Invitation to the Soft Persuasion Newsletter
(The Man Who Swore Out the Window)
(3 minute read)
Dear Friends,
I am starting a newsletter which I feel is very important. The topic is how, without our knowledge, we are manipulated to feel, believe and act in ways which harm us and our loved ones.
When we understand how we are manipulated, then we are equipped to defend ourselves.
Below you will find a short sample of the kind of posts I'm working on.
If you are interested, please xxx.
Thank you!
Michael
The Man Who Swore Out The Window
(3 minute read)
There is an example in the hypnosis literature which fascinates me, because people are behaving like this all the time. They are doing irrational things without really understanding why, and then giving completely irrational explanations.
In Wilson Bryan Key's "Age of Manipulation" (1993 ed.; p. 45) he describes a real instance of how a student was hypnotized and then implanted with these instructions:
"Forget you have ever been hypnotized, and later go over to the window, open it, and shout obscenities at the people passing by."
The student did just this. He had no awareness whatsoever that he had been hypnotized, nor that he was acting on a post-hypnotic suggestion.
What intrigues me is that, when asked later why he acted so, the student came up with one rationalization after another. And he sincerely believed his rationalizations.
He first said he was trying to warn people about a traffic hazard. Then he changed his story and said he was angry and just blowing off steam. Finally he said he was gathering information for his (non-existent) research project about reactions to obscenity.
But he didn't know he had been hyponotized.
So I have to ask myself – have I been hypnotized? Have you been hypnotized? How would I know?
The screens have arrived – cellphones, computers and televisions. I think we have to acknowledge how powerful the screens have become in all our lives. They are wonderful technologies which bring us many wonderful things. But...
But then ask, "To what extent can the screens manipulate us?" Can they drive us toward obesity, alcoholism, poverty and a more polarized and violent body politic? Ultimately, can they drive us into a state of agitation, anxiety and confusion? Sure looks like it to me.
Consider the exponentially accelerating advances we have made in all other areas of technology. We can
• clone sheep
• transplant organs
• generate DNA with a sequence of our choosing
• establish colonies on the dark side of the moon
• operate quantum computers at the sub-atomic level
• converse rationally with massive computers
• fight wars with swarms of drones
• and much, much more.
Is it unreasonable, then, to think that proportionately huge advances have been made in the field of influencing how people think, feel and act?
If those advances have been made, I would gladly influence people to eat more organic vegetables, be kind to their spouses, exercise regularly and pray for world peace. But generally, in my experience, these advanced technologies are first used to gather more money and power. And since this is often to the detriment of the individual, we might want to ask ourselves how to make a healthy relationship with this too-often unhealthy technology.
The first step in that path would be to understand how the technology works.
That is my goal here – if we understand how our thoughts and behaviors are being manipulated, we can lessen the unhealthy results of those influences. It's very real to me, since I stood in clinic year after year, seeing the unnecessary suffering that is created and doing my best to lessen it.
There is one more facet to this blog. I am utterly exhilarated by the mystery of how our minds actually work, and I love sharing that.
You are all invited!
