Overton Window Engineering

The boundaries of "acceptable opinion" don't drift on their own. Sometimes they're pushed.

The Overton Window describes what ideas society considers reasonable at any given moment. Overton Window engineering is the deliberate act of shifting those boundaries. The playbook is straightforward: introduce an extreme position — so extreme it dominates the conversation. Once people are arguing about the extreme version, a less radical version of the same idea suddenly looks like the sensible middle ground. The window has moved, and the "compromise" lands exactly where the engineer wanted it.

This works because people anchor to whatever is on the table. If someone proposes eliminating an entire government department, merely cutting its budget by 40% feels moderate. If a commentator argues for abolishing a right entirely, restricting it a little seems like a reasonable position. The original extreme was never the real goal — it was the lever.

Media plays a crucial role. Repeating a fringe idea across enough channels doesn't make it true, but it makes it familiar. And familiarity breeds acceptability. Ideas that would have been laughed out of a room five years ago become talking points, then policy proposals, then law. Not because the evidence changed, but because the frame did.

When you notice a debate shifting, ask: who benefits from the new centre?

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References

• George Lakoff — Don't Think of an Elephant! (2004)
• Adam Curtis — HyperNormalisation (2016)
• Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky — Manufacturing Consent (1988)