**The Nudge Sequel First** Nudge, nudge... Has government marketing gone one nudge too far Down Under?
A 2017/8 BETA trial & pre Event201[9] Behavioural Exchange Conference #BX2018 to learn from neuroscience & big data how to drive change in policy making in Sydney says yes! Way too far! Turn back now!
What harm can a Nudge Unit of Good intent do in a p[l]andemic?
Have no idea of the social etiquette required in sharing anothers substack within a substack. Suffice to say, I first came across the use of “nudge” policies to drive social change in the the UK Behaviourial Science Dept in 2020 and was shocked at its Orwellian Big Bro manipulation playing out in real time.
Do you remember signing up for it?
I don’t. So this substack is a mixing together of this nudgy smell from a few simmering billabongs over the course of the p[l]andemic covering how “nudging” even became a thing on our aussie shores courtesy of our resident psychologists and statisticians going along and along.
Also real easy to spot Down Under by those of us paying attention because these manipulative constructs followed the exact same playbook as the Mother Country but with a seasonal / quarter (3 month) time lag and our own unique blend of “she’ll be right mate” thrown into the mix. So for many of us, talking to families in the UK was eerily preminescent.
This Rounding the Earth Newsletter in 02 2022 this year “The Nudge as a Tool for Social Control” was a timely and informative refresher on the psychological toll this merger of public health policy and big farma product marketing by stealth, fed by big data and spat out by big tech/AI can inflict on the human collective consciousness when the “good” part of “good intent” went bye bye along with Kansas.
Thank you Rounding the Earth.
As per usual, for better or for worse covid exposes it all and nowhere more succinctly than on our own isolated island in the Land of Oz.
How did I find myself alone… wandering the dank corridors of Canberra ….. with the behavioural economists [en]light[en]ing my way?
Had just stepped out into the virtual cool, crisp Cardiff Spring fresh air from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) in the UK with my head realing. It was just not possible. We had a young lady and her boss awarded the highest honour in the land for an exceedingly important and controversial COVID statistic, wearing a large display of freemasonry colour and an eerily preminescent Horizon episode from 13 years before!
“…The last 12 months have seen an incredible demand for public data and head of mortality analysis Sarah Caul has been right at the heart of this, leading on what was once a little-known weekly dataset that became one of the most important and widely used documents for tracking deaths throughout the pandemic…”
Predictive programming at its best or fortuitous planning?
No worries, probably just a touch of cabin fever from the Brits finally being allowed out to receive their 2021 Queens Honour in person in the 2022 British Spring time or an over-zealous imagination from one not deemed safe to visit living or dying rellies in person. A birds eye view forever imprinted on the heart, of a loved ones coffin from a spy hole high up in the eaves of a chapel 2 seasons and a night back in true 2020 lockdown style knowing the propped-agenda of these psychopathic puppets.
What the dickens [is going] on Teresa Dickinson? Why BETA & it’s double meaning?
A Southern Winter follows this Northern Spring Down Under and a perusal of the
“…June 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours list recognises 992 Australians, including 669 in the General Division of the Order of Australia by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia…”
led to a preliminary highlight of a few recipients of interest when first and foremost following the data…..
https://www.gg.gov.au/queens-birthday-2022-honours-list\
Not intending to Dob [son] on anyone, and in these Queens’ Honours with an Aussie flavour was drawn to a one Teresa Dickinson honoured for delivery of our 2021 Census and residing at the Australian Bureau of Statistics. A cursory search had her performing as a speaker at a Behavioural Exchange Conference for another government Team back in 2018 called BETA.
Urr What is a “Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government” (BETA) and why do we need one?
“…The latest research shows small improvements or “nudges” can help people put their good intentions into action…”
“…Traditional policy can assume people have no shortage of brain power or will power - when in reality, many of us find it hard to eat healthy, save for retirement or shop around for the best internet or phone deals….”
