Birth of the Algorithm & How to Protect Yourself from its Influence

And our story begins in the 1950s: Madison Avenue & the Subconscious

The Birth of Perception Engineering

After World War II, advertisers realized propaganda techniques could be used in peacetime. Ed Bernays (Sigmund Freud’s nephew) called it “engineering consent.” He taught companies to bypass logic and speak directly to emotion and identity.

Selling cigarettes to women as a “Torches of Freedom” movement, linking cars, cologne, or soap to status, desire, or belonging. Make people feel, not think. If emotion anchors attention, the RAS locks on. (RAS? We will go over that a little later).

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