Cognitive Warfare: Is there a battle for your mind?

This week we are discussing “Cognitive Warfare: Is there a battle for your mind?”

 

Neuroscientist James Giordano has described the human brain as the battlefield of the 21st century. 

 

What does he mean by this? 

 

Well, cognitive warfare has been described as the weaponization of brain sciences. It has been described as a new space of competition - beyond the land, maritime, air, cybernetic and spatial domains. Warfare in the cognitive domain mobilizes a variety of strategies, tools and techniques - all with the aim of changing not only how people think, but also how they act. 

 

Cognitive warfare positions the mind as a battle space and contested domain. It’s objective is to sow dissonance, instigate conflicting narratives, polarize opinion, and radicalize groups. Cognitive warfare can motivate people to act in ways that can disrupt or fragment an otherwise cohesive society. 

 

In this week’s episode we will unpack the tools, strategies and techniques that are used to achieve this. Of course reference will be made to academic research that has been conducted on this topic. 

 

We will also seek to explore the following questions: how reliable is the information that we have been fed throughout our lives, be it through media, schooling/tertiary, books, television, government etc? Is it perhaps time to start questioning prevailing narratives? Perhaps things are not as they seem after all.