User:Bizzeebeever/Articles/Project Forkstaff

Operation Forkstaff is one in a continuing series of classified psychological experiments conducted since 1994 by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, in conjunction with the National Security Agency and the Special Activities Division of the Central Intelligence Agency (commonly known as the PSYOPS division). Initialized January 1, 2014, Operation Forkstaff attempted to quantify a baseline for the average stupidity of an Internet user, while simultaneously testing the maximum possible loss of intelligence resulting from stupidity-feedback amplification in a group dynamic, with the goal of applying the results against enemy agents in the field.

Launched on Reddit, the test took the form of an "AMA" (Ask Me Anything), a forum where (generally) anonymous Internet users identify themselves as having outrageous or interesting quirks, then, after verification by a moderator, field questions regarding their quirks from other users. The experiment was divided into three stages: Stage One, where the original poster (OP) made himself known and began answering questions from the test subjects; Stage Two, where blog posts and news stories publicizing the AMA thread were injected into mainstream Internet outlets, thereby increasing the spread and coverage of the Stupidity Cone; and Stage Three, where viable test subjects identified during Stages One and Two were secured by ground teams, then transported to a covert location for further experimentation.

Design

The designers of the experiment considered multiple scenarios for the AMA:

• A man with two heads. This scenario was ruled out for being too implausible, as only four known sets of dicephalus twins who share an undivided torso and two legs have ever survived into adulthood, and tend to be easily recognized by the general public.
• A woman with three vaginae. This scenario was ruled out for having far too great of an effect on the test subjects; the mere discussion of the scenario caused several researchers present to begin making "octopussy" jokes, and dropped the average combined IQ of the group by 37 points in just under six minutes. It was thus quickly scrapped for safety reasons.
• A horse with two anuses. However, duplicate anal openings are slightly more common among horses, and the project leaders also determined that a scenario which included a talking horse might have difficulty convincing an average test subject. It was accordingly discarded.

Stage one

Stage one of the test began on January 1, when a team of four researchers ("Seed Team"), identifying themselves as an anonymous white male (project codename: Orthrus), created the wording for the AMA and posted it. Accompanying the post were multiple photographs presented as proof of "Orthrus"'s condition, internally numbered OF-001 through OF-004. In actuality, the images were composited from medical file photographs of two deceased former U.S. Navy service members, and were then suitably altered for the occasion with time and date placards.