The Unseen Hand
Abstract:
When we refer to the unseen hand we mean that element of society that manipulates and controls our lives without our knowledge or direct input. It is the voices behind the scenes that create chaos or peace depending on their agenda that remains a secret to our senses. In this paper we hope to explore some of those unseen hands that can direct our lives and thoughts in directions we are not consciously aware of and the illusion of free will in our daily lives.
Introduction:
What examples can we think of that can be thought of as, unseen hands? Who are these mysterious people behind our lives that can manipulate our thinking and actions? People tend to believe what they are told if it comes from a source that has both authority and trust. This authority can be governmental, individuals we have come to respect such as professors, the famous who advertise product with an endorsement of personal belief and anyone whom we have faith in their integrity. Social impact theory tells us the strength of the influencer, the number of influencers involved in the message and immediacy of the message or closeness to our own thinking can have a vast effect on our way of seeing a social problem. (1. Latane 1981) However behind these voices are others, lobbyists, educational agenda, agents of the rich and famous, and the people who we do not know or see? They say behind every King’s thrown and Emperor is the personal adviser, many think he maybe more powerful than the voice of the king who speaks his words as his own wisdom? Today of course many Prime Ministers and Presidents have a multitude of advisers on every topic you can imagine plus each of these advisers is bombarded with lobbyists trying to influence their perspective. Corruption is rife where power is concentrated in the hands of the few. A Prime Minister should always be aware that the adviser is not a free agent and is in fact a mouth piece often for corporations and industrial power brokers. This can be seen in the US bailout of the Banks, in 2012 by President Obama who was coerced into handing over taxpayer’s money on the advice of the very employees (advisers) who directly benefited from the saving of the fraudulent financial institutions.
Unseen hands can be both insidious and manipulative in the sense that they have an agenda to fulfil that is not our own, but they need us to follow so they can achieve their secret ambitions. An example would be a newspaper magnet who is affiliated to a particular political view or party. He can guide unseen his news outlets to spin every story to the advantage of his own view. His editors maybe very aware that their stories are corrupted from the top and manipulating the public view, but they are in a controlled situation of high pay for total obedience irrespective of their own conscience. Those that do speak out are vilified as whistle blowers with their own agenda because a cynical public cannot accept the person does not have their own grievances to air and would really have their (the public) interests at heart.
Unseen Power:
The hidden hand has many ways in which they can assert their influence, first would be the power to reward. By providing what others want or the ability to take it away enables them to manipulate as long as the politician or public needs or wants what he has to give, whether this be money, love or approval. Coercive power is seen as negative and the ability to punish, show disapproval and so people comply to avoid punishments, based on this technique was the revolutionary Red Guard that held denunciation meetings to pick out a particular citizen to ridicule in public. Losing face was such a grave loss of prestige that most Chinese complied with Mao’s terror in order to survive.
Sometimes the influence is more open such as in referent power. This is where someone who is respected as a scholar, model to others, like a pop star or currently popular celebrity with the public. These people can be used to front unpopular change by coming forward in support of a new policy. As reputation can easily be lost in a fickal world, so many give into support ideology they do not believe in, but nervousness of the loss of their own position is too fearful for them to face. Those with legitimate power can or course influence directly depending on the situation the person holds. For example a doorman has the right of refusal to entry but cannot tell you what to drink. His power is limited to the perception of others. Some hidden influences come from the so called Expert, here the power broker believes the expert might know best in a particular field and so take that advice and treat it as fact rather than opinion. (2. Latane 1981).
Today much hidden influence now comes from the manipulation of information. Many so called expert websites are in fact thinly disguised corporate messages to the public. Ghost writers abound in large corporations that pay good money to the real experts to put their name to the article, website comment or commercials that they never wrote or even involved in or conducted the dubious research. This can be seen particularly in the pharmaceutical industry that pays huge fees and bribes to doctors who cooperate with drug pushes and feeble research that has refined statistical analysis to fool the public and other authorities that the drugs are safe. (3. Charter for Citizens Rights 2008) The FDA in the USA is directly responsible for the deaths of 1,000’s of people every year from side effects of prescribed drugs that have no real independent research behind them. However as they fast track drugs for over one million dollar fees per drug for approval, they can afford to defend any class action suits against them.
