I learned a lot of the techniques pioneered by Bernays in school. It was the basis of a lot of our public communication lessons. I'd always assumed these were just things that had been collectively figured out over time, I never realized there was one person essentially responsive for spreading that kind of manipulation.

I wonder what the world would be like if major corporations, governments and just about everybody trying to convince people of something hadn't latched onto his ideas and built modern society around them.