is a pejorative term, he referred to propaganda as public relations. This renaming is the epitome of propaganda.

While propaganda and disinformation are similar, misinformation, debunking, and fact-checking contain enough potential energy to be classified as propaganda. These are weapons in the elite’s armory to seize their goals. 

Furthermore, these manipulation techniques become activated within their psychological war through psychological warfare (PSYWAR) aka psychological operations (PSYOPS).

PSYWAR and PSYOP

For all intents and purposes, psychological warfare, and psychological operations are synonymous, and both take place within the psychological war of information manipulation.

Merriam-Webster defines psychological warfare as:

things that are done to make someone (such as an enemy or opponent) become less confident or to feel hopeless, afraid, etc

The Rand Corporation defines psychological warfare as:

the planned use of propaganda and other psychological operations to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of opposition groups 

Recognizing war’s psychological and physical battlefronts, the US War Department during WWI created the Propaganda Subsection. Through various wars and conflicts, this subsection developed into the current US Army PSYOP Soldier. Various other US Department of Defense divisions also house psychological operations. 

Not to be outdone, the intelligence community, through the Directorate of Operations, or Clandestine Services, of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is the intelligence community’s publicly known arm in the PSYOP category.

The Armed Forces and CIA housing PSYOP regiments for international psychological operations is one thing, but what happens when there are PSYOPs perpetrated upon people by their own government?

Clandestine Information Manipulation

The information manipulation rabbit hole has many tunnels. Let’s continue down the clandestine trail and see how they influence information.

(NOTE: this article will provide a glimpse into the American government’s actions through information manipulation. Take notice, ALL the world’s governments take part in their own version of information manipulation, including yours.)

Project and Operation Mockingbird

From the Pentagon to the CIA to the FBI, they influence the media you consume to change your perceptions via propaganda. This includes the CIA co-opting the news media via Operation Mockingbird and wire-tapping journalists via Project Mockingbird. 

For example, a reporter submitting his work to CIA officials before publication, and in an article published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1977, journalist Carl Bernstein wrote:

Among the executives who lent their cooperation to the Agency were William Paley of the Columbia Broadcasting System, Henry Luce of Time Inc., Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the New York Times, Barry Bingham Sr. of the Louisville Courier‑Journal, and James Copley of the Copley News Service. Other organizations which cooperated with the CIA include the American Broadcasting Company, the National Broadcasting Company, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps‑Howard, Newsweek magazine, the Mutual Broadcasting System, the Miami Herald, and the old Saturday Evening Post and New York Herald‑Tribune.

He continues:

The CIA’s use of the American news media has been much more extensive than Agency officials have acknowledged publicly or in closed sessions with members of Congress. 

But not only news media, Hollywood as well, and while the CIA covertly works, the US legislative and executive branches operate openly with their information twisting. So let’s take a brief break from clandestine operations and look at the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012.

Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012

Signed into law by former US President Barack Obama, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2013 included the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012. This “modernization” allows the American Government to provide propaganda to Americans. According to the Atlantic:

A law went into effect this month that ends the ban on US government-made propaganda from being broadcast to Americans. In a remarkably creative spin, the supporters of this law say that allowing Americans to see American propaganda is actually a victory for transparency.

Think this sounds far-fetched? How about we head back to the CIA and learn about their dosing of unsuspecting citizens with LSD, all in the name of mind control?

It’s about to get trippy.

Project Artichoke and Project MKUltra

Two devious projects made public by the CIA are Project MKUltra and its progenitor, Project Artichoke. They based both projects around LSD-induced mind control, some to willing participants, and some to non-willing. And when esoteric ideas arise, somehow the Nazis are close by.

Up first, Project Artichoke:

An off-shoot of Project Artichoke was Project MKUltra:

Even though the CIA publicly disbanded the MKUltra program in 1973, their fascination with psychedelics continued as a future article will discuss. But if you want a sneak peek, watch this video with various CIA personalities (notice someone infamous for his push of psychedelics within the hippie movement?):

All the information systems presented above are examples of information manipulation and show the length individuals and groups will go to induce fear and exert control over others. But how do we decipher the truth within this informational web? The following 5 steps will assist you in your search for truth.

JIADS – 5 Steps to Discern the Truth

1. Jesus Christ is the Truth
2. Identity is Found in Him
3. Analyze Information Sources
4. Detect Keywords and Phrases
5. Supplemental Information Sources

1. Jesus Christ is the Truth

If you are a truth seeker, it all starts and ends with Jesus Christ, as the steps below will only paint a partial picture without Him. 