“…There is often a gap between what people intend to do, and what they end up doing. For example, we know when people are in “auto-pilot” they will often use shortcuts and prefer to rely on sterotypes. In other cases people won’t act on their best intentions because they feel overloaded with choices….”
https://web.archive.org/web/20190402034638/https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/about
Do you feel like a guinea pig yet? How about the double meaning of Beta [Testing] ?
“…In an open test anyone can use the product and is usually presented with some messaging that the product is in beta and giving a method for submitting feedback…”
“…Beta testing is also a chance to begin looking at usage behavior and analytics to confirm that users interact with the product as expected or discover unexpected usage patterns”.
https://www.productplan.com/glossary/beta-test/
Still don’t feel like a guinea pig? How about a quick glance at a 2017 BETA trial Nudge vs Superbugs?
And here we have it in practice, a very timely and topical nudge, nudge back in 2017 being used for good intent by letter drop to all our GP’s to reduce over prescription of antibiotics in the pursuit of reducing the risk of ole AntiMicrobial Resistance (AMR). Always a good cause when new interventions/technology is being trialled. Wink, wink!
"…Behavioural economics applies behavioural insights to the real world by drawing on empirically-tested results. These tools can inform the design of government interventions to improve the welfare of citizens...”
https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/projects/report-nudge-vs-superbugs.pdf
Mad as hell yet? Not going to take it anymore? Do you want these psychos out of the doctor-patient relationship yet?
The GP’s in this case were as manipulated as the patients. Here is the 2020 style update on what they learnt from this “good intent” nudging.
…"There are several theories of how peer comparisons may influence behaviour, including that they can give people information about ‘social norms’. People may adopt social norms because they are perceived to be a useful source of information (particularly in ambiguous situations), because they want to fit in, or because the norm represents the behaviour of a group that is important to them, that is, part of their ‘social identity’ (Reynolds, Subasic and Tindall 2014; Reynolds 2019)…"
“...it was hypothesised sending letters to GP’s workplaces, comparing their prescribed behaviour to their peers, from the Chief Medical Officer would make salient their professional identity as physicians…"
“…Once aware their prescribing behaviour was high relative to their peers, this professional identity couild motivate them to adjust their behaviour to be closer to what is ‘normal’ for their peer group….”
Sound familiar yet?
“…The trial described in this report was a “collaboration effort between the Behavioural Economics and Research Team (*BERT*) (Department of Health) and the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) (Department of Prime Minster and Cabinet)…”.
How about the other double meaning of BETA “Behavioural Economics Team Australia” and its hosting of the 5th annual Behavioural Exchange Conference in 2018 #BX2018 ?
Here it is. The 2018 fortutiously timed and themed Behavioural Exchange Conference pre-Event 201[9] style.
"…LEARN HOW TO DRIVE CHANGE IN POLICYMAKING…"
"…Now in its fifth year, BX2018 will discuss the big issues: health and wellbeing, ethics, big data, markets, finance, energy and marketing, as well as communication and design thinking…."
https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/blog/learn-how-drive-change-policymaking
Marketing turned sinister again or substacker suffering under delusional confirmation bias?
Spoilt for choice on what one may wish to highlight if had their feet on the ground and eyes looking up these last few years since this con-fer-ence. Nudge, nudge, nudge, wink, wink Wink! If you get my drift?
“…Sessions focussed on emerging and cutting-edge trends in the behavioural insights community including how to harness the power of big data and machine learning, and opportunties for more systemic “second generation” nudges…”
https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/blog/beta-hosts-2018-behavioural-exchange-conference
Also incudes a few locals you might recognise doing the bidding of their product masters sorry sponsors by nudging us Aussies where we are to lazy to go “she’ll be right mate”.
"…health policy challenges…"
"…to improve health outcomes…"
"…in behaviourial insights in health interventions, including to reduce over-prescribing of antibiotics and increase immunisation rates…"
Is it possible to wrap this up with 2 very simple hypotheses?
