Another of Newsweek’s ridiculous “conspiracy theory” claims has been debunked after a prominent former Mexican foreign office minister called for a North American Union and a single unified currency, adding to the voluminous reams of evidence that confirm an EU-style integration is being developed for the Americas, a notion Newsweek dismissed as “discredited” in their feeble “Know Your Conspiracies” hit piece.

As we detailed on Monday, Newsweek bosses gave intern David A. Graham the job of debunking the most prevalent “conspiracy theories” circulating today, but the result was a feeble, embarrassing and self-defeating example of lazy journalism that served to make Newsweek look like the real conspiracy theorists, since the majority of issues they denied are manifestly provable and openly admitted, such as the march towards global governance.

One of the claims made in the article was that the implementation of the North American Union and the Amero single currency was a “discredited theory”.

However, prolific Mexican politician and intellectual Jorge Castañeda, Mexico’s foreign minister from 2000-2003 and a global distinguished professor of politics at New York University, wasn’t discrediting the move towards a North American Union in a recent interview with the BigThink.com website, he was staunchly advocating it.

“Well, my sense is that we’re moving closer and closer to forms of economic integration with the United States and Canada and conceivably Central America and Caribbean could become part of that in the coming years,” he said. “I don’t see Mexico as a Latin American country. Too much of trade, investment, tourism, immigration, remittances, absolutely everything is concentrated exclusively with the United States. So, Mexico has to be part of a North American community, a North American union, which at some point probably should include some type of monetary union along European lines with a free flow of labor, with energy being on the table, etc,” said Castañeda.

Newsweek’s source for the claim that the Amero single currency is a baseless conspiracy theory is that bastion of credibility, Snopes.com, which also claims that the entire North American Union issue is a hoax, even as prominent figures in both Mexico and America call for it on a regular basis…

[continues at Prison Planet]

The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab creates insight into how computing products — from websites to mobile phone software — can be designed to change what people believe and what they do.

Yes, this can be a scary topic: machines designed to influence human beliefs and behaviors. But there’s good news. We believe that much like human persuaders, persuasive technologies can bring about positive changes in many domains, including health, business, safety, and education. We also believe that new advances in technology can help promote world peace in 30 years. With such positive ends in mind, we are creating a body of expertise in the design, theory, and analysis of persuasive technologies, an area called “captology.”

By arriving at this page, you’ve reached the main website for our research lab, directed by Dr. BJ Fogg. On this site you’ll find an overview of captology, learn about examples, have access to captology resources, and be invited to receive our lab’s free newsletter. We also share some insights in our blog, Captology Notebook.

If you want to watch persuasive technology in action, go to Captology TV. This site has dozens of short videos showing how companies use the web today to influence people’s thoughts and behaviors.

An overview of captology

Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. This includes the design, research, and analysis of interactive computing products created for the purpose of changing people’s attitudes or behaviors. As the graphic shows, captology describes the area where computing technology and persuasion overlap.

This area continues to grow quickly. Each week more computing products, including websites, are designed to change what people think and do. We expect this trend to continue, especially as mobile phones become more capable of running software from third parties and the Internet.

Captology is global

Beginning at Stanford in the 1990s, the study of persuasive technology is now a global area of research and design. In the early days, we were doing research, conducting classes, and organizing events at Stanford. But we did not organize the first global conference. We appreciate our colleagues at the Eindhoven University of Technology for organizing this in 2006: First International Conference on Persuasive Technology for Human Well-Being. Since then, the conference has been an annual event, bringing together researchers and practitioners from around the world:
Stanford University hosted the 2007 International Conference on Persuasive Technology.

Oulu University and Aalborg University hosted the 2008 International Conference on Persuasive Technology.

Claremont College will host the 2009 International Conference on Persuasive Technology.

More on the Stamford Captlogy site