John 1:17 says:

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 8:31-32 states:

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

Jesus declares in John 14:6:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus continues to discuss the truth in John 16:12-14:

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 

Calling on the name of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior blesses you with the indwelling of His Holy Spirit who will guide you into truth. But Paul warns believers some people will suppress the truth (Romans 1:18-19):

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 

The war between truth and untruth is a spiritual battle, where the weapons and armor are God-given.

2. Identity is Found in Him

The next step is answering the questions: who are you and what is your identity? Calling on Jesus as your Lord and Savior transfers you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Acts 26:17-18, Colossians 1:13-14). Therefore, your identity transforms from a sinner to a saint (Romans 3:23, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 2:19), forgiven and set free (Ephesians 1:7, John 8:36).

Spiritually discerning truth from untruth is possible for those who trust Christ as their foundational identity through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. As Paul shares in Colossians 2:3, that in God:

are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Paul discusses this topic further in 1 Corinthians 2:14:

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The battle for truth is an integral part of spiritual warfare, and without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be without the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13) and the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14), leaving you defenseless in this spiritual war.

3. Analyze Information Sources

Do you only watch Fox News or CNN? Only read the New York Times or New York Post? Or do you eschew mainstream media and devour alternative information sources?

The entertainment and news you consume are underpinned by the worldviews of their creators and producers to further their agendas. They transform the truth to tell their tales. 

For example, China paid newspapers to further their propaganda as well as buying Hollywood movie companies and influencing sports. Not to mention their influencing politicians.

But countries aren’t the only information manipulators. NGOs, media source owners, CEOs, company boards, think tanks, and social platform influencers inject their own spin into information.

Understanding the bias inherent within information sources will reveal small nuggets of truth that lie beneath. For example, a left-leaning source will demean the right and vice versa, unveiling their slanted view. Determining the ideological leanings of the information source is another step in your journey to discern the truth.

4. Detect Keywords and Phrases

Once you’ve analyzed the aforementioned information sources, look for keywords and phrases within their media. This combination will enable you to glean their ideological leanings. However, for many politicians, this is difficult, as they pander publicly to their base while voting for their bank accounts, i.e., doublespeak or double-mindedness. 

Often in an article, video, podcast, etc, the creator will supply hyperlinks to other articles or research to support their claims. Click on them and see if the data supports the provided information. Then repeat this for all subsequent data sets found in the researched information. Did the data you researched match the information presented? 

Another mechanism to detect information manipulation through keywords and phrases is to identify virtue-signaling, which is glorifying one’s righteous deeds to impress others within a particular group. Or more eloquently defined by Cambridge Dictionary:

an attempt to show other people that you are a good person, for example by expressing opinions that will be acceptable to them, especially on social media

Jesus warned the people in His day of this exact issue in Matthew 6:1-4:

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

Jesus also called out the religious leaders of the day, in Matthew 23:25-26, He said:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

He continues in Matthew 23:27-28:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

After determining the keywords and phrases, it’s time to shift gears and veer into supplemental information sources.

5. Supplemental Information Sources

Bad news, the doctor says you need surgery. Major surgery. What do you do? You get a second opinion, that’s what you do! Information is no different. Just because the XYZ News Company says this or that, check their information against other sources. In other words, seek additional information outlets and investigate any data sources. 

Furthermore, numerous times in the Bible, God tells His believers to gather greater than one witness for the truth to be established, especially when bringing accusations against someone. For instance, Deuteronomy 19:15 specifies:

One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.

Correspondingly, Jesus confirms this statement in John 8:16-18:

And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.

These verses in Deuteronomy and John are akin to gathering supplemental information sources.

Another supplemental resource is the book, How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff. The misuse of statistics is a popular tactic by the technocratic elites to push scientism by obfuscating the truth to pivot attention towards the information that supports their agenda. Understanding the how’s and why’s gives insight into their subterfuge.

Are You Ready?

Boiled down, the common denominator in this aspect of spiritual warfare is fear and control of populations through information manipulation. This is nothing unique as it’s been a control technique by elites through millennia. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 1:9:

That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

Throughout the Bible, we are told to not spread false information. The Ten Commandments instruct us not to lie, as told in Exodus 20:16:

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 23:1:

You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Proverbs 14:5:

A faithful witness does not lie,

But a false witness will utter lies.

Proverbs 19:9:

A false witness will not go unpunished,

And he who speaks lies shall perish.

Ephesians 5:6-10

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

In John 8:44, Jesus talks about Satan, the father of lies:

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

The technocratic elites utilize Truth Psyience, the Death Cult, the Pop Cult, and Information Manipulation to further their master’s goal by replacing God with their god through fear and control. The only solution is the truth found in Jesus Christ. 

For Jesus warns in Matthew 24:24:

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe (Romans 10:9), then ask the Lord to prepare you for battle in this spiritual war, as deception is all around us.

Are you ready to heed the battle cry?