1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Fellow conspiracy realist, We return to you from literally around 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: the world with a classic episode that remains oddly relevant today. 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: We were talking about this off air, Matt, and you 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: and I both agreed that this is sort of an 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: eternal subject or an eternal concern for a lot of people. 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:26,240 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, the concept of being a targeted individuals, as 7 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 2: we're going to get into in this episode. This is 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 2: it's sensitive, right, because you're dealing with potentially mental health, 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 2: You're dealing with potentially actual human beings that are under 10 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 2: some form of investigation. There's all kinds of things that 11 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 2: go into this, right, and we still people still write 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 2: to us and ask us to do Gang Stocking episodes 13 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: like updates to this and this is back in October 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 2: twenty nineteen that we covered. 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's an experience that a lot of people have 16 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: had to degree or another. Who is that person who 17 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: seems so similar? Right? Is that the same person I 18 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:10,919 Speaker 1: saw at the grocery store? 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 2: That hat looks Wait, I know I've seen that happ before, right, right? Am? 20 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: I gaslighting myself? Is something afoot? Who is after me? 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: And why? More and more people as we recorded this 22 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: were claiming that they had been stalked by not a 23 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: single individual, but by some enigmatic group. 24 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 2: And that group is interchangeable. You never know who it 25 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 2: could be. 26 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: Let's roll the tape from UFOs to psychic powers and 27 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: government conspiracies. History is riddled with unexplained events. You can 28 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: turn back now or learn this stuff they don't want 29 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: you to know. A production of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. 30 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome back to the show. My name is 31 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 2: Matt nol Is. Where is he on a nol somewhere? 32 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 1: Perhaps a grassy one. Yes, they call me Ben. We 33 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: were joined as always with our super producer Paul Mission 34 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: control deck, and most importantly, you are you. You are 35 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: here and that makes this stuff they don't want you 36 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: to know? Matt. How's it going? 37 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 2: It's going? 38 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:32,519 Speaker 1: Well. 39 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 2: I'm wondering what you are doing out there right now 40 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 2: as you're listening to this. Are you driving? Are you walking? 41 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 2: Are you sitting at your desk? If you are able 42 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 2: to If you look around right now, is anybody paying 43 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 2: attention to what you're doing? Did somebody just dart their 44 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 2: head down as you glanced at them. 45 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: Is someone on a phone but not appearing to speak 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: into that phone? Are they making eye contact? With you 47 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: or looking in your direction while they're on the phone. 48 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: Do you think that they're actually using the phone? Do 49 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: you think they're actually calling one eight three three std 50 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 1: wyt Well, you know, we have a lot of We 51 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: have a lot of hang ups as a species, right, 52 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: and many of those are the inevitable result of our 53 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: great intelligence or the problem of consciousness and sentience or 54 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: consciousness sabiens, whatever you want to call it is its 55 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: own bag of badgers. But our fears drive so much 56 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: of our you know, our failings and our triumphs, our innovations, 57 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: even our music. You and I were talking off air 58 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: with Mission Control about various songs that are catchy but 59 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: strongly paranoid. You know, yeah, sure. 60 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 2: Do you always feel like someone is watching you? 61 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: Do you feel like private eyes are watching you. 62 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 2: So they see here every move? What I thought you 63 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 2: were going to say? Poop again? 64 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: Oh? Yeah, no, we worked on an alternate version of 65 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: that song. Yes, Today's Today's episode is about a troubling 66 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 1: a troubling feeling, a phenomenon that everyone has experienced to 67 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: some degree at one point or another. And this this 68 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 1: is the feeling of being watched, the feeling of being stalked. 69 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: And if you were one of the lucky few who 70 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: are thinking, oh, gee, man, I've never personally felt like 71 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: someone was following me or stalking me, well, then strap 72 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: in because you're going to feel that way after this episode. Okay, 73 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: So I will give a I don't talk too much 74 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: about the personal stuff, but I will give a personal 75 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: example of when I was actually followed or stalked. This 76 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: was when I was living in a different country and 77 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: I was interacting with some political activists. Let's keep it 78 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: at that, sure, okay. And I was not in any 79 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: way a lynchpin of this organization, nor was I involved 80 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: in any criminal enterprise. I'm very much a dudly do 81 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: good when I am in someone else's geopolitical house, and 82 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: it's the best policy. But I noticed a few, you know, 83 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: a few weeks after I had met with a group, 84 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: I was at a fairly I had a fairly predictable routine. 85 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: So I was always sleeping more or less in the 86 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: same place, and I was typically going to do things 87 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: in more like the same area, often with predictable times 88 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: of day, which any PI can tell you is not 89 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: the best strategy investigator, right right, Thank you? And I 90 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: started noticing I started noticing the same people at the 91 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 1: same time, and eventually, eventually somebody very politely make contact 92 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: with me and asked me some questions about the folks 93 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: I met a week or two ago. Wow, and nothing 94 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: ever came of it. And I you know, the story 95 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: ends there. 96 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 2: But you're fairly sure you were being surveilled or stocked. 97 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: I'm certain, yeah, And it wasn't. It wasn't in a 98 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: threatening way. I think. I think these folks just wanted 99 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: to see what I was going to do next. Sure, 100 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: what I mean, is this just hanging out? These just 101 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: some friends hanging out in a coffee shop or a 102 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: wine bar, or is this a public meeting that leads 103 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: to something else? Yeah, and that's not I have to 104 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: also be very clear, it is not illegal for intelligence 105 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: agencies or law enforcement to do that. As a matter 106 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: of fact, at least on paper, the US has some 107 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: laws that are meant to constrain the unchecked use of 108 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: those powers. Other countries do not, and as often to 109 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: the peril of many unfortunate people. But let's go away. 110 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: That's a little scary, but it all's well, that ends well, 111 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: you know, here are the facts. Have you ever been followed. 112 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: Like we said, you know, we've all we've all experienced 113 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: if you are savvy enough to be listening to a podcast, 114 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: you have experienced some sort of how would you describe 115 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: it matter as sense of surveillance. 116 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. Sure, Again, it doesn't even necessarily mean that it's true, 117 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 2: but the perception that something like that perhaps is going on. 118 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 2: You maybe have felt it before. We certainly you and 119 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 2: I I think in particular, maybe as well as Noel 120 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 2: a little bit to a lesser effect, have experienced kind 121 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 2: of a fluctuating feeling of being surveilled over the ten years, 122 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 2: the decade of making this show, where it waxes and wanes. 123 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 2: We even had a joke nsa intern there that we've 124 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 2: mentioned several times in the past. 125 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: Ah, shout out to Steve. 126 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, who's tasked with listening to our episodes and all 127 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 2: the ideas that we put forth into the universe. Honestly, 128 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 2: they're worried about, you know, the next season of Rick 129 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 2: and Morty, Like what's gonna come on there? Like is 130 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 2: he getting influenced? Like what are we gonna do? 131 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: Right? Right? Let's sign up? Is this and also shout 132 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: out to you, Steve, if you have not graduated yet. 133 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,040 Speaker 1: If you are still an intern at one of the 134 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: Spooky Alphabet agencies, then it can only mean you're pursuing 135 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: a PhD and good luck. 136 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 2: That's all right. But again, to our knowledge, we have 137 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 2: never really experienced overt surveillance on this show, at least 138 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 2: for making this show. Again, we don't have knowledge of 139 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 2: it at least, and we certainly haven't encountered what would 140 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 2: be considered a stalker. Now. 141 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: We have received a number of cryptic and order troubling emails, 142 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,479 Speaker 1: a couple of texts on mobile phones, things. 143 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 2: Like that I have a few pieces of physical paper 144 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 2: in my desk that I've kept around. Oh yeah, that 145 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 2: we're a bit odd with the symbols and everything that 146 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 2: was on there and mapping connections to things that I 147 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 2: didn't understand. 