# 14. Overload ## 14.1. Definition Overload is the delivery of a massive surplus of true and genuine raw data and information by a manipulator to a victim. The manipulation undermines an individual's ability to fully understand or make rational decisions on a particular issue in any of the following three ways: - By taking advantage of a victim's inability to process the large volume of data and information (also known as "cognitive overload"). - By slowing down a victim's interpretative process overall. - An associated form of this manipulative method overloads the victim's ability to conform to a fixed set of rules and simultaneously make high quality, high-speed decisions, whilst also placed in a stressful or dangerous situation (Ego depletion). ## 14.2. Persistence Short, Medium or Long. Depending on the issue, the use of overload can be a short process or can last for many years. If a victim has only a few seconds to make a decision based on too much data, the effect of failing to evaluate the data is over very quickly. However, when a huge volume of historical data is provided to a victim it may take years for a proper evaluation to be conducted and accurate conclusions reached. ## 14.3. Accessibility Medium to High: It's not a technique everyone can use easily because it requires large volumes of data. But nonetheless it is reasonably easy to deliver for someone in a government or business institution with access to large databases. Governments routinely present vast amounts of data to the public on issues like environment, health, water quality etc. They usually deliver these data with a set of pre-digested conclusions, with the idea that we read and accept the conclusions and skip the other 1000 pages of data. Most of us can't afford the time or don't have the facilities to evaluate millions of drinking water quality test results for instance, and so we tend to simply accept the government's (politically driven) conclusions. In this way the manipulator (a government) has successfully overloaded the victim (the public). At a more personal level, a manipulator can overwhelm a victim with a surfeit of data in a work environment. A malicious colleague could dump vast amounts of historical marketing data on a colleague and then complain when the colleague was unable to interpret the data in a reasonable time. ## 14.4. Conditions/Opportunity/Effectiveness This is a highly effective technique from a manipulator's point of view because it employs a strategy entirely opposite to those of deceit and secrecy. It also doesn't carry the same moral stigma as deceit or secrecy, since there is, on the surface at any rate, no deceit and no manipulation. This method may also be applied when a victim does not command the necessary skills, such as statistical or linguistic training, to make a considered interpretation. Secondly, the method can be used where there is a time constraint upon a victim's response. The technique relies entirely on the fact that most people are used to having decisions and interpretations made for them by politicians, bureaucrats, professionals and managers. It relies therefore on the "cost" of interpretation of the data being too great for the victim Whereas secrecy and deceit rely on a manipulated subject being unable to afford to research or verify certain facts because of the cost of the exercise, the technique of overload brings about the same result by "jamming" a victim's ability to interpret the information with which they are presented. ## 14.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species *See Child Pages:* - [[Curse of Knowledge]] - [[Ego Depletion]] - [[Inattention Manipulation]] - [[Information Overload]] ## 14.6. Avoidance and Counteraction The means of detection, avoidance and counteraction depend on the sub-type used. Refer to each of the above child pages (techniques) for more information on how to avoid or counteract each.