Post Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:43 pm

The power of suggestion

Don't read the following:

The question is, how many ex-scientologists smack themselves repeatedly upside the head, asking why-oh-oh-oh-how did I get suckered like that? How many accusations of "Fool!" thrown liberally into the mirror? Ok, thats 2 questions.

In explanation of the apparently inexplicable, we hear a lot about hypnotic techniques built into Scn. And yes, LRH was a good hypnotist by all accounts. His hero Crowley knew a thing or two about that stuff, and old Ron studied his hero well. But is it that easy to manipulate people?

I invite you to ponder along these lines.

Astra posted on this forum about the power of suggestion. There is a short, funny clip on youtube that demonstrates a use of suggestion quite well. Derren Brown gets shoppers in a mall to raise their arms, without explicitly telling them to do so. If you haven't seen it before, take a peek and pay particular attention to the words he uses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEKdaXIEHc

"We hope your shopping experience is an uplifting arm ... why not come right arm up and see ...", and so on.

That's a trivial example, but it's fun. Here's a better one to try on your friends: Derren resets a lady's watch to a random time, then she guesses the setting correctly. The clip is 1 minute long. Pay attention to his arms and hands, and note her explanation of the event at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH4fjG7HCP8

"Have literally, the hand <motions> pointing to one of the numbers ... the position of the <motions> minute hand ...". He suggests the correct answer using his arms. Fun, huh?

Now, moving closer to the scn word, another clip shows our new cult leader Derren attempting a religious conversion. Its 10 minutes long, so if you want to skip it, he uses the same kind of techniques, mainly suggestion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjvTpA8Eago

Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a famous series of experiments in the 1960s, to test how people respond to authority figures. Subjects were told to administer electric shocks at ever-increasing voltages to a person whenever that person gave a 'wrong answer' to a question. It was expected at the outset that only a small percentage of subjects would comply with an instruction to administer the maximum, potentially fatal voltage. Yet over 60% of subjects complied. It's a startling read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

The Milgram experiments, together with the later Stanford prison experiment, may shed light on the behaviour of Sea Org members particularly. The findings are pretty depressing. However, on a brighter note, the research of Steven Sherman shows that education strengthens the power of conscience over authority. If people reflect on a moral issue before they are involved in it, they are more likely to behave in accordance with their consciences.

So did you read this? Pah, so much for my suggestion at the beginning.
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