Conforming to the Unseen Hand:
One of the most powerful ways the unseen hand can influence us all is by creating the feeling of conformity. If you make people feel that everyone else is doing something then you feel pressure to do the same so that you fit in. (4. Deutsch & Gerard 1955). This need for social comparison can be felt in the fashion industry so powerfully that style can dictate even what we wear everyday. Normative influence such as wearing a suit to work or waiting in a line can help people to seek approval from the group. The unseen hand knows we want to ingratiate ourselves into the popular movement or group ideology and so change happens to suit the group ideal. (5. Mann 1969).
Who does the unseen hand have the most difficulty with in influencing their opinions and behaviour? There are people who are resistant to the influence to conform. For example it is seen that many weak minded people would queue up for hours to buy an Ipad that they could more conveniently pick up the next day without waiting. However the unseen hand creates an atmosphere of conformity to the group that many less intelligent people cannot resist. Therefore the people the unseen hand most fears are the free thinker, the intelligent, the strong ego minded, the natural leader, the less authoritarian, the open minded and not controlled by social conformity. This person is dangerous to the unseen hand and so much be attacked and ridiculed at every opportunity. (6. Crutchfield 1955). When they stand up and show the foolishness of the masses and the underlying motivation is false the unseen hand must attack, show them to be outsiders, they do not understand, they are luddites and many other similar actions to discredit the message. The masses follow the unseen hand as they do not want to hear the message that they are acting irrationally and so join in the down play of the truth. (7. Cognitive Dissonance Theory – Festinger & Carlsmith 1959). Therefore it takes courage and fortitude to stand up against the unseen hand that has the power to destroy you or at least make your life unpleasant, better to keep quiet and think internally and behave as an independent thinker. This might sound cowardly but even the free thinker needs to survive in order to continue.
Resisting the Unseen Hand:
Resisting social influence of the unseen hand is a huge task in any society and is mostly found in out-spoken individuals or writers. A good example would be the works of George Orwell the British fictional and social writer who examined the ills and unfairness of industrial England. (8. Eric Blair 1903 – 1950). In his books, such as The Clergyman’s Daughter, Animal Farm and 1984 he challenged many of the social influences that created an unfair society based on unseen hands influencing people’s everyday lives. In fact it was Orwell who coined the phrase «Big Brother» as a way of explaining the unseen hands authority over our everyday lives. (9. Orwell G «1984» 1948). Also the corruption of ideology as the unseen hands, (the Pigs) in Animal Farm eventually brought the ruin of the communist state by continually changing the rules.
Summery:
In society the unseen hand is everywhere but no-where to be seen. That is why it is so hard to know if your opinion is based on truth or propaganda fed to you for your consumption for someone else’s agenda. In order to be free of the unseen hand you would have to live on an island, a modern day Robinson Crusoe. (10. Defoe D. 1719). However for practical purposes we are part of our society and must try to be as independently minded as possible. However the masses have neither the critical thinking education nor ability to free think and so remain forever hostages to the unseen hand.
References:
1. Latane 1981 – Hill G. Advanced Psychology pg 104 -135
2. Latane 1981 – Hill G. Advanced Psychology pg 104 -135
3. Charter for Citizens Rights 2008 DVD Addition – Making a Killing
4. Deutsch & Gerard 1955 – Hill G. Advanced Psychology pg 104 -135
5. Mann 1969 – Hill G. Advanced Psychology pg 104 -135
6. Crutchfield 1955 – Hill G. Advanced Psychology pg 104 -135
7. Cognitive Dissonance Theory – Festinger & Carlsmith 1959
8. Eric Blair 1903 – 1950 – British Novelist
9. Orwell G «1984» 1948 – Animal Farm published 1945, 1984 published 1949, The Clergyman’s Daughter published 1935
10. Defoe D. 1660 – 1731 British Novelist – Robinson Crusoe published 1719.