Hypothesis 1/
Lets suppose the feedback and findings of the 2017 Nudge vs super-bug GP study that peer pressured GP’s and the like…
were fed with good intent, into the 2018 Behavioural Exchange neurosciences debate showing public servants and academics alike how to
“…harness the power of big data and machine learning for opportunties for more systemic 2nd generation nudging…”
“…behaviourial insights in health interventions...”
“ … to …. “
“...increase immunisation rates...”
that in turn were fed with good intent into Event 201(9) Pandemic Preparedness...
that in turn were fed with good intent into just 1 very simple “nudge” and infamous 9 March 2021 letter, by the Chair of the Australia’s Big Farma Board and on behalf of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA). This letter silenced an entire generation of ‘hands-on” health proffessionals from ALL 15 National Health Practitioner Boards from vetinary to paramedics for nigh on 2 years regarding the rollout of only provisional “right to try”, poison-label-exempt, black-triangle-scheme-monitoring, experimental, novel mRNA gene therapies and GMO-registered new-biological-entities …because of muhh
said same big farma Letter erronesouly portraying them all as an ubiquitious cure-all termed a “covid-19 vaccine”….
The letter lie…
“…As health practitioners and students are members of the general community, vaccination will contribute to achieving the highest possible level of immunity across the community, will provide practitioners and students with a level of protection for their own health if exposed to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19…”
The letter threat…
“…Any promotion of anti-vaccination statements or health advice which contradicts the best available scientific evidence or seeks to actively undermine the national immunisation campaign (including via social media) is not supported by National Boards and may be in breach of the codes of conduct and subject to investigation and possible regulatory action…”
Nudge, nudge (wink, wink).
If you really care, be my guest and replace the “good” of “good intent” with “ill” in your mind and read the above hypothesis again. I care.
I am sorry. Please forgive me. I love you.
On the upside, Down Under it triggered a bunch of misfits, deplorables and anti-nudgers with nothing left to lose but to work together and get to the very depths of the source of the smell simmering over the billabong. Hooray! And coincidentally, it was the very said same nudge letter, sent to silence and bypass our good doctors that brought us together. A year ago now.
Nudge, nudge (wink, wink).
Hypothesis 2/
Is precisley where we are at. Current committee hearings in Oz are discussing whether the injured party, the patient can sue the doctors for malefaecsesne? ….
and whether the doctors in turn can sue the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (APHRA) for the lies and threats in the letter?…
So who is going to sue the The Department of Health and Department of PrimeMinster and Cabinet at BETA for this META nudge?
And who is going to sue the Big data and machine learning companies used by these academic neuroscientists and psychotic social psychologists to shove sorry nudge this psychological peer pressure into the homes, schools, work places and clinics and down the throats of every man, woman and child in Australia?
To conclude, cannot help but wander who or what our governments Al PHA is to this BETA test?
And never knew that about a “Beta male”… more double meanings.. You might hypothesis that “a risk-avoidant, non-confrontational man perceived as a follower or supporter rather than a leader” is easier to nudge. The polar opposite was the case in my experience because many natural born leaders and shining stars aka “Alpha males” who would jump in the deep end to save your life without hesitation went along because wanted to do the right thing by their leadership responsibilities in their co[i]mmunities. Peer pressure? Societal norms? Nudged?
Got no idea, am not an expert, just want these “peer pressure“ nudges on any direction of the compass to leave us aussies and pomms and all of us well alone. It is mean. Anti-nudging and pro-love is the way to be. We have the craic of the Irish and Love wins and I know this because my mum showed me.
Spoiler Alert * Just answered my own questions by re-reading my own substack lol. Staring at us all this time as to who or what the Al pha to this BETA test might be?
Did you see it?
**Spoiler Alert** Hope you made it this far, is a craic! Prequel incoming….
** The Wink Prequel Last** Wink, wink… Who would you invite into your home to share an intimate Christmas dinner with your family, Uncle AI BERT or Uncle Gruen?
Who is Uncle A1 BERT?
Who is Uncle Gruen?
Forget double meanings. Multiple meanings exist. We are all super sleuths! Enjoy!