When programming one has to create the object first before trying to access it. If the object has accessible parts one has to create those parts before trying to access them. In programming one can name things or reference things that don’t yet exist. If you try to access such nonexistent objects, the program crashes or gives an error.
In our world as well, we can easily refer to things, phenomena or events that don’t exist. If we then act on the basis of assumptions about ontology that are false there can be hard crashes, failures and misfortune.
Alternatively, one can live in a fantasy and stay there by never acting in a way that would challenge our delusions. Social spaces can be formed by false communication systems that create a pseudo reality including pseudo facts and a pseudo history. As long as all agents agree and do not challenge this pseudo social reality, and the real world does not impose on it very much, all seems to confirm this social space.
A flicker of reality can easily be eliminated as false data. In programming we can catch the error of using nonexistent things and avoid its consequences as long as the rest of the program does not rely on it too much.
In social-psychological space there is a great flexibility that allows maintenance of coherence even if reality contradicts many of its ontological foundational assumptions.
Semantics and pragmatics of language can be played with, redefinitions easily postulated that changes the apparent ontology of social-psychological reality.
Just a rich men can easily be fooled by their sycophants, so whole groups can easily be manipulated by selectively true and false communication.
Contrarians can be silenced by intimidation, ostracism, turning off their modes of communication or manipulating their potential audience by discrediting and minimizing the contrarian himself, his character, competence, person and/or his message.
Best, if the audience does not know of the contrarian’s existence (is not in their ontological, social space).
Second best, if the contrarian exists in the social space, manipulate the potential audience to ignore and refuse to even listen or acknowledge the existence of the message.
Finally, if all other manipulations fail, discredit the message itself by any means available in the arsenal of persuasive communication and propaganda.
Of course, for the powerful other methods are available: The contrarian can be socially and/or physically imprisoned, banished or eliminated.
When we introduce the relativity of ontology, that theory determines what we can observe (Einstein in conversation the Heisenberg), the availability of manipulative communication is almost boundless.