148 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, we've received some odd posts too, But we 149 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: haven't encountered what would be described legally as a stalker 150 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: or stalking situation, which can happen. It's a real thing. 151 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: The Department of Justice defines stalking as engaging in a 152 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: course of conduct directed at a specific person that would 153 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her 154 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: safety or the safety of others. Or suffer substantial emotional distress. 155 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: And we have some statistics about this too. 156 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 2: Oh sure. If you look to the CDC, they've got 157 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 2: a thing called Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, stalking 158 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:41,319 Speaker 2: and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization. This is a National Intimate 159 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 2: Partner and Sexual Violence Survey within the United States twenty eleven. Okay, 160 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 2: that's a lot to get through there. It's through the CDC, 161 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 2: that's what you need to know. And it's a survey, 162 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 2: and this whole thing is commonly referred to as the NISVS. 163 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 2: According to this thing, seven and a half million people 164 00:10:58,559 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 2: were stalked in one year alone in the United States, 165 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 2: And of course this is the twenty eleven survey, so 166 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 2: this is data from twenty ten. Now, a lot of 167 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 2: these victims were stalked by either a current or a 168 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 2: former intimate partner. That would be sixty one percent of 169 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 2: female victims and forty four percent of male victims. And 170 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 2: if you look to the population overall, an estimate of 171 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 2: fifteen percent of women and six percent of men have 172 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 2: been a victim of stalking throughout their entire lifetimes, which 173 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 2: you know, is statistically fairly low. But when you think 174 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 2: about that number of people seven and a half million 175 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,679 Speaker 2: human beings that experience stalking in a single year, it's 176 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 2: pretty staggering. 177 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: In the US alone. Yeah, and when we say stalking, 178 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: we're not talking about you know, creeps on the Internet 179 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: sliding into your dms. We're talking about the sort of 180 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: stalking that is defined by the DOJ. For a lot 181 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: of US. These numbers seem surprisingly high, you know what 182 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: I mean? This is like cape fear, single white female 183 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: kind of thriller stuff. But critics of this survey believe 184 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: the CDC is used an overly conservative definition of stalking, 185 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: and honestly, I tend to agree with some of the 186 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: problems here. Survey respondents were classified as stalking victims if 187 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: and only if, one they experienced multiple stalking tactics or 188 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: a single stalking tactic multiple times by the same perpetrator. 189 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: That part makes sense. Or two they felt very fearful 190 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: or believed that they or someone close to them would 191 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: be harmed or killed as a result of the perpetrators 192 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: stalking behavior. And this comes from the Stalking Resource Center. 193 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: They say this definition fails to address the varying levels 194 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: of fear reported by victims. Right somewhat fearful, maybe distressed, disquietened, 195 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:59,319 Speaker 1: or slightly fearful. And no stalking law in the US 196 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: which goes these stalking laws pretty much goes state by 197 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: state unless you're talking about interstate stalking. These stalking laws 198 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: don't qualify fear the way that the CDC is. And 199 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: so they say that using this conservative definition of stalking 200 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: results in an inaccurate depiction of the practice. But wait, 201 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: as Billy Mayss want to say, there's more, folks. You see, 202 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: we have piles of disturbing facts and statistics about this phenomenon, 203 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: this type of crime according to the Bureau of Justice 204 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: statistics during a twelve month period. You'll notice these statistics 205 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: don't all agree during a twelve month period, and estimated 206 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: fourteen out of every one thousand people age eighteen or 207 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: older or victims of stalking somehow. And again the definition changes, right, 208 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: But let's keep in mind these are different organizations of 209 00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: the same government. 210 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 2: Well, and really, you're you can only use surveys, right, 211 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 2: So depending on who you're surveying, even as random as 212 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 2: you want it to be, you may get very different statistics. 213 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 1: Right, Right, So it's true because we have to ask 214 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: ourselves about the methodology. One survey may just be going 215 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: off self reporting right. One survey may be going off 216 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: only reports that have been made to law enforcement, and 217 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: as we know, quite a few people do not report 218 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: things like that to law enforcement unless unless it exceeds 219 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: a certain threshold, Like most people are not calling nine 220 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: to one one every time they get an unsolicited again 221 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: an unsolicited maybe message on Instagram or something you know. 222 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 2: Sure or you know, a robo call, or you know, 223 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 2: consistent robo calls from the same number or something. 224 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: About half of stalking victims, around forty six percent, said 225 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: they experienced at least one unwanted contact per week. Eleven 226 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: percent of victims said they've been stalked for a long 227 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: time five years or more. The risk of being a 228 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: victim of stalking was highest for individuals who were divorced 229 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: or separated. That's thirty four out of one thousand individuals. 230 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: Women were at a greater risk than men for being 231 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: for stalking victimization. However, women and men were equally likely 232 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: to experience harassment. Nearly three and four stalking victims knew 233 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: their offender in some way. That person you go to 234 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: school with, who's kind of quiet and ex significant other. 235 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 2: Even if it's just a neighbor, even if it's. 236 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: Just a neighbor, just a face woman in some way. So, 237 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: you know, when we see these crimes or these situations 238 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: depicted in works of fiction, people go to the police, 239 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: and predictably, especially if it's a thriller, the police ignore them. 240 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: Our hands are tied. They say, we could get a 241 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: restraining order. That's the extent of it. Now, that's you know, 242 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: oversimplified for the sake of plot and narrative. But it 243 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: is unfortunately true that not all states treat stalking the 244 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: same way. 245 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, currently just over half fifty one percent of states. 246 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 2: They'll require that there are at least two or more instances. 247 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 2: We kind of talked about this a little bit, but 248 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 2: there have to be at least two instances where this perpetrator, 249 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 2: whoever the person is, that's perceived as a stalker, as 250 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 2: either following, harassing, watching in some way the person who's 251 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 2: the victim, right, But then some state laws actually specify 252 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 2: the victim has to be frightened by the stalking. Like 253 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 2: there again we're talking about fear here. It's kind of 254 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 2: what we mentioned earlier, like if you were walking into 255 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 2: a police department to make a report, and you are 256 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 2: not fearful of this stalking is just a nuisance perhaps 257 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 2: or something like that, then it wouldn't necessarily be considered stalking. 258 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 2: Some others require that the stalking behavior must have caused 259 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 2: a reasonable person to experience fear. But again, a lot 260 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 2: of these states vary on what fear is, like what 261 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 2: are we defining fear as? Is it somewhat fearful, quite fearful, 262 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 2: very fearful? And some state laws even require, you know, 263 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 2: a prosecutor if they were gonna take somebody to court 264 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 2: and charge them with stalking, they would require the prosecutor 265 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 2: to establish that fear of death or at least some 266 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 2: kind of you know, serious harm was at least felt 267 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 2: by the victim, And you know, others just require that 268 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,679 Speaker 2: a prosecutor established the victim suffered some kind of emotional distress. 269 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 2: And that is generally going to be experienced by anyone 270 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,680 Speaker 2: who feels at least that they are the victim of stalking. 271 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: And we'll get back to a problematic, challenging issue with 272 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:11,399 Speaker 1: that definition. But first we've painted the scene right. The 273 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: broad context, being stalked in North Dakota is not the 274 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: same as being stalked in California or Oklahoma. 275 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 2: Right. 276 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: We know that stalking is reel. We know that it 277 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: is by itself a frightening phenomenon for the people involved. 278 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: Yet over the course of recent years, more and more 279 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: individuals are coming forward, often forming communities online, claiming that 280 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 1: they have been harassed, stalked, terrorized, not by an ex lover, 281 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: not by a single creepy obsessed neighbor or former school chum, 282 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: but by groups of people, coordinated groups, acting in concerts 283 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: and behaving as though they have a plan, a gang 284 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:05,120 Speaker 1: of stalks. So today's question is what exactly is going on? 285 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 2: And we'll get to that right after a quick word 286 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 2: from our sponsor. 