Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/no need to argue/Brainwashing

Text File | 1994-11-13 | 49KB | 813 lines

       THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND, by Dick Sutphen -- 22.2 KB
Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today


                       SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

The  Birth  of  Conversion/Brainwashing  in  Christian  Revivalism in 1735.  The
Pavlovian  explanation  of  the  three  brain  phases.   Born-again   preachers:
Step-by-Step, how they conduct a revival and the expected physiological results.
The  "voice  roll"  technique  used  by  preachers, lawyers and hypnotists.  New
trance-inducing churches.  The 6 steps to conversion.  The decognition  process.
Thought-stopping techniques.  The "sell it by zealot" technique.  True believers
and  mass  movements.   Persuasion  techniques:  "Yes set," "Imbedded Commands,"
"Shock and Confusion," and the "Interspersal Technique."  Subliminals.   Vibrato
and  ELF  waves.   Inducing  trance  with  vibrational sound.  Even professional
observers will be  "possessed"  at  charismatic  gatherings.   The  "only  hope"
technique to attend and not be converted.  Non-detectable Neurophone programming
through the skin.  The medium for mass take-over.


I'm  Dick Sutphen and this tape is a studio-recorded, expanded version of a talk
I delivered at the World Congress of Professional Hypnotists Convention  in  Las
Vegas,  Nevada.   Although  the  tape  carries  a  copyright  to protect it from
unlawful duplication for sale  by  other  companies,  in  this  case,  I  invite
individuals  to  make copies and give them to friends or anyone in a position to
communicate this information.

Although I've been interviewed about the subject  on  many  local  and  regional
radio  and  TV talk shows, large-scale mass communication appears to be blocked,
since it could result in suspicion or investigation of the very media presenting
it or the sponsors that support the media.  Some government agencies do not want
this information generally known.  Nor do  the  Born-Again  Christian  movement,
cults, and many human-potential trainings.

Everything  I will relate only exposes the surface of the problem.  I don't know
how the misuse of these techniques