Control method 21 Delta Mike: Make people think they are thinking when they are actually not thinking.

Strategy: People love to think they are thinking, but most actually hate to think. What passes for thinking in most cases is really group think. As a general rule, the more uninformed and fanatical a person is, the better this strategy works on them.

Specific Tactic: Have the person or persons you are trying to control start throwing around a lot of technical terms that they don’t actuallyunderstand. When it becomes obvious that the person does not know the meaning of the technical term, let them keep throwing the technical term around. This makes them think, incorrectly, that they are actually thinking.

Concrete Example: During the current U.S. involvement in the Middle East, the term asymmetric warfare is thrown around by many TV and radio talk show personalities. Most of these people throwing around the term could no more tell you the definition of asymmetric warfare than they could tell you the name of Adam’s house cat (Adam from the book of Genesis).

Definition: Asymmetric warfare, in simple terms, is war in which the military forces of one side(s) greatly outnumbers the forces of the opposing side(s). As a result, the side with the smaller force resorts to unconventional tactics such as terrorism, guerilla warfare, subversion and intimidation.

Countermeasures: When anyone starts throwing around technical language, ask them to define their terms. If they cannot or will not define their terms, it is virtually a sure thing they are up to no good. You may have to persist, because often when you ask them to define their terms, they will try to appease you with a generalized, non-specific answer. Keep asking for a more specific answer, and do not worry if they get upset or ugly. If they still won’t give a specific definition after you have persisted in asking for one, you will have at least showed to the more intelligent people around you that the person speaking is either engaged in deception or simply an incompetent nonthinker.