287 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: Here's where it gets crazy. Gang stalking. Yes, gang stalking. 288 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: This is something many of our fellow listeners have written 289 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: in to us about over the years, and I do 290 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 1: mean years. As we've established earlier, stalking has a few 291 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: common characteristics. Tends to be highly personal and individualized. Tends 292 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: to be measured at least partially in subjective emotional terms, 293 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: at least as far as the letter of the law 294 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: applies in the US. And that's a tricky thing. We 295 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: cannot objectively measure a subjective experience, especially because we know 296 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: that emotions are malleable and to a degree in ephemeral. 297 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: Often right things, we feel different ways about the same 298 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: thing at different times, which sounds elementary but is incredibly 299 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,120 Speaker 1: important for this. It reminds me of you know, how 300 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: the Sackler family and other criminals of that ILK had 301 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: put in you know, it'd spent. 302 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 2: I love that you just phrased it that way. 303 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: It's true, sorry, criminals who are not going to be convicted, 304 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: right people, drug dealers. I don't know what you want 305 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:32,400 Speaker 1: me to say. 306 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 2: No, no, I'm completely honest. It's refreshing to you hear 307 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:36,639 Speaker 2: it stated in the. 308 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: Well those are unfortunately true things. But but the these 309 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: like these organizations, the opioid mongers, had spent millions making 310 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 1: a standardized pain reporting scale that medical professionals were more 311 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,239 Speaker 1: or less forced to use. And we've all we've all 312 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: kind of heard it before. Describe your pain on a 313 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: scale of one to ten right. 314 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 2: On comfor it's basically comfort or. 315 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: Yeah yea yeah, yeah yeah. And so we're asking we're 316 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: asking people to subjectively rate something. So if we're asking 317 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: people to subjectively rate their fear after something incredibly frightening 318 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: has happened to them, you know what I mean, Like, 319 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: I just got an envelope full of like hair and 320 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: a picture of my kid at the playground. Oh do 321 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: you think I'm somewhat discomfited by this? You know it's insane? 322 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 2: Well it is. I mean, when you're speaking of perceived stalking, 323 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 2: as we're going to find a little later in the episode, 324 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,159 Speaker 2: it ranges from a glance from somebody that perhaps you 325 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 2: don't know, to I mean, I can only imagine the 326 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 2: nth degree. There would be someone holding a weapon to 327 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 2: your body and you know, threatening you, Like, that would 328 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 2: be the range I'm assuming if you're talking about levels 329 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 2: of fear within stalking, right. 330 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's the problem with that definition because different 331 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: people will have different thresholds right of what they consider frightening. 332 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: And this is not at all in any way shape, 333 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: form or fashion meant to diminish or minimize the experiences 334 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: of people who are victimized by stalking. We're saying that 335 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: some people will behave differently, and there's not really a 336 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: one size fits all for you. 337 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 2: Yes, some people behave and perceive differently. 338 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, there we go. That's incredibly important. So here's the 339 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: strange part. For people who believe that they're victims of 340 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: group stalking or gang stalking, the same rules apply with 341 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,880 Speaker 1: but not in the same way and with even higher stakes, 342 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 1: like they may feel there is a highly personal, individualized 343 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 1: motive behind this group of people stalking them, but they 344 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: may not have known these people before. It's just the 345 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: guy who's always now at the bus stop around the 346 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: same time as you. And because the definitions of the 347 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: term gang stalking can be a little tough to come by, 348 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: we found some pretty pretty comprehensive definitions from the subreddit 349 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,679 Speaker 1: on gang stalking, And there is a dedicated subreddit to 350 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 1: this and I like their definition. I think it gives 351 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: us a good lay of the land. 352 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 2: Oh sure. It says that gang stalking is an umbrella term, 353 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 2: and it describes a series of techniques utilized by a 354 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 2: group to instill mental instability within a victim. So that 355 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 2: would be a particular individual with the intent to discredit, sabotage, harass, extort, 356 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 2: and even drive a victim to suicide or at least 357 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:00,920 Speaker 2: to mental distress. And it goes on to say the 358 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,960 Speaker 2: victims of this practice are often described as targeted individuals 359 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 2: known as TIS. 360 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: For short, So we will no relation to the artists. 361 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 2: Correct, and we will be using TI sometimes targeted individuals 362 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 2: moving forward. 363 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, and according to the TIS who feel that they 364 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:24,880 Speaker 1: are victims of gang stocking operations, the stalking can take 365 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,160 Speaker 1: multiple forms, right. 366 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, there are lots of different perceived things here 367 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 2: that have been described by multiple people. So this isn't 368 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,679 Speaker 2: just one person's account of what it's like to be 369 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:45,439 Speaker 2: gang stalked or the perception of what is occurring. So 370 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 2: let's get to something called mobbing. Let's hit that first. 371 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 2: So this is an intense and organized harassment, sometimes in 372 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 2: the workplace, but mobbing can also occur outside of the workplace, 373 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:03,719 Speaker 2: where it's just a whole bunch of people that appear 374 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 2: to be around you or paying attention to you or 375 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 2: watching you all at once. Like again, if you just 376 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 2: if you imagine the concept of mobbing, it's a lot 377 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 2: of people all at once with their attention focused on you. 378 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 2: But then but then their attention will go away and 379 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 2: they'll come right back to you. 380 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and then there are black bag jobs, which would 381 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 1: be a residential break in where maybe something is stolen 382 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: or something's messed with, but your house is not valuables 383 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: aren't necessarily taken. It's not like a burglary. 384 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 2: It's for me. My understanding is it's a perception that 385 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 2: your inner sanctum, your place of safety, has been disheveled 386 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,679 Speaker 2: or messed with or looked at by somebody who physically, 387 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 2: you know, breached the perimeter or whatever. 388 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: And maybe they altered something, or maybe they installed something 389 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:02,880 Speaker 1: to monitor you. 390 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 2: And generally it's to mess with you, right, right, right, 391 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 2: I mean that's the perception, is that somebody broke in 392 00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:09,640 Speaker 2: here just to mess with me, not like you said, 393 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 2: not to take something of any value. 394 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: Right, maybe in some cases to leave something. The idea 395 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,120 Speaker 1: is that the idea here in both of those cases 396 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: is that someone is attempting to compromise the victim's sanity 397 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: or their perception of reality. This term we commonly encapsulate 398 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,400 Speaker 1: this in the term gaslighting. Yeah, right, So gaslighting is 399 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: when someone attempts some person or some group attempts to 400 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: convince some other person or some other group that they 401 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: are in fact mentally unstable, they are losing their mind, 402 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,399 Speaker 1: and so on. It comes from a play nineteen thirty 403 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: eight called Gaslight. In the US, it's known as Angel Street, 404 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: and it's about a woman whose husband slowly her or 405 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: gaslights her into thinking that she is losing her mind. 406 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: There are other things like a street theater. 407 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, now this is this is one that you can 408 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 2: find videos of online in a lot of places in YouTube, 409 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 2: where it will be a group of people that if 410 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 2: you're watching objectively, it feels as though it's just normal 411 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 2: activity out on a street, particularly or it doesn't have 412 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 2: to be a street, it can be just in any 413 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 2: public space. And you know, but for the person who 414 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 2: believes they're being gang stoked, everything feels inauthentic. It feels 415 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 2: like it's a bunch of theater people, theater kids putting 416 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 2: on a play. It like it's organized in some way 417 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 2: for specifically the purpose to agitate the person who's perceiving 418 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 2: it as being as stalking. 419 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: Right, And this goes into the concept of some performance art. 420 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: Some of us listening might say, well, what about things 421 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,080 Speaker 1: like improv everywhere? Yeah? Have you seen those clips? 