Social Engineering and Strategy

Social engineering enables those that effectively apply the same to micromanage certain aspects of an individual. This occurs on the level of that individual's psyche. The result is that the said subject becomes amiable to ideas and the performance of acts, which are suggested and implicitly imposed upon these persons. Although in their mind, it appears to them that they are pursuing goals of their own choosing and are entertaining ideas of their own conception. The basis of human behavior is thought. If the latter can be molded to serve the purpose of another without the knowledge of the person whose psyche is involved, that person will behave basing on the reconstructed consciousness. They would, in effect, be acting on under the influence of another.

This nature of social engineering means that this set of methods of manipulating individuals also serve as an efficient, effective and elegant strategy system. In the context of human competition and conflict strategy determines the outcome. The better the strategy the more it leads to the attainment of the goals of certain individuals with little or no hindrance from another. Goals of a party to a contest could be achieved even though the opponent of the said party. What is more amazing, with the use of the approaches involved in social engineering, the adversary can even be made to pursue goals that serve the good of his or her opponent and not their own.

The potent nature of social engineering lies in its insight into human nature itself. It factors into each method an understanding of how humans think, how they view the environment they are immersed in, how they interact with others and other nuances of attitude and behavior. Furthermore, since this manipulation is done on the level of an individual's consciousness, it rarely is notice by them. This makes it a subtle but powerful means of control. The authorities in strategy, particularly in conflict like Sun Tzu and Von Clausewitz, Caesar and Alexander the Great all employed social engineering in significant amounts of not in all their strategies. They effectively directed how their adversaries act and view the conflict. Rarely was it known to their adversaries that they were being implicitly influenced by the said tacticians.

In the realm of human thought, reason and action, everything is reduced to motivation, benefit, detriment and the pursuit of a particular goal. If a person could control these aspects he or she can control that person. A person who has the idea that their opponents are weak will be easily convinced to attack and create a measure of vulnerability. An adversary who pursues a goal can be persuaded to attain the same with little thought if in the achievement of the same he or she might be serving the purpose of another. The intricate reconstruction of the human consciousness is the edge of social engineering compared to other forms of manipulation and control. By altering the mindset and behavioral predisposition of certain persons these subjects can implicitly be made to act and think without them knowing of such.

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