Projection

They're right! You're never too old to learn new things. A term I'd never heard before now has become well known, even popular. Projection.  (Clicking on photos will enlarge them.)

Jon Parlangeli 

I don't know if this is a real psychological term but that is apparently how it's being used - as a psychological word.

The Red Glove - Jon Parlangeli

To the best of my ability and understanding "projection" means that something a person is accusing another person of doing is actually something that person, the accuser, is doing themself. (I'm using "them" to mean him/her which seems to be the new usage.) They are projecting their "deed" onto another person.

Jon Parlangeli

So if I'm driving erratically on the expressway, then I accuse others of doing that. I believe that the person, the accuser, is not necessarily aware that that is what they are doing. It's hidden from the consciousness of the accuser - maybe. The accusation is produced subconsciously. I think.

Jon Parlangeli

So if I am committing adultery. I accuse someone else of sleeping around. I believe I have that correct. If I obtain money illegally from a "lender", a foreign government, or billionaire and then hide that money somewhere, then I accuse others of doing that. If I launder drug money, then "they" are guilty instead.

Jon Parlangeli

If I'm cheating on my income taxes, I accuse someone else of hiding money from the government. If I gossip about someone or say bad things about them, then I accuse them of that same activity.

Niagara - Jon Parlangeli

If I'm spying on someone else (or hiring someone to spy on someone else), I accuse that person of spying on me. I say that they are wire tapping me or photographing me.

Jon Parlangeli

If I'm conspiring along with someone else to commit a felony, I find someone else to accuse of doing that same thing. The idea is to deflect attention away from my activity.

Lake Huron Beginning Dusk - Jon Parlangeli

If I lie, I accuse others of lying, creating fake news, for example.

Jon Parlangeli

If I conspire to hide my income in an offshore account, I point the finger at someone else who either may or may not be doing the same thing. That doesn't really matter - whether the other person is actually doing it.

Jon Parlangeli

If I hide conversations, well then. that's what I accuse another of doing. Anything to deflect attention from me. If I have dirt on someone that I've discovered illegally, then I accuse another of digging false information on me.

Jim and David - Jon Parlangeli

If I accuse someone of dropping their friends for no reason, then that's what I'm doing. The cool thing about this projection-thing is that if one pays close attention, then you can see what the other person is actually doing - wrong. I would think reporters would glom onto that and do their fact checking accordingly.

Jon Parlangeli

This projection thing is pure evil. And It works. Apparently. I transfers the focus away from me to someone else. Accuse. Distract. If I accuse your children of doing nefarious things, then you just know for sure that my own kids are up to no good.

Leonardo - Jon Parlangeli

It's a little like, if I understand it right, like the old shell game. Hide the pea under one of three shells. Distract attention away from the shells while you're hiding the pea perhaps in your hand. Move the shells around to distract. When the victim point to a shell and the cover is removed - no pea. Cleverly drop the pea as you turn over another shell. That's worked successfully for generations, eh?

Study for New Religion - Jon Parlangeli

Was it P. T. Barnum that said that there's a sucker born every minute?  The oldest, or one of the oldest, con games in the world.

Jon Parlangeli

And. It. Works. Still. Politicians have always been good at this game. Some politicians anyway.

Jon Parlangeli

Some professions are also very good at this game too, eh? A sucker born every minute. Kill someone in broad daylight in the middle of Fifth Avenue, eh?