What is it about?
Many people assume propaganda works by spreading false facts. We argue that it works earlier and at a deeper level: it prepares people to perceive events in a certain way before they begin to reason about them. We combine two ideas from psychology. The first is that the brain is constantly predicting what comes next. The second is the “set,” a concept from the Georgian psychologist Dimitri Uznadze: an unconscious readiness to perceive and act in a particular way, which forms when a strong need meets a situation that seems to satisfy it. We show how repetition, fear, group identity and manufactured urgency build this kind of readiness, and why it then spreads to unrelated topics.
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Why is it important?
The article helps explain a familiar puzzle: why correcting false claims so often fails to change minds. Combining Uznadze’s theory of set with the predictive-processing view of the brain gives a new answer. Our needs, such as the need for safety, belonging or a clear explanation of confusing events, shape what the brain expects to see. Propaganda uses this by linking its message to those needs and repeating it until it becomes a fixed readiness. Uznadze’s classic experiments showed that such a readiness can keep distorting perception even after people are told the truth, and that it can spread from one area to others. This explains why distrust of one institution often grows into distrust of experts in general. The way out is not only more facts but reflection: helping people step back, notice how their impressions are being formed, and do this before a manipulation takes hold. These insights matter for educators, journalists, online platforms and anyone concerned about the quality of public debate.
Perspectives
Uznadze’s theory of set (Gantskoba) comes from the Georgian psychological tradition. Decades before today’s “predictive brain” theories, it already described people as meeting the world prepared to see it in particular ways. We wanted to show that this theory still has something new to say about a very current problem: how propaganda shapes our minds, and what we can do to understand, predict and resist unwanted influences on the human mind.
Dr. Lasha Khojanashvili
American University of the Middle East
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Engineered prediction: A predictive-processing and set-theoretic account (Gantskoba) of how political propaganda works., Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, October 2026, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/teo0000395.
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