00:00If you ask someone, can you tell the difference between good and evil?
00:04Most people would say, of course.
00:07But the truth is, all our basic beliefs about what's good or evil, right or wrong,
00:13virtuous or sinful, are the results of psychological manipulation.
00:18These beliefs are shaped in childhood,
00:21often by adults who, consciously or not, inflict emotional wounds on us.
00:26These scars create the pattern of our personality,
00:31similar to how ancient hunters and gatherers wore scar designs on their bodies
00:35to signify their tribe, lineage and capabilities.
00:40When we say this person just gets me,
00:42it often means they share a similar emotional scar pattern.
00:47We are from the same tribe.
00:49My name is Alvira Barry, and I'm a writer, philosopher and teacher.
00:54Today, I'll show you through a personal example
00:57how dark psychology works and how it shapes our beliefs.
01:10I was born in the Soviet Union,
01:12where the government deliberately traumatized children
01:16to instill the desired beliefs in their minds.
01:20As a child, I loved reading,
01:23and each week, my mom would travel miles
01:26to bring me books from the central library,
01:29books that were impossible to find
01:32in our shabby industrial neighborhood.
01:34One day, my mom brought home a thick, blue-covered book
01:38featuring a Native American riding a Mustang.
01:41The book was titled The Salt Rock's Land
01:44and was written by an indigenous author named Satok from Poland.
01:50The story left a profound impact on me.
01:53According to the book,
01:55at the beginning of the 20th century,
01:57the author's mother, a Polish revolutionary,
02:00was sent to her labor in Siberia.
02:02She escaped, made her way to Canada,
02:05and sick and starving was found by a local native tribe.
02:09She married their chief and had three children.
02:12Just before World War II,
02:14she returned to Poland with her youngest son, Satok.
02:17Satok became a guerrilla fighter
02:19and bravely fought the Nazis
02:21using his hunting and tracking skills.
02:25After the war,
02:26a friend convinced him to write about his childhood,
02:30resulting in stories like The Salt Rock's Land,
02:32Mysterious Tracks, and others.
02:40In the USSR and Eastern Europe,
02:42Satok's books were wildly popular.
02:45It made sense.
02:47Our world were very poor and monotonous,
02:50where the highlight of the day was a cartoon at 8pm.
02:54These books offered adventure,
02:57a sense of dignity,
02:58and a feeling of freedom,
03:00making them irresistible.
03:01We played Indians,
03:03made up sequels to Satok's tales,
03:06and eagerly went on hikes
03:08to practice knife throwing,
03:10fire starting,
03:11and animal tracking.
03:13In many cities,
03:15a whole subculture of Indian enthusiasts emerged,
03:18especially in Poland.
03:20Satok would attend meetups
03:22in colorful favorite costumes,
03:24telling stories that captivated young imaginations.
03:28But there was more.
03:35reading Satok's books,
03:37children were outraged
03:39by the actions of the Canadian government
03:41towards indigenous people.
03:43Greedy capitalists
03:44had taken their land,
03:46mistreated,
03:46and even killed native residents,
03:49breaking our hearts.
03:50Here's the microtrauma
03:52that shapes a child's beliefs.
03:54Kids don't question
03:56what's written in the book.
03:57If adults published it,
03:59it must have been thoroughly vetted.
04:01They vaguely know the general history.
04:04Yes,
04:05the European settlement on America
04:07led to the deaths
04:08of millions of indigenous people.
04:10So their present outrage
04:12towards Canada,
04:13capitalism,
04:13and the West
04:14feels justified.
04:21But Satok's entire story
04:23was a fabrication.
04:25His real name was
04:26Stanislav Suplatovich,
04:28and he wasn't a mixed indigenous heritage,
04:31nor did he write his books.
04:33Ghostwriters were hired
04:35for a state-sponsored project
04:37Youth Education
04:38in the Spirit of Communism.
04:41Anyone familiar
04:42with Soviet literary history
04:44knows
04:45that no books
04:46were accidentally popular.
04:47No one cared
04:48what the public really wanted.
04:50They were given
04:51only what was allowed.
04:53To make a novel popular,
04:54it needed to be
04:56stocked in hundreds of thousands
04:58of bookstores and libraries,
05:00written about in newspapers,
05:02and discussed on the radio.
05:03Everything was planned
05:05and mandated.
05:07And sometimes
05:08propagandists
05:09struck a chord
05:10with the audience,
05:11like they did
05:12with the Indian theme.
05:14The lack of experts
05:16on indigenous cultures
05:17in Eastern Europe
05:18allowed Satok
05:20to lie without hesitation.
05:22He didn't know the details,
05:24got facts wrong,
05:25and jumbled the timeline.
05:27And this went on
05:29for decades.
05:35For the KGB,
05:37altering the timeline
05:38was crucial.
05:39In the later half
05:40of the 20th century,
05:42the US,
05:43Canada,
05:43and Western Europe
05:44not only achieved
05:45significant economic progress,
05:47but also re-evaluated
05:49their ethical principles.
05:52Humanitarian ideas,
05:54environmental protection,
05:56and equality
05:57became widespread.
05:59Society was clearly changing
06:01and there was no one
06:02left to blame
06:03for 19th century crimes.
06:05The real perpetrators
06:07were long dead.
06:09So how could hatred
06:11between nations
06:12be stalked
06:13in this situation?
06:15Hatred was necessary.
06:17Soviet leaders
06:17had to find a way
06:18to explain
06:19their neighbors' successes
06:20to their own citizens.
06:22If you drilled
06:23into people's heads
06:24that all of the West's
06:26achievements
06:26were the result
06:27of plundering,
06:29oppression,
06:29and violence,
06:31it all made sense.
06:33Ignore the good,
06:34distort and emphasize
06:36the bad,
06:37and create
06:38the desired impressions.
06:40Now,
06:41the Soviet children
06:42of the 1970s
06:43and 1980s
06:44have grown up
06:45and are all too willing
06:47to latch onto
06:48the familiar narrative
06:50that the West
06:50is pure evil.
06:57our beliefs
06:58are shaped
06:59by stories
07:00we heard in childhood,
07:02the ones that
07:03steered our emotions.
07:04If there are many
07:06such stories
07:07all conveying
07:08the same message,
07:09we accept them
07:10as truth.
07:12Even if someone
07:13later says
07:14it wasn't like that,
07:16we might not,
07:17but under certain
07:19circumstances
07:20we easily revert
07:22to our old beliefs
07:23because those scars
07:25in our souls
07:26haven't disappeared.
07:28It's incredibly helpful
07:30to seep through
07:31your core beliefs
07:32and ask yourself,
07:33where did I get this from?
07:36The answers
07:37can be surprising.
07:39Mom said this
07:41when she was mad at me.
07:43A TV host
07:44talked about
07:44a nuclear war
07:46and it scared me.
07:48I saw a TikTok video
07:50and it made me furious.
07:52The only way
07:54to free yourself
07:55from manipulations
07:56rooted in your childhood
07:57is through awareness.
07:59Once you understand
08:01what happened to you,
08:02you can bring that
08:03information
08:04from your subconscious
08:05into rational thought
08:08and make clear decisions.
08:11That's all for me now.
08:13If you are interested
08:14in the subtile art
08:15of understanding
08:16yourself and others,
08:17subscribe.
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