We were then just becoming aware of the subtleties of media manipulation although, in spite of our sophistication, none of us are really immune to it even today. And if you think about it, all things, animate and inanimate, wittingly or unwittingly, exert some degree of influential pressure, if by no more than their mere existence. We would all, would-be influencers and influenced alike, have to be completely aware of the full scale of forces at work inside ourselves and around us. This awareness would have to include full objective knowledge of social reality and also of our own inner susceptibilities. In a word, we'd have to be awake - awake to inner and outer reality.
History is replete with examples of people reaching for a state of awakedness.
But from all indications, such attainments, where claimed, appear to have been either relative, short-lived or both. I'm sure that many of you reading these words have had similar experiences. I, for one, continue to exercise myself in such efforts but maintain the same healthy respect for the enormous forces working against me that a high-jumper has for the force of gravity. You'll notice that the public nature of high-jumping tends to inhibit the creation of sports myths such as jumpers achieving earth orbit. I trust you see the analogy.