Human perception is always filtered and selective. “Truth” is unreachable; what is reachable are fragments of information, reframed by context, biases, and cognitive limits. Understanding manipulation is the only way to systematically navigate these fragments, rather than being misled by appearances of truth.
What we call “truth” is always a manipulated construction, thus making manipulation the foundation of human interaction and influence. Business, media, marketing, politics, technology, and many others:
All operate on influence.
Yet no formal discipline unites this knowledge into a recognized practice.
This is why we propose a new occupation:
Influence Engineering.
What Is Influence Engineering?
Influence Engineering is the systematic study and application of human influence. It draws on insights from Neuroscience, translated into applied, science-informed interpretations, to examine how marketing, economics, politics, and technology shape human perception, decisions, and behavior. It seeks a detailed understanding of the mechanisms behind influence—grounded in measurable cognitive and behavioral patterns.
Its ultimate goal is to design ethical, effective, and sustainable influence systems that account for human behavior and societal effects more comprehensively than current approaches.
The Impact
An Influence Engineer can develop a deeper understanding of influence and its effects on individuals, organizations, and society:
Society today faces increasing complexity and fragmentation. Competing narratives, driven by, but not limited to, marketing, politics, and technology, create confusion, misinformation, and misaligned incentives. The way forward is not to fear influence, but to understand it. Influence itself is not inherently good or bad; it is ethical or unethical depending on intent and design. Perception is shaped through influence, and understanding these processes allows us to act with insight and responsibility.
Our mission is to research manipulation as it is used today and propose new ethical influence frameworks:
1. More ethical, responsible, and effective than destructive manipulative models.
2. Able to align progress across, but not limited to, business, marketing, economics, and technology.
3. Designed to reduce confusion and chaos, to improve decision-making at individual and group levels.
4. Aimed at shifting influence strategies from exploiting impulsive reward systems (dopaminergic dysregulation) toward supporting learning, growth, and long-term engagement (dopaminergic alignment).
By stripping manipulation of its stigma and grounding it in science, we can engineer influence that yields better results than unethical manipulation, driving safe evolution, at the individual, group, and societal level.
The Purpose
Influence Engineering recognizes manipulation as a neutral, universal force. The question is not whether influence happens, but how it is designed, applied, and governed.
Influence Engineering is a transformation, which will gift you:
Why Influence Engineering?
Influence Engineering is not yet an accredited profession. It has no institutions, charters, or certifications. What you are reading is a first public proposal: a vision for a deliberate practice of studying manipulation, one that is uniquely positioned to design and apply ethical influence frameworks.
In the 21st century, access to information is higher than ever. While this brings enormous benefits and opportunities, it also creates massive risks and dangers if used incorrectly or unethically. This is why understanding the engineering of perception is an urgent priority — especially as AI amplifies influence at unprecedented scale.
This is the work of the Influence Engineer.
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