The Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, US Army Major Michael Zequeira discusses his Army Command and General Staff research entitled: the Effects of Social Media on Military Recruiting. More and more Americans receive information from social media. This work looks at the effects of social media’s rise on U.S. Army...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Dr. Wayne “Mike” Hall discusses his latest capstone book: the Moral Imperative of Our Time-Purposeful Intellectual Growth. According to Mike, America’s intellect is sharply declining; he implores national security leaders to address this problem immediately by: 1) improving...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Hatteras Hoops discusses business and national security considerations related to Human Domain Security. Current concepts around insider threat, insider risk, insider trust, insider fraud, critical people protection, personnel security and counterintelligence are broadly considered...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Dr. Josh “Bugsy” Segal discusses his ongoing concerns about the “American Maginot Line.” He is concerned that the United States is insufficiently and inappropriately funding the cognitive war that is bearing down on us. Moreover, the United States domestic political system...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, US Air Force Captain Jose Davis discusses his paper, which is entitled: "Leveraging AI for Operations in the Information Environment: 3 Demonstrations in Disinformation, Social Media, and Entropy." The paper focuses on the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the realm of...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, we learn about the US Army’s Command and General Staff College Information Advantage Scholar Program. Two officers from the 2024 IA Scholar cohort–Army MAJs Vincent Michel and Josh Keller–present their research and also discuss their overall experience. Additionally, Cognitive...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Todd Wilcox discusses national security considerations related to publicly available information (PAI), open source intelligence (OSINT), and related regulations. Research Question: Todd Wilcox suggests a valuable topic for academic research would be the application of regulatory...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Dr. Joanna Siekiera discusses how China is integrating itself into global affairs from a lawfare perspective. Research Question: Joanna Siekiera suggests an interested student ask: “Why”? Students should always start research from this question as it will help you...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Dr. Randy Rosin returns to the Cognitive Crucible to discuss the “trippy” topic of reflexive control. Soviet influence practitioners favor an indirect approach. Reflexive control is the process of conveying the basis of decision-making from one person to another. Research...
info_outlineThe Cognitive Crucible
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Vygotsky was a seminal figure in Soviet Psychology. His multi-staged—social learning theory of cognitive development—has influenced generations of cognitive psychologists. Our discussion today focuses on Vygotsky’s frequently overlooked and generally under-estimated concept of...
info_outlineDuring this episode, Col. Todd Manyx discusses the Marine Corps Information Operations Center (MCIOC), influence, and battlespace awareness. Our wide ranging conversation covers the origin story of the MCIOC, its components, talent considerations, and current and emerging partnerships with other Department of Defense and international organizations.
Resources:
- Related Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes
- Marine Corps Talent Management 2030
- RAND Research Report: Opportunities for Including the Information Environment in U.S. Marine Corps Wargames by Christopher Paul, Yuna Huh Wong, Elizabeth M. Bartels
- The Information Warfighter Exercise Wargame Rulebook by Christopher Paul, Ben Connable, Jonathan Welch, Nate Rosenblatt, Jim McNeive
- Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War by August Cole and Peter Singer
- LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by Peter Singer
- Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini
- Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein
- Barton Whaley
- Practise to Deceive: Learning Curves of Military Deception Planners by Barton Whaley
- Stratagem: Deception and Surprise in War by Barton Whaley
Link to full show notes and resources
https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-75
Guest Bio: Colonel Manyx has 35 years of service, both officer and enlisted, in the United States Marine Corps. Following Basic Training in 1985, (he served as an Aviation Support Equipment Technician and, later, as an Intelligence Specialist and an Embassy Security Guard. In 1993, then Staff Sergeant. Manyx was selected to participate in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program. After graduating from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (with Distinction) and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant, he was assigned as an Intelligence Officer.
Colonel Manyx has been fortunate to hold command at the company and battalion levels as well as numerous staff officer positions to include Company Executive Officer, Battalion Operations Officer, and Battalion Executive Officer. Colonel Manyx is a Regional Affairs Officer specializing in the Middle East as well as a former Latin American Foreign Area Officer. He is a Joint Qualified Officer, who has completed joint service tours with U.S. Central Command (Tampa, FL), International Security Assistance Force (Afghanistan), and with the Joint Staff in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has had the distinction of twice serving as a Commandant of the Marine Corps Fellow first at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, and then with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
His senior staff experience includes service as a personal staff member for both the Commander and Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command, the Commander, International Security Assistance Force - Afghanistan, and with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also served as a Strategic Analyst for the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Colonel Manyx is a graduate of numerous military and civilian schools. This includes a Master of Arts degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Master of Arts degree from the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He also graduated from the Defense Language Institute and completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI Program.
His personal decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2nd Award), Defense Meritorious Service Medal (3rd Award), Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Award), Navy Commendation Medal (2nd Award), and the Navy Achievement Medal.
About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.
For more information, please contact us at [email protected].
Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.
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