422 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,120 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's like. 423 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: People spontaneously freeze for sixty seconds in train station where 424 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,480 Speaker 1: everybody starts in a flashmob, dancing and stuff. It's not 425 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 1: like that. That's not what people who have encountered this. 426 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: They don't feel that they're watching some NDO artsy performance. 427 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: They feel like that person's pretending to read a magazine, 428 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: pretending to be on the phone. How long is that 429 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: person going to keep, you know, looking at different pairs 430 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: of sunglasses? 431 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you know what I mean totally. And then 432 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 2: another thing here that I want to just talk about. 433 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 2: We're gonna have some examples moving forward, a little bit 434 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:58,760 Speaker 2: of personal experiences with this and or accounts. But other 435 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 2: way gang stocking takes shape sometimes is when you're driving 436 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 2: your car and there's a there's the feeling that several 437 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 2: cars around you may maybe the one in front of 438 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 2: you is slowing down to keep you going a certain speed, 439 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 2: but then there are also cars next to you, so 440 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 2: you can't change lanes to go around this person that 441 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 2: seems to be controlling you. And then maybe another car 442 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 2: will box you in from behind and prevent you from 443 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 2: really doing anything, especially if you're on a freeway. There 444 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:36,719 Speaker 2: are instances where people will believe their home is wherever 445 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 2: they wherever it is they live, and sleep is being 446 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 2: consistently surveilled by the same people that walk by the 447 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 2: house at certain Like you said, kind of at certain times, 448 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 2: or maybe wearing a very specific hat sure, or are 449 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 2: wearing the same clothes. That's kind of the way it 450 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 2: takes form. And there are a lot of reasons that 451 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 2: they're There are several categories of reasons people believe they're 452 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 2: being gang stalked. And before we get into too much 453 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 2: of that, let's just I think we should give some 454 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 2: examples of people's accounts, like personal accounts. 455 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that's probably the best way to depict this experience. 456 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: Let's look at some first hand accounts of people who 457 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: feel they have experienced gang stalking. James Crockett has a 458 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: great quote on this in his article for Medium, and 459 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: he describes it thusly. In one video, a TI takes 460 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: a GoPro that's a GoPro camera on the New York 461 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: subway and narrates his journey to try to prove the 462 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: existence of his stalkers. He notes a man in an 463 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: orange jacket who occasionally looks at him, another tall man 464 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,840 Speaker 1: who enters the train and makes eye contact with the 465 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: man in the jacket, and a lady who he thinks 466 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 1: he's giving him dirty looks whenever he looks away from her. 467 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 2: For several stops, she just stands there. He says, these 468 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 2: people really do perform a vicious act. They don't care 469 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 2: if people are driven to suicidal depression, like I almost was. 470 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,479 Speaker 2: It wasn't until after that I realized this was some 471 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 2: kind of sick game I am in. 472 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: So there's another possibility there, you know, the saying it's 473 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: a sick game. There's the idea that maybe this is 474 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:23,239 Speaker 1: a recreational activity for some people. Maybe the cause is 475 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: just to just to mess with people, you. 476 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 2: Know, perhaps, And you can also go online and see 477 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 2: videos of people with a camcorder in a public space 478 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 2: filming other people that they believe are gangstocking the person 479 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 2: with the camcorder. And we're gonna have to get into 480 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 2: that a little bit later too. But just that concept 481 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 2: of being in a public place with a camcorder aimed 482 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 2: at strangers that you don't know, I'm gonna say it's 483 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 2: likely that you are going to bring attention to yourself 484 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 2: because you're doing that. Many of us, when we're in 485 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 2: public spaces will notice if there is a camera aimed 486 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 2: at us, right, and again, it's tough to know whether 487 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 2: or not that attention is brought upon by the actions 488 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 2: of the filmer or if it's I mean, it feels 489 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 2: that way to me, but it's not conclusive, so we'll 490 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 2: get into that a little bit later too. There's also 491 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 2: a Vice short documentary that was created in twenty seventeen 492 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 2: called The Nightmare World of gang Stocking. It's a video 493 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 2: that's available on YouTube right now, and there are several 494 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 2: people in it who describe their experiences. So let's first 495 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 2: turn to Billy Bee, who is a makeup artist and 496 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 2: a self described gang stoking victim, and in his particular account, 497 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:51,400 Speaker 2: he believes he's a victim of culture stalking, which is 498 00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 2: kind of an offshoot of gang stocking functions in the 499 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 2: same way, the reasons that he's being stalked are a 500 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 2: little bit altered. So in this case, he is a 501 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 2: man who identifies as homosexual, who is living in a 502 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 2: very let's say, conservative area, and he believes there's some 503 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 2: conservative Christian group that is in an organized way stalking 504 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 2: him and doing these things like street theater that are 505 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 2: making him feel uncomfortable. Where he will be parked in 506 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 2: a fairly empty lot somewhere, and then a lot of 507 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 2: cars will pull in, and each one that pulls in 508 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 2: a heterosexual couple gets out holding hands, being all cute 509 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 2: to you, right near his car and on purpose making 510 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 2: eye contact with him or flaunting it in front of him, 511 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 2: and it would happen over and over and over and 512 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 2: over and over. So this this is the way he 513 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 2: describes it. 514 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: You're in the middle of this ridiculous, irrational impossibility that 515 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: is real and is happening, and it's stranger than fiction 516 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: or anything that you can imagine, and it's just terrifying. 517 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: It pisces you off, it frustrates you beyond anything that 518 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: you can imagine, and it changes you. 519 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,920 Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's rough to be feeling that right 520 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 2: at an individual level. 521 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: And what do we know what part of the country 522 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: this person, mister B is in. This is California, This 523 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: is California, and there's a conservative area of California which 524 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: does exist. Some people outside the state might be surprised 525 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: by that. And the question then becomes, is this a 526 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: situation where everybody in a community knows each other? You know, 527 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: like if you go to a small town, right, people 528 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: make eye contact, people wave, And if you go to 529 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 1: a small town where people don't care for outsiders or 530 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: don't care for you specifically, it becomes very clear very 531 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:54,040 Speaker 1: quickly that's is that gangstalking or is that just people 532 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,200 Speaker 1: being jerks? And people don't have to like have a 533 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 1: meeting beforehand to be jerks. They naturally take to that. 534 00:35:01,400 --> 00:35:05,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and this is gonna be a common theme here. 535 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:09,720 Speaker 2: No matter what even the truth is about what's happening, 536 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:17,480 Speaker 2: these targeted individuals believe that this is happening so wholeheartedly 537 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 2: that it's affecting them, you know, mentally and emotionally and 538 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:27,520 Speaker 2: physically sometimes, so you know, you're right on the money. 539 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,760 Speaker 2: But there have been like the way that I'm thinking 540 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 2: about these, you know, some of the statements and some 541 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 2: of the things that people are describing. So let's just 542 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,520 Speaker 2: turn to another person who was also from that Vice 543 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:46,160 Speaker 2: documentary named Richard Bruce. He he's a guy who I 544 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 2: believe was living out of his RV and he is 545 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 2: describing his where he's lived over the course of several 546 00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 2: years in different places, those like apartments and you know, 547 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 2: the car and where he's living now in the RV. 548 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:09,000 Speaker 2: All of these places were constantly surveilled by groups of 549 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:12,760 Speaker 2: people as well as by helicopters. Police helicopters that would 550 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 2: fly over all the time law enforcement vehicles that would 551 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 2: pass by his living spaces all the time. When he 552 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,319 Speaker 2: was being interviewed for this documentary, he had a small 553 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 2: device next to him and I don't know if it 554 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,240 Speaker 2: was a radio or some kind of monitor or something, 555 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:32,239 Speaker 2: but when he would begin to talk about certain subjects 556 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:34,920 Speaker 2: or in certain ways, the device would make some noise, 557 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 2: and he believed that he was being listened to by 558 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 2: electronic surveillance, and specifically when he would bring up certain topics, 559 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 2: that's when they were like recording or you know, established 560 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 2: the connection or something like this. 561 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 1: And he does a fantastic job, at least in this 562 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:56,880 Speaker 1: quotation or in this interview, showing metacognition right thinking about thinking. 563 00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 1: He's self aware, and he understands how this may to 564 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,640 Speaker 1: someone hearing about this for the first time. He understands 565 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:08,000 Speaker 1: how this may sound a little bit off kilter. 566 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, he says, it's confusing to humans trying to understand 567 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,640 Speaker 2: gang stalking. Why would they do this to me? Why 568 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:18,399 Speaker 2: would they do these weird, petty little things that may 569 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 2: even just irritate me at some moment. This happens to 570 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 2: you enough, believe me, you will feel stress. You will 571 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 2: get that feeling of helplessness. This is not just like 572 00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 2: a gang of random people just doing this. This is procedural. 573 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,400 Speaker 2: If you were to ask me what gang stalking is, 574 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:40,400 Speaker 2: it's a way to slowly kill people using their own decisions. 575 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,239 Speaker 1: Which is fascinating, right, And from that interview, I think 576 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:47,960 Speaker 1: we can all feel the as if we're looking through 577 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:52,320 Speaker 1: a window into the hopelessness and the terror and anxiety 578 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: of this person's life. If you want to read more 579 00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:00,799 Speaker 1: of these personal accounts, which again are anecdotal and are 580 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:05,839 Speaker 1: not you know, they don't contribute to a quantitative study 581 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: of any sort. But if you would like to read 582 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,840 Speaker 1: these first hand accounts, again without us being able to 583 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:17,799 Speaker 1: vouch for their veracity, we recommend heading toward reddit dot 584 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,720 Speaker 1: com are gang stalking reddit dot com slash are slash 585 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:25,360 Speaker 1: gang stalking all one word speaking words. We're going to 586 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:28,439 Speaker 1: pause for one from our sponsor, and when we come back, 587 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,560 Speaker 1: we're going to address the elephant in the room motive. 588 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: We have returned. We hope that if you're listening to 589 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,279 Speaker 1: this show while you're in a public space, you are 590 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:50,920 Speaker 1: not getting increasingly weirded out. But there's a big problem 591 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: they will see with a lot of these, Well, problem 592 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: isn't the most accurate word. There is a big question 593 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 1: that remains unasked, and a lot of these firsthand reports 594 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: and a lot of the literature you will see about 595 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:12,040 Speaker 1: the concept of gang stalking, it is this why why 596 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,799 Speaker 1: would you do that? Right? Would you do it for 597 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:22,880 Speaker 1: just pure evil twisted recreation? You know? Is this a 598 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:27,400 Speaker 1: situation where Mission Control, Matt, you and I get together 599 00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:29,439 Speaker 1: and we say, hey, you know, the four or five 600 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,640 Speaker 1: of us should just just find someone on Facebook who 601 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 1: lives in our town and you know, just stalk them. Yeah, 602 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: I just poke the bear, right, We're so tired of 603 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:43,399 Speaker 1: playing board games. Let's let's do something different with their friendship. Yes, 604 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 1: which may have happened, but that doesn't seem like it 605 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,239 Speaker 1: would be the normal thing for people to do, not 606 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:55,360 Speaker 1: because people are inherently so great or noble, just because 607 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 1: it feels like a lot of work for a lot 608 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:00,200 Speaker 1: of people unless they're getting something out of it. So 609 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:05,040 Speaker 1: another question, or another possible motive that we see cited 610 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:08,920 Speaker 1: a lot pretty often by people who believe they are 611 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 1: being gang stalked is the idea that these activities are 612 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:17,719 Speaker 1: occurring at the behest of the US intelligence community. And 613 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: this again goes to a lot of US reports. So 614 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,440 Speaker 1: there's a site called fight gang stalking dot com and 615 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,919 Speaker 1: according to you can tell from the title that to them, 616 00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:33,600 Speaker 1: this is a legitimate, real phenomenon. And according to fight 617 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,720 Speaker 1: gang stalking dot com, gang stalking is quote most likely 618 00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:42,400 Speaker 1: a disinformation term created by US intelligence agencies. It refers 619 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,960 Speaker 1: to the intense, long term, unconstitutional surveillance and harassment of 620 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: a person who has been designated as a target by 621 00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,960 Speaker 1: someone associated with America's security industry WHOA. 622 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 2: And it goes on to say, quote, the goal of 623 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,279 Speaker 2: such operations, in the parlance of counterintel telligence agents, is 624 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:04,680 Speaker 2: disruption of the life of an individual deemed to be 625 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 2: an enemy or potential enemy of clients or members of 626 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,640 Speaker 2: the security state. Arguably the most accurate term for this 627 00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:15,080 Speaker 2: form of harassment would be counter intelligence stalking. 628 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: So there's a problem here, though. The problem is this 629 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:23,560 Speaker 1: the tis or targeted individuals are rarely unified in what 630 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:28,720 Speaker 1: exactly caused them to be stalked. While it is absolutely, 631 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:33,439 Speaker 1: inarguably true that extensive and illegal surveillance has been used 632 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,600 Speaker 1: by past and current governments should not be a surprise 633 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: to anybody, there's relatively little follow up reporting in these 634 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 1: gang stalking stories, and there's relatively little coherent explanation for 635 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: why these people would be driven to fearful actions or 636 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:56,440 Speaker 1: to mental instability, or at the worst, to self harm. 637 00:41:56,719 --> 00:42:00,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, well you have to apply the motive problem then 638 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:05,000 Speaker 2: to the security state or to the intelligence agencies, right, 639 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 2: what is their motive for targeting that individual? 640 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:15,000 Speaker 1: And then this goes to the trench coat clad, fedora 641 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 1: wearing elephant in the room. Is this a genuine phenomenon 642 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:26,040 Speaker 1: occurring the way in which it's described and are the 643 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:31,680 Speaker 1: people experiencing it describing it accurately or are people some 644 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:36,440 Speaker 1: if not all, these people experiencing some kind of delusion. 645 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:41,560 Speaker 1: Not that that could be considered an offensive question, but 646 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: it shouldn't be. It's a necessary question. 647 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:46,560 Speaker 2: Absolutely. If we're going to talk about this, we have 648 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:48,080 Speaker 2: to at least think about it. 649 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:50,359 Speaker 1: So what do we have to go on? Where can 650 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 1: we look to for some answers like what even is? 651 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:56,360 Speaker 1: What do we mean when we say delusion? 652 00:42:56,480 --> 00:42:59,640 Speaker 2: Well, let's jump back to that Vice documentary Again, huge 653 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:03,520 Speaker 2: shadow out to the team member's advice that created that documentary. 654 00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:06,720 Speaker 2: It really is fantastic and there's a lot of insight 655 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,880 Speaker 2: here and things to think about to chew on philosophically. 656 00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:15,239 Speaker 2: So they interviewed a fellow named Josh Basil or Bazell. 657 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 2: He's a physician and an author, and he's discussing the 658 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:22,799 Speaker 2: psychiatric definitions of delusion, and he's saying that these tend 659 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,480 Speaker 2: to focus really on two principles. The first one is 660 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:30,279 Speaker 2: that the ideas, if you're at least if you're experiencing 661 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:36,000 Speaker 2: a delusion, the ideas that you have are not vulnerable 662 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:38,960 Speaker 2: to evidence. So if someone shows you look this thing, 663 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:41,840 Speaker 2: you believe it is not true. Because of this I 664 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:46,720 Speaker 2: have evidence, that wouldn't matter because you would still believe it. Okay. 665 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,640 Speaker 2: The other part of a delusion is that people in 666 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,680 Speaker 2: your immediate sphere of influence, perhaps the people in the 667 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:56,560 Speaker 2: culture at large, or in your town, or in the 668 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,960 Speaker 2: case of Billy b maybe the conservative neighborhood where he's 669 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:03,799 Speaker 2: move to. Those people don't share your beliefs, so they 670 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:06,440 Speaker 2: don't believe that what you believe is happening is true. 671 00:44:07,280 --> 00:44:09,719 Speaker 2: That would be one of the ways we get to 672 00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:13,920 Speaker 2: considering someone to have a delusion. Now, he goes on 673 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,840 Speaker 2: to say, the question becomes this is a full quote 674 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:19,560 Speaker 2: the question becomes, if you can find ten thousand people 675 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:21,640 Speaker 2: on the Internet who believe the same thing as you, 676 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:26,520 Speaker 2: is that then a delusion? Is it even bizarre? Quite 677 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 2: possibly not if everybody believes this stuff at least, this 678 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,920 Speaker 2: would be the question you ask yourself as you stumble 679 00:44:33,000 --> 00:44:36,279 Speaker 2: upon ten thousand other people that share your in this case, 680 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:39,719 Speaker 2: what he's calling a delusion, is it in any way insane? 681 00:44:40,239 --> 00:44:43,279 Speaker 2: And the answer would be no, because it is not delusionable. 682 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:45,640 Speaker 2: Look at all these other people who are experiencing the 683 00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:50,680 Speaker 2: same thing, and I think this is It's a fascinating 684 00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:54,359 Speaker 2: way to look at it. Because then does it get 685 00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:58,680 Speaker 2: into the realm of group delusion or is it still 686 00:44:58,719 --> 00:45:01,319 Speaker 2: on the personal level of because it is a very 687 00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:05,400 Speaker 2: personal experience. Gang stalking like the perception that I am 688 00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:10,000 Speaker 2: being gang stocked. It is not as though gang stalkers 689 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:12,920 Speaker 2: are looking at my whole neighborhood or looking at my 690 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,640 Speaker 2: whole you know, cul de sac or whatever it may be. 691 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,160 Speaker 2: It's generally a targeted thing. That's why they are called 692 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:23,239 Speaker 2: targeted individuals. I don't know, it's a tough thing. It's 693 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 2: a tough egg to crack there. 694 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:30,640 Speaker 1: For me, at least, it also goes into philosophy. Yeah, 695 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:35,680 Speaker 1: that's really what the psychologist is doing here is looking 696 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,080 Speaker 1: at the problem of perception and reality. 697 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:42,120 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, no, you're right. 698 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:48,040 Speaker 1: So that's that's a that's an egg that our species 699 00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:53,120 Speaker 1: has yet to effectively crack. We know that things can 700 00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:58,680 Speaker 1: become normalized for people at a cartoonishly quick rate. So 701 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:02,279 Speaker 1: we know that our concept of what normal is is 702 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:07,040 Speaker 1: very malleable, and we know that our species tends to 703 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:11,960 Speaker 1: look to anything we perceive as peers for confirmation of things. 704 00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:16,560 Speaker 1: And also at the weirdest times, we're very talented and 705 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:20,840 Speaker 1: big up in each other. I mean, maybe that's just 706 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,160 Speaker 1: my experience, but I've had I've had some conversations with 707 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:29,280 Speaker 1: absolute strangers that confirm some deeply held quote unquote crazy 708 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:34,400 Speaker 1: things that I believe. You know, and having someone else, 709 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:37,680 Speaker 1: whether you meet them in person or whether they're just 710 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:42,920 Speaker 1: a block of text that you can assume is a 711 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:47,320 Speaker 1: person talking back to and confirming your beliefs. Having somebody 712 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,520 Speaker 1: else say that is a light in the darkness for 713 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:51,640 Speaker 1: a lot of people, you know what I mean. And 714 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,600 Speaker 1: that's a huge that's a huge thing. That's a trope 715 00:46:54,640 --> 00:46:59,759 Speaker 1: in fiction, that's a common experience in individual reality to 716 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:03,480 Speaker 1: have someone else say something to you that lets you 717 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:06,440 Speaker 1: know I'm not the only one. We do that in 718 00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:12,680 Speaker 1: the smallest, like the smallest, most seemingly insignificant situations, you know, 719 00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:15,799 Speaker 1: like let's say you and I and Paul are like 720 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,480 Speaker 1: recording in a studio, Matt, and then all of a sudden, 721 00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:21,880 Speaker 1: there's this weird you know, where'd you come from? Where'd 722 00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:24,920 Speaker 1: you go? Where did you come from? Cotton Eye Joe. 723 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:28,520 Speaker 1: We look around and we check even thow and we're 724 00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:35,200 Speaker 1: a relatively sane mental stuff arguably, but even we still check, like, Hey, 725 00:47:35,239 --> 00:47:39,000 Speaker 1: does anybody here cotton eye Joe? Or is this finally 726 00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:43,080 Speaker 1: that psychotic break that we all knew was coming? This? 727 00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:45,359 Speaker 1: And I don't want to get too far off topic there, 728 00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:50,760 Speaker 1: but I can see the power of that, certainly, and 729 00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,080 Speaker 1: it's reinforcement all. 730 00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:53,480 Speaker 2: The way, right. 731 00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:57,799 Speaker 1: And then there's also set and setting, which I think 732 00:47:57,880 --> 00:47:59,560 Speaker 1: continues in the quotation. 733 00:47:59,760 --> 00:48:04,040 Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, And just before we jump into that bed, 734 00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:09,080 Speaker 2: I want to talk about a concept of hypervigilance, and 735 00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:13,080 Speaker 2: it's something that Josh brings up in that documentary, and 736 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:20,399 Speaker 2: it's the concept that for our own self preservation, if 737 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:25,160 Speaker 2: we are experiencing something or we believe we are experiencing something, 738 00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:29,239 Speaker 2: we err on the side of safety for ourselves, for 739 00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:33,680 Speaker 2: our personal safety, rather than on whatever the social morase 740 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:37,560 Speaker 2: would be, whatever the standard actions to take would be 741 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:41,319 Speaker 2: for someone. And it all occurs when there's a perceived 742 00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:44,120 Speaker 2: connection that may or may not be there. So we're 743 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:49,640 Speaker 2: talking about seeing somebody walk by and then seeing that 744 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:56,520 Speaker 2: person maybe walk by again. The hypervigilance within a lot 745 00:48:56,520 --> 00:49:00,960 Speaker 2: of people experiencing this would be, oh, that person may want, 746 00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:03,279 Speaker 2: you know, maybe a part of this thing that I'm 747 00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:07,440 Speaker 2: already feeling or already believe I'm experiencing, rather than perhaps 748 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:11,080 Speaker 2: that person went to go get you know, something down 749 00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:13,279 Speaker 2: the street and then you didn't see them walk by, 750 00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:15,239 Speaker 2: and now they're going back down again, or you know, 751 00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:19,319 Speaker 2: something to that effect. But ultimately, what this is or 752 00:49:19,360 --> 00:49:24,960 Speaker 2: what that means is that people experiencing this are going 753 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,200 Speaker 2: to be more hyper aware of things like that because 754 00:49:27,239 --> 00:49:30,920 Speaker 2: they are so worried about their own safety already because 755 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,560 Speaker 2: of the anxieties that are brought up by feeling this way. 756 00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:38,560 Speaker 2: It's almost like it just builds on itself. So then 757 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:41,640 Speaker 2: Josh goes on to talk about how there are real 758 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:48,440 Speaker 2: world instances of surveillance, either targeted or mass surveillance, that 759 00:49:49,280 --> 00:49:52,799 Speaker 2: maybe we should be worried about that are They are 760 00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:55,680 Speaker 2: very much real, They've been proven, they exist around us 761 00:49:55,760 --> 00:50:00,000 Speaker 2: every day. And I'll just read this quick quote from you, 762 00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:03,839 Speaker 2: he says, because this reminds me of stuff they want 763 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:05,680 Speaker 2: you to know. He says, given that the world is 764 00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:08,920 Speaker 2: filled with groups of people operating in secret or trying 765 00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,719 Speaker 2: to to divorce us from our money, our power, or 766 00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:14,000 Speaker 2: whatever they want from us, one thing that might be 767 00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:16,680 Speaker 2: helpful to ask from a psychiatric point of view is 768 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:19,520 Speaker 2: what's wrong with the rest of us? Why am I 769 00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,520 Speaker 2: so relaxed? What's wrong with me? Why don't I feel 770 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,320 Speaker 2: like I'm being gang stocked? Is it that I'm living 771 00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:27,799 Speaker 2: in the matrix where in order to feel more comfortable, 772 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:30,080 Speaker 2: I've decided to ignore a lot of the evils in 773 00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:32,360 Speaker 2: the world and a lot of the potential threats to me. 774 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,360 Speaker 2: And there he's referencing the NSA's mass surveillance of citizens 775 00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:42,319 Speaker 2: within the United States. He's referencing other countries such as 776 00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:45,200 Speaker 2: the UK and England over there where you know, they're 777 00:50:45,200 --> 00:50:49,280 Speaker 2: the most CCTV cameras per capita anywhere on the planets. 778 00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:55,279 Speaker 2: He's mentioning that this stuff is very real, and why 779 00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:57,640 Speaker 2: aren't more of us worried about that kind of thing? 780 00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:03,680 Speaker 2: If you apply more general sense, what these people who 781 00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:08,920 Speaker 2: believe they're targeted of individuals are feeling to on a 782 00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:10,160 Speaker 2: mass level, let's say that. 783 00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:18,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, So let's spend just a second on that concept, 784 00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:23,040 Speaker 1: because it's the other side of that coin, right, It's 785 00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:26,560 Speaker 1: the other side of the argument. If you feel like 786 00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:28,640 Speaker 1: you are being gang stocked, and then you go somewhere 787 00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:30,680 Speaker 1: and you find ten thousand other people to say, yes, 788 00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:34,319 Speaker 1: it's true, then how are you supposed to feel if 789 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:36,839 Speaker 1: you don't believe you're being gang stalked, and then you're 790 00:51:36,880 --> 00:51:39,880 Speaker 1: surrounded by people who are saying, yeah, no, it's true. 791 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,680 Speaker 1: It's they're out for all of us. Why are you 792 00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:44,960 Speaker 1: so chill? What is wrong with you? 793 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:45,319 Speaker 2: Yeah? 794 00:51:45,800 --> 00:51:51,480 Speaker 1: It's an interesting question because it hits on that It 795 00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:55,080 Speaker 1: hits on that need for consensus that is just baked 796 00:51:55,080 --> 00:51:58,279 Speaker 1: into every human mind. I want to go back to 797 00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:01,960 Speaker 1: the concept of hypervigilant because it's another concept that is 798 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,720 Speaker 1: baked into the human mind, and that is a pattern 799 00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:11,439 Speaker 1: must exist. Yes, and so much so many of our 800 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:17,840 Speaker 1: even relatively mundane activities, especially our observations, there's this little 801 00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:20,239 Speaker 1: voice in her head. May not be able to hear 802 00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:22,120 Speaker 1: it all the time because it's tough for us to 803 00:52:22,160 --> 00:52:24,520 Speaker 1: listen to ourselves, but the little voice in your head 804 00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:30,120 Speaker 1: is always going A pattern must exist, A pattern must exist, right, 805 00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:35,359 Speaker 1: and this is a crucial skill. We have to have 806 00:52:35,440 --> 00:52:38,279 Speaker 1: it to survive in the world. Ever since we were 807 00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,760 Speaker 1: not the Apex predator and we were running around trying 808 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,680 Speaker 1: to figure out what our A to b's and if 809 00:52:44,719 --> 00:52:47,279 Speaker 1: then's were that would keep us alive for the next day. 810 00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:52,960 Speaker 1: So arguably hypervigilance is just a reflection of that, or 811 00:52:53,239 --> 00:52:57,560 Speaker 1: just an extension of that much needed survival skill. Now, 812 00:52:57,640 --> 00:53:01,719 Speaker 1: if it sounds like we're poking whole in the experience 813 00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:07,880 Speaker 1: of gang stalking, that's because we are asking important questions 814 00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:11,920 Speaker 1: that haven't been answered. It's not necessarily uniform motive. There's 815 00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:15,520 Speaker 1: not necessarily a lot of follow up. Right. There aren't 816 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:19,800 Speaker 1: very many good stats on the phenomenon known as gang stalking. 817 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:24,840 Speaker 1: But speaking of the other side of the coin, there 818 00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,959 Speaker 1: are things that are like it that are proven. The 819 00:53:29,040 --> 00:53:33,640 Speaker 1: reality of government in corporate surveillance. According to the ACLU, 820 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:38,759 Speaker 1: privacy today faces growing threats from a growing surveillance apparatus. 821 00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:41,920 Speaker 1: It's often justified in the name of one of our 822 00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:47,040 Speaker 1: favorite boogeymen, national security. You can do it in a 823 00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:52,040 Speaker 1: spooky voice. A ton of government agencies I'm paraphrasing. Now, 824 00:53:52,080 --> 00:53:54,839 Speaker 1: they didn't say a ton a ton of government agencies 825 00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:59,160 Speaker 1: from like the NSA, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, 826 00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,560 Speaker 1: and so on, along with state and local law enforcement, 827 00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:06,200 Speaker 1: intrude on the private communication of innocent citizens, and they 828 00:54:06,440 --> 00:54:10,840 Speaker 1: amass great databases of who we talk to or interact 829 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:14,879 Speaker 1: with and when we do, and then catalogs suspicious activities 830 00:54:14,920 --> 00:54:18,520 Speaker 1: based on very very vague standards. We've talked already about 831 00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:23,000 Speaker 1: big data. We've talked about the strange what's that? What's 832 00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:27,000 Speaker 1: that game? People who like celebrities play six six Degrees 833 00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:33,359 Speaker 1: of Kevin Bacon. Yes, that's that's how Uncle Sam traces 834 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:39,360 Speaker 1: terrorist activities. Yeah, you know, associates, right known associates, which 835 00:54:39,400 --> 00:54:44,040 Speaker 1: extends further and further out. Similar to the DPRK's policy 836 00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:48,879 Speaker 1: of intergenerational punishment. Oh boy, except now you're it's now 837 00:54:48,960 --> 00:54:51,359 Speaker 1: the laws don't apply to you the same way. If 838 00:54:51,400 --> 00:54:55,120 Speaker 1: a guy you knew in college met somebody and became 839 00:54:55,160 --> 00:54:57,440 Speaker 1: Facebook friends with them and then they later tried to 840 00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:01,240 Speaker 1: join isis you know what I mean? And the argument 841 00:55:01,280 --> 00:55:06,480 Speaker 1: there is that that is that hoover vacuum approach to 842 00:55:06,600 --> 00:55:10,520 Speaker 1: data and personal information is the best way to prevent 843 00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:15,440 Speaker 1: a future catastrophe, and that is I mean, that argument 844 00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:20,240 Speaker 1: does have some sand, but it also it's tough to prove. 845 00:55:22,239 --> 00:55:25,520 Speaker 1: It's like the old time travel problem. Like you if 846 00:55:25,560 --> 00:55:30,120 Speaker 1: you went back in time and you killed Hitler when 847 00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:31,360 Speaker 1: Hitler was a kid. 848 00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:33,000 Speaker 2: Or something, Yeah, I remember doing that. 849 00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:37,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, no one, No one would know that. No one 850 00:55:37,600 --> 00:55:40,080 Speaker 1: would know that you prevented him from playing a part 851 00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,640 Speaker 1: in World War two because no one would know about 852 00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:45,480 Speaker 1: World War two. You would have killed a child as 853 00:55:45,480 --> 00:55:48,239 Speaker 1: far as everyone was concerned, So you have committed a 854 00:55:48,239 --> 00:55:52,200 Speaker 1: great sin. We can't prove to people. It's hard to 855 00:55:52,239 --> 00:55:56,479 Speaker 1: prove to people that we prevented something from happening when 856 00:55:57,239 --> 00:56:01,920 Speaker 1: we do it in such a way that it never happened. WHOA, 857 00:56:02,080 --> 00:56:06,879 Speaker 1: I know. Sorry, it's virgin into philosophy, but it's it's 858 00:56:06,920 --> 00:56:09,520 Speaker 1: an argument that we hear pretty often, and it's a 859 00:56:09,520 --> 00:56:14,080 Speaker 1: fascinating argument. But the truth is, these standards are very vague, 860 00:56:14,120 --> 00:56:16,880 Speaker 1: and we know that surveillance has been abused in the past. 861 00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:21,960 Speaker 1: Co intel was is real, right, It certainly was. It 862 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:24,800 Speaker 1: certainly was. Let's put that is in parentheses with a 863 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:29,239 Speaker 1: question mark. Multiple government agencies have in the past monitored 864 00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:34,240 Speaker 1: and harassed civilians, even those not suspected of committing a crime. 865 00:56:34,600 --> 00:56:36,880 Speaker 1: We just don't like what this person is doing to 866 00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:39,799 Speaker 1: the status quote, we don't like what they're protesting. Let's 867 00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:40,799 Speaker 1: keep an eye on them. 868 00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:44,239 Speaker 2: We don't like the potential movement of society of this 869 00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:46,600 Speaker 2: person is let to be successful. 870 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:51,239 Speaker 1: Right exactly. And today's episode has been, you know, necessarily 871 00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:55,239 Speaker 1: US centric because these we were able to find some 872 00:56:55,280 --> 00:56:59,240 Speaker 1: of the best stats on, you know, on orthodox stalking, 873 00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:02,200 Speaker 1: and then we were able to find a lot of 874 00:57:02,280 --> 00:57:05,840 Speaker 1: information on gang stalking. But this is by no means 875 00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:09,880 Speaker 1: a phenomenon solely reported in the US. The United Kingdom 876 00:57:10,040 --> 00:57:12,520 Speaker 1: has a fair share of people who believe they are 877 00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:16,880 Speaker 1: being gang stalked or they are targeted individuals. And additionally, 878 00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:24,120 Speaker 1: it is absolutely true, absolutely irrefutably true, that other repressive 879 00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:27,840 Speaker 1: governments do have stuff like this happening. They have secret police, 880 00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:34,439 Speaker 1: there's security agents. You're a journalist in a particularly oppressive country, yeah, 881 00:57:34,480 --> 00:57:38,120 Speaker 1: you're gonna be followed. You might. I mean it's not 882 00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:41,560 Speaker 1: It might for you and them. It might not even 883 00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:44,360 Speaker 1: be surreptitious. You might land at the airport they do 884 00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:46,640 Speaker 1: allow you in, and they say, okay, you're gonna hang 885 00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:50,200 Speaker 1: with these two people the entirety, and they're gonna drive. 886 00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:51,080 Speaker 2: It's for your safety. 887 00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:55,440 Speaker 1: It's for your safety and for our national security. This 888 00:57:55,480 --> 00:58:00,640 Speaker 1: also applies to opposition politicians, activist right, somebody fight for 889 00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:05,240 Speaker 1: a particular type of human rights that the government would 890 00:58:05,320 --> 00:58:09,680 Speaker 1: rather not have members of non state approved religions like 891 00:58:09,880 --> 00:58:11,600 Speaker 1: this stuff happens. 892 00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:14,360 Speaker 2: You know, I don't want to pile on here as though, like, 893 00:58:14,440 --> 00:58:17,360 Speaker 2: oh this is all real. There's so much oppression to 894 00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:20,840 Speaker 2: our privacy and our security, but you know, we willingly 895 00:58:20,960 --> 00:58:24,880 Speaker 2: let this stuff, especially the corporate kind nowadays, directly into 896 00:58:24,920 --> 00:58:27,480 Speaker 2: our home. We have whole episodes on this about the 897 00:58:27,560 --> 00:58:31,480 Speaker 2: smart assistant that maybe you're listening to this through. Maybe 898 00:58:31,760 --> 00:58:34,680 Speaker 2: it's just a couple of the apps within your phone 899 00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:38,000 Speaker 2: where you store all your email, but it's a company, 900 00:58:38,120 --> 00:58:41,840 Speaker 2: a corporation, the third party from you that is controlling 901 00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:46,000 Speaker 2: all of that stuff. The social media posts that you 902 00:58:46,040 --> 00:58:48,440 Speaker 2: make every day of where you are and what you're doing, 903 00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:51,880 Speaker 2: and the you know, think about that, like establishing patterns. 904 00:58:52,200 --> 00:58:55,360 Speaker 2: We're doing that every day. That's what we do, and 905 00:58:55,400 --> 00:58:57,520 Speaker 2: we just let it out into the world, not only 906 00:58:57,600 --> 00:59:01,400 Speaker 2: for the corporation but for anybody else who cares to 907 00:59:01,720 --> 00:59:05,080 Speaker 2: watch or listen. And it also doesn't help, by the way, 908 00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:09,000 Speaker 2: that there are commercial applications out there that will do 909 00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:11,720 Speaker 2: the things that people are the most terrified about. Ooh, 910 00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:15,360 Speaker 2: do tell like a what's it called m spy and 911 00:59:15,480 --> 00:59:18,320 Speaker 2: flexy spy or two. There's just two of them. But 912 00:59:18,360 --> 00:59:22,000 Speaker 2: these are two available things applications that can be added 913 00:59:22,040 --> 00:59:24,880 Speaker 2: on to your device, whatever it is. And one of 914 00:59:24,920 --> 00:59:27,680 Speaker 2: them only takes a few minutes. Another one takes about 915 00:59:27,680 --> 00:59:30,960 Speaker 2: an hour to fully install. Because you have some of them, 916 00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:33,360 Speaker 2: you have to like jail break phone or whatever your 917 00:59:33,360 --> 00:59:36,120 Speaker 2: device is it. Yeah, but if some of them you 918 00:59:36,160 --> 00:59:39,200 Speaker 2: can just if let's just say I was able to 919 00:59:39,200 --> 00:59:41,920 Speaker 2: get hold of Paul's phone for a few minutes while 920 00:59:41,960 --> 00:59:43,800 Speaker 2: he went to the bathroom or something. 921 00:59:43,680 --> 00:59:46,160 Speaker 1: And you were able to get past the security code. 922 00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:50,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but specifically in people who are worried about stalking, 923 00:59:50,080 --> 00:59:52,520 Speaker 2: if you're talking about your significant other or someone who 924 00:59:52,560 --> 00:59:55,160 Speaker 2: maybe does know the codes to your phone or something, 925 00:59:56,880 --> 00:59:59,600 Speaker 2: it can be installed like that. Then you can access 926 00:59:59,640 --> 01:00:02,960 Speaker 2: their email, their texts, there, insta feed there, you know, 927 01:00:02,960 --> 01:00:06,000 Speaker 2: blah blah blah blah blah. Whatever it is. It's terrifying 928 01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:09,360 Speaker 2: that that's out there. Don't let people touch your phone, man, 929 01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:10,280 Speaker 2: I mean that's the. 930 01:00:10,320 --> 01:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Rule, yes, and it's it's all true, and it can 931 01:00:14,920 --> 01:00:19,320 Speaker 1: easily be abused. There's another thing. We just had it 932 01:00:19,400 --> 01:00:21,040 Speaker 1: in the notes as. 933 01:00:22,360 --> 01:00:25,000 Speaker 2: Oh oh and one more thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 934 01:00:25,080 --> 01:00:29,040 Speaker 1: You didn't want to spoil the surprise. So this sounds 935 01:00:29,080 --> 01:00:32,480 Speaker 1: pretty sci fi. I don't want to hear whether anyone 936 01:00:32,480 --> 01:00:34,880 Speaker 1: else has heard of this, but a lot of people 937 01:00:34,920 --> 01:00:36,400 Speaker 1: own smart TVs right now. 938 01:00:36,320 --> 01:00:38,680 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, you may not even be aware that it's 939 01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:39,360 Speaker 2: a smart. 940 01:00:39,120 --> 01:00:43,000 Speaker 1: TV, right, Maybe a smart TV playing dumb and you 941 01:00:43,000 --> 01:00:45,480 Speaker 1: can tie your phone or you can you know, pair 942 01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:48,520 Speaker 1: your phone to the television and things of that nature. 943 01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:53,520 Speaker 1: It turns out that the technology exists such that a 944 01:00:53,880 --> 01:00:57,440 Speaker 1: smart TV. There's certain types of TVs when they are 945 01:00:57,480 --> 01:01:02,480 Speaker 1: playing commercials, will send an audio signal out. It's not 946 01:01:02,520 --> 01:01:05,120 Speaker 1: an audio signal you can hear. If you have pets, 947 01:01:05,160 --> 01:01:07,880 Speaker 1: good for you, they probably can't hear it either, but 948 01:01:08,040 --> 01:01:14,320 Speaker 1: your smart devices can. And through this, through this relay 949 01:01:14,360 --> 01:01:16,640 Speaker 1: this ping. You know. Of course, one of the big 950 01:01:16,680 --> 01:01:20,840 Speaker 1: gets is that advertisers know someone's in the room when 951 01:01:20,840 --> 01:01:23,160 Speaker 1: the ad is playing. And that's big. Someone's actually seen 952 01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:23,440 Speaker 1: the thing. 953 01:01:23,480 --> 01:01:25,600 Speaker 2: They can prove it, or maybe even how many. 954 01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:30,800 Speaker 1: And maybe even who. So the data is, you know, 955 01:01:31,160 --> 01:01:38,240 Speaker 1: anonymized or whatever. But this this means that for people 956 01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:43,120 Speaker 1: who are dismissing the idea of gang stocking, don't dismiss 957 01:01:43,160 --> 01:01:48,280 Speaker 1: the idea of surveillance that you cannot perceive. It's there, 958 01:01:48,720 --> 01:01:54,320 Speaker 1: it's real, you know, there are It's not like there's 959 01:01:54,400 --> 01:01:58,280 Speaker 1: one shadowy cabal that knows a ton of stuff about 960 01:01:58,320 --> 01:02:00,840 Speaker 1: you that you thought was secret. And it's not like 961 01:02:00,920 --> 01:02:04,200 Speaker 1: you're doing anything bad. It's more like there are a 962 01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:07,280 Speaker 1: bunch of people who are trying to figure out how 963 01:02:07,360 --> 01:02:10,520 Speaker 1: best to predict your behavior in such a way that 964 01:02:10,560 --> 01:02:14,320 Speaker 1: they can monetize your behavior or at the very sith 965 01:02:14,440 --> 01:02:18,360 Speaker 1: end of the spectrum, push you to make decisions that 966 01:02:18,400 --> 01:02:21,960 Speaker 1: you might not have ordinarily made. That's real. That's not 967 01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:25,440 Speaker 1: a theory. Instead of a theory, it's a huge business. 968 01:02:25,840 --> 01:02:28,040 Speaker 1: If you'd If you'd like to learn more about some 969 01:02:28,120 --> 01:02:31,680 Speaker 1: of this, check out article in New York Times, How 970 01:02:31,680 --> 01:02:34,400 Speaker 1: Smart TVs and millions of US homes track more than 971 01:02:34,440 --> 01:02:38,439 Speaker 1: what's on tonight. That's just an opening to the rabbit hole, 972 01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:41,000 Speaker 1: and then burrow in and tell us what you think. 973 01:02:41,600 --> 01:02:44,760 Speaker 1: And speaking of what you think. Got to say this 974 01:02:44,840 --> 01:02:47,040 Speaker 1: leads us some of the key issues with the concept 975 01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:52,240 Speaker 1: of gang stalking. Number One, Government surveillance, at least here 976 01:02:52,440 --> 01:02:56,440 Speaker 1: in the US is typically intended to be invisible. That 977 01:02:56,480 --> 01:03:00,400 Speaker 1: does not apply to every other country. I don't know 978 01:03:00,440 --> 01:03:03,280 Speaker 1: whether it's still the case somebody mainland China tell me, 979 01:03:03,360 --> 01:03:06,440 Speaker 1: but for a long time, if you were using the 980 01:03:06,520 --> 01:03:10,040 Speaker 1: Internet like you're in an Internet cafe in China when 981 01:03:10,080 --> 01:03:12,880 Speaker 1: we talked about this on previous episode, every so often 982 01:03:13,080 --> 01:03:16,480 Speaker 1: there will be a cute little cartoon police officer that 983 01:03:16,560 --> 01:03:18,960 Speaker 1: comes on just to let you know that the government 984 01:03:19,040 --> 01:03:21,680 Speaker 1: is monitoring your Internet usage for your safety, to keep 985 01:03:21,720 --> 01:03:26,200 Speaker 1: you safe, you know, national security, et cetera. The concept 986 01:03:26,240 --> 01:03:30,480 Speaker 1: of gag stalking argues that targeted individuals are very much 987 01:03:30,520 --> 01:03:34,360 Speaker 1: aware of the situation and being and having your target 988 01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:38,800 Speaker 1: be very much aware of the situation in normal stalking 989 01:03:38,920 --> 01:03:42,760 Speaker 1: surveillance stuff or in normal surveillance at least, renders that 990 01:03:42,760 --> 01:03:46,760 Speaker 1: surveillance ineffective because it changes the behavior of a target, 991 01:03:47,200 --> 01:03:50,640 Speaker 1: you know, like how observing things can change their behavior. 992 01:03:51,720 --> 01:03:55,840 Speaker 1: So wait, we might rightly say, isn't the point of 993 01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:58,600 Speaker 1: this not to observe someone and gather info, but to 994 01:03:58,680 --> 01:04:02,480 Speaker 1: interfere with their sanity, waging psyops to gaslight them and 995 01:04:02,520 --> 01:04:05,880 Speaker 1: maybe even drive them to suicide. Sure, but there's a 996 01:04:05,920 --> 01:04:07,120 Speaker 1: problem with that claim too. 997 01:04:08,160 --> 01:04:13,760 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we know we have proof that the government, 998 01:04:13,800 --> 01:04:16,880 Speaker 2: at least in this country, and intelligence agencies that are 999 01:04:16,960 --> 01:04:20,000 Speaker 2: just arms of that government, have at least in the past, 1000 01:04:20,480 --> 01:04:23,440 Speaker 2: done a lot more than gang stocking to terrify and 1001 01:04:23,520 --> 01:04:27,560 Speaker 2: seek vengeance against people that they perceive at least as threats. 1002 01:04:28,080 --> 01:04:30,000 Speaker 2: We know that for sure. So I mean we have 1003 01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:32,600 Speaker 2: to ask ourselves, like, why would a government agency with 1004 01:04:32,720 --> 01:04:39,760 Speaker 2: the ability to literally disappear somebody it's happened before, it's happening, 1005 01:04:40,280 --> 01:04:43,200 Speaker 2: I don't know if it is. It's probably happening now 1006 01:04:43,320 --> 01:04:46,640 Speaker 2: or next week, at least could it could happen. Why 1007 01:04:46,680 --> 01:04:51,720 Speaker 2: would they bother to just annoy somebody? Why would they 1008 01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:56,240 Speaker 2: do this kind of strategy that is so long term, 1009 01:04:56,320 --> 01:05:00,000 Speaker 2: with so many resources, as you said earlier, that would 1010 01:05:00,080 --> 01:05:03,760 Speaker 2: be required to do it to a target like some 1011 01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:05,880 Speaker 2: of the people who believe they're being targeted. 1012 01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:10,960 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, if you can just grab a mouse and 1013 01:05:11,040 --> 01:05:13,800 Speaker 1: snap its neck, why would you play a game of 1014 01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:17,720 Speaker 1: mouse trap? Why would you have this Rube Goldberg esque thing. 1015 01:05:18,480 --> 01:05:21,960 Speaker 1: It could be. I'd heard some people say it is 1016 01:05:22,560 --> 01:05:27,120 Speaker 1: psychological experiment, similar to some of that MK ultra stuff. 1017 01:05:27,720 --> 01:05:32,080 Speaker 1: But still it's something that we would have to explain. 1018 01:05:32,240 --> 01:05:34,360 Speaker 1: It's a question you have to answer. If you think 1019 01:05:34,360 --> 01:05:41,040 Speaker 1: state supported intelligence agencies are just lightly in person stalking 1020 01:05:41,080 --> 01:05:44,440 Speaker 1: someone in a way that is meant for that person 1021 01:05:44,480 --> 01:05:47,960 Speaker 1: to be aware of, That's that's tough. It's tough to 1022 01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:48,400 Speaker 1: answer that. 1023 01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:53,400 Speaker 2: Now. No, look before we completely discount gangstocking, maybe you 1024 01:05:53,440 --> 01:05:56,040 Speaker 2: are feeling that way as we're you know, talking about 1025 01:05:56,080 --> 01:05:58,960 Speaker 2: all of this, which we are not saying that. So 1026 01:05:59,120 --> 01:06:02,280 Speaker 2: if you if that's you're feeling right now, just remember 1027 01:06:02,640 --> 01:06:06,360 Speaker 2: that if you or someone else truly wants to reach 1028 01:06:06,480 --> 01:06:10,960 Speaker 2: someone that believes they are being gang stoked, and you know, 1029 01:06:11,160 --> 01:06:13,920 Speaker 2: even if you if it's your intention is to tell them, look, 1030 01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:17,120 Speaker 2: it's okay, it's not real, or something like that, the 1031 01:06:17,960 --> 01:06:20,960 Speaker 2: one of the worst things you can do is make 1032 01:06:21,040 --> 01:06:23,640 Speaker 2: someone to feel as though they are crazy. 1033 01:06:24,080 --> 01:06:25,840 Speaker 1: Right, It's very unproductive. 1034 01:06:26,000 --> 01:06:30,960 Speaker 2: Absolutely, so I would say an avenue, you know, and 1035 01:06:31,120 --> 01:06:33,640 Speaker 2: this is actually stated in the Vice documentary that we 1036 01:06:34,120 --> 01:06:39,840 Speaker 2: keep referencing the avenue rather should be why why do 1037 01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:43,720 Speaker 2: you feel like you are worth you know, being persecuted? 1038 01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:46,640 Speaker 2: What's happened to you? What's troubling you? You know, like 1039 01:06:46,760 --> 01:06:50,080 Speaker 2: that very personal like, let's let's talk about that, Let's 1040 01:06:50,120 --> 01:06:54,880 Speaker 2: talk about those issues, let's start working through those because 1041 01:06:55,320 --> 01:07:00,600 Speaker 2: the perceived persecution, maybe from the outside perhaps is a 1042 01:07:00,680 --> 01:07:04,200 Speaker 2: factor of that other thing. Just just putting that out 1043 01:07:04,200 --> 01:07:06,560 Speaker 2: there for anybody who's extremely skeptical of this. 1044 01:07:07,120 --> 01:07:10,000 Speaker 1: And what do you think. Do you feel like you 1045 01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:14,240 Speaker 1: have encountered something like this in your own life or 1046 01:07:14,480 --> 01:07:16,960 Speaker 1: you know what, do you want to join a protest 1047 01:07:17,240 --> 01:07:21,400 Speaker 1: supporting targeted individuals? Because if you have, my good pal 1048 01:07:21,480 --> 01:07:23,720 Speaker 1: Matt has actually found one. Is that correct? 1049 01:07:23,840 --> 01:07:28,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a website called targetedjusice dot com. If you 1050 01:07:28,240 --> 01:07:31,240 Speaker 2: head over there, you can learn about the October protest. 1051 01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:34,919 Speaker 2: It's they're calling it the Targeted Protest twenty nineteen. It's 1052 01:07:34,920 --> 01:07:37,880 Speaker 2: going to run in Washington, d C. From October eighteenth 1053 01:07:37,960 --> 01:07:43,560 Speaker 2: this year until the twenty second, and it's a registration 1054 01:07:43,760 --> 01:07:46,320 Speaker 2: is thirty five dollars. If you do want to register 1055 01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:50,040 Speaker 2: and go. But but but what do you get a 1056 01:07:50,040 --> 01:07:50,720 Speaker 2: T shirt? 1057 01:07:50,960 --> 01:07:52,440 Speaker 1: You do get a T shirt. 1058 01:07:52,680 --> 01:07:53,560 Speaker 2: It's a free T shirt. 1059 01:07:53,640 --> 01:07:55,440 Speaker 1: I don't think you should call it a free T shirt. 1060 01:07:55,440 --> 01:07:58,240 Speaker 2: It's a thirty five people. It's a twenty five dollars 1061 01:07:58,280 --> 01:07:59,680 Speaker 2: T shirt with a ten dollars registration. 1062 01:07:59,840 --> 01:08:03,680 Speaker 1: It's a complementary valet. Valet is complementary if you are 1063 01:08:03,720 --> 01:08:04,720 Speaker 1: a jerk and don't tip. 1064 01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:09,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true. But anyway, it exists out there, and 1065 01:08:09,760 --> 01:08:13,000 Speaker 2: there are advocates for you. If you believe you are 1066 01:08:13,040 --> 01:08:17,040 Speaker 2: a targeted individual, you can you can find groups online 1067 01:08:17,200 --> 01:08:20,680 Speaker 2: and maybe even go to targetedusice dot com. And I'm 1068 01:08:20,720 --> 01:08:24,360 Speaker 2: fairly certain I saw several resources there and you can follow. 1069 01:08:24,479 --> 01:08:27,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, and to be clear, I'm making a cheapskate joke 1070 01:08:27,720 --> 01:08:31,880 Speaker 1: about the T shirt stuff. Registration for protests and these 1071 01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:37,000 Speaker 1: kind of organizations typically just goes to keep the organization running. 1072 01:08:37,160 --> 01:08:39,880 Speaker 2: Yes, we're wholeheartedly joking. 1073 01:08:39,920 --> 01:08:43,280 Speaker 1: It's but one thing we're serious about. Before we tell 1074 01:08:43,280 --> 01:08:45,160 Speaker 1: you all the ways to find us on the internet 1075 01:08:45,200 --> 01:08:47,439 Speaker 1: and talk to us and we hope that you engage 1076 01:08:47,439 --> 01:08:50,599 Speaker 1: in one of those platforms with us, before we get 1077 01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:52,679 Speaker 1: to that part, we have to tell you the most 1078 01:08:52,720 --> 01:08:56,559 Speaker 1: important part of this episode, the thing we absolutely one 1079 01:08:57,439 --> 01:09:02,240 Speaker 1: one hundred one percent will never joke about. If you 1080 01:09:02,360 --> 01:09:05,960 Speaker 1: believe that you are a victim of stalking, doesn't matter 1081 01:09:06,000 --> 01:09:12,320 Speaker 1: whether it's from a gang, a significant other, romantic partner, anyone. 1082 01:09:12,560 --> 01:09:16,080 Speaker 1: There are resources, there are people, there are services out 1083 01:09:16,080 --> 01:09:20,640 Speaker 1: there that will help you. You're not hopeless, you're not isolated. 1084 01:09:20,960 --> 01:09:24,479 Speaker 1: You don't have to be alone in this and a 1085 01:09:24,560 --> 01:09:25,599 Speaker 1: solution exists. 1086 01:09:25,840 --> 01:09:28,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, you can. You can check out the Stalking Prevention 1087 01:09:28,960 --> 01:09:32,519 Speaker 2: Awareness and Resource Center. There is a Victim connect line there. 1088 01:09:32,760 --> 01:09:37,519 Speaker 2: It is one eight five five four eight four two 1089 01:09:37,600 --> 01:09:41,160 Speaker 2: eight four six. You can also check out Safe Horizon. 1090 01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:43,639 Speaker 2: They also have a hotline that is available twenty four 1091 01:09:43,680 --> 01:09:46,360 Speaker 2: hours a day, seven days a week, and that number 1092 01:09:46,479 --> 01:09:51,200 Speaker 2: is one eight six six six eight nine four three 1093 01:09:51,439 --> 01:09:52,120 Speaker 2: five seven. 1094 01:09:54,240 --> 01:09:58,800 Speaker 1: And that's our classic episode for this evening. We can't 1095 01:09:58,800 --> 01:10:00,640 Speaker 1: wait to hear your thoughts, right, let us know what 1096 01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:02,400 Speaker 1: you think. You can reach you to the handle Conspiracy 1097 01:10:02,439 --> 01:10:06,600 Speaker 1: Stuff where we exist on Facebook x and YouTube on 1098 01:10:06,680 --> 01:10:08,639 Speaker 1: Instagram and TikTok or Conspiracy Stuff Show. 1099 01:10:08,680 --> 01:10:10,920 Speaker 2: If you want to call us, dial one eight three 1100 01:10:11,040 --> 01:10:16,200 Speaker 2: three STDWYTK. That's our voicemail system. You've got three minutes, 1101 01:10:16,240 --> 01:10:18,400 Speaker 2: give yourself a cool nickname and let us know if 1102 01:10:18,439 --> 01:10:20,519 Speaker 2: we can use your name and message on the air. 1103 01:10:20,840 --> 01:10:22,400 Speaker 2: If you got more to say than can fit in 1104 01:10:22,439 --> 01:10:25,240 Speaker 2: that voicemail, why not instead send us a good old 1105 01:10:25,280 --> 01:10:26,000 Speaker 2: fashioned email. 1106 01:10:26,280 --> 01:10:29,160 Speaker 1: We are the entities to read every single piece of 1107 01:10:29,200 --> 01:10:33,640 Speaker 1: correspondence we receive. Be aware, yet not afraid. Sometimes the 1108 01:10:33,720 --> 01:10:56,120 Speaker 1: void writes back conspiracy at iHeartRadio dot com. 1109 01:10:56,320 --> 01:10:58,400 Speaker 2: Stuff they don't want you to know is a production 1110 01:10:58,520 --> 01:11:03,040 Speaker 2: of iHeartRadio. 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