In a democracy like Bharat, the relevance of awareness-driven engagement and a first-responder model within the context of national security is only set to grow. These decentralized, agile responses will play an increasingly critical role in the broader architecture of national defense and societal resilience.

And this is precisely where the domain of Cognitive Warfare (CW) begins.

India’s experienced strategic community has long observed—and participated in—the transitional journey from Information Warfare (IW) and Psychological Operations (PsyOps) to today’s evolving battlespace. But more recently, a new layer has clearly emerged.

When we integrate tools like AI, AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality), synthetic media (including deepfakes), and other advanced technologies into this matrix, the battlefield shifts—from controlling information to controlling perception.

And that perceptual battlefield is exactly where Cognitive Warfare takes shape.

What is Cognitive Warfare – From a Layman’s Perspective

One of the biggest barriers to exploring the potential of this domain is the lack of a clear, accessible understanding of what Cognitive Warfare actually means.

Too often, we cloud the concept with security jargon, academic references, or overly technical frameworks—making it harder to grasp the basic idea at the heart of it.

To cut through the noise, we need to start with a simple, grounded question: How do you explain Cognitive Warfare to someone who’s never heard the term—and what does it actually look like in practice?

If the person is a complete layman—someone unfamiliar with advanced tech or modern digital systems (rare these days, but still possible)—we can explain it in lighter terms i.e. Cognitive Warfare is really just the latest version of the oldest game in the world: manipulation.

For centuries, manipulators have shaped the way people think, behave, or believe—whether they were ancient travellers, invading empires, imperial regimes, or even certain academic voices: sociologists, anthropologists, ideological influencers, or psychologists.

But now, something new has happened.

When these classic manipulators shake hands with modern computing, AI, and algorithmic technology, a far more powerful—and more subtle—form of influence emerges.

That’s what we now call Cognitive Warfare.

So, on a lighter note: It’s not new in spirit—but it’s faster, sneakier… and now, it scales.

In essence, cognitive warfare isn't about breaking systems—it's about bending perception. And that requires an entirely different kind of defence.

The Shift from Infrastructure to Influence: Cyber vs. Cognitive Warfare

To truly grasp the difference between cyber warfare and cognitive warfare, we must revisit the foundational thinking of Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics.

Wiener proposed that at the core of any system—whether a machine, a living organism, or a society—are three essential forces: message, feedback, and communication.

For him, control wasn’t about brute force. It was about influence—guiding how a system responds to the information it receives.

That idea, introduced in the mid-20th century, has quietly become central to 21st-century conflict.

Because today, the most critical system under attack isn’t a server farm or a power grid. It’s the human mind.

In cyber warfare, the objective is clear: infiltrate machines, disrupt networks, paralyze infrastructure.

But in cognitive warfare, the battlefield shifts entirely. The target is no longer the machine—it’s your mind.

The goal isn’t to crash a system; it’s to corrupt judgment. Not to disable software, but to distort perception.

It’s about shaping what people believe is true. It’s about inserting doubt, amplifying emotion, and weakening collective reasoning.

And here’s where it gets more dangerous: most people don’t even realize it’s happening.

The attack doesn’t show up on a radar. It shows up in a headline, a hashtag, or a WhatsApp forward. This is warfare where the weapon is narrative—and the casualty is often trust.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack vs Middlemen of Meaning

In cybersecurity, one of the most well-known threat vectors is the Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack. This happens when a malicious actor secretly intercepts communication between two trusted parties, manipulates the message, and passes it along—often without either side realizing the content has been altered.

Today, that same dynamic is unfolding—not just with code, but with meaning. In a world flooded with algorithms, clickbait influencers, manipulated media, and narrative warfare, we have a growing class of middlemen—those who intercept the truth and reshape it before it reaches the public.

And the result? Even in vibrant democracies, messages meant to unify get twisted into division. Warnings become panic. Facts become opinions.

It’s no longer just about who controls the narrative—it’s about how many layers the truth has to pass through before it reaches you!

And this is where cognitive warfare becomes invisible but deeply effective. It doesn't need to block communication—just distort it slightly. That’s enough.

And when we see this clearly, we’re left with an urgent question: Can Bharat’s civilizational wisdom offer an unconventional framework to defend our minds?

The Idea of 'Sahaj intelligence’

Bharat has always understood the mind—not just as a processor of information, but as a space of conscious awareness.

Long before neuroscience or AI, we had frameworks for self-regulation, introspection, discernment, and emotional mastery.

And that’s where the idea of 'sahaj intelligence' comes in.

Sahaj means natural, effortless, intuitive. It’s the kind of intelligence that doesn’t rely only on logic or speed—but on clarity, stillness, and balance.

In a world hijacked by outrage, overstimulation, and engineered distraction, this kind of intelligence is deeply protective.

It’s the inner compass that says: Wait. Let me observe. Let me not react right away.

This is where our culture offers something unique—not a counter-propaganda machine, but a psychological immune system. We call it cognitive resilience. It’s the ability to hold multiple truths. To sit with complexity. To pause before judgment.

From the Bhagavad Gita to Buddha to Adi Shankaracharya, we’ve always emphasized mastering oneself before trying to master the world.

In today’s terms, that means recognizing when you’re being manipulated—not by fighting back, but by not reacting on cue. That’s a radical kind of defence. And it’s one that Bharat is uniquely positioned to offer the world.

In ancient Bharat, knowledge wasn’t just power—it was liberation. And that’s exactly what we need today: a liberated mind in a weaponized world.

(The paper is the author’s individual scholastic articulation. The author certifies that the article/paper is original in content, unpublished and it has not been submitted for publication/web upload elsewhere, and that the facts and figures quoted are duly referenced, as needed, and are believed to be correct). (The paper does not necessarily represent the organisational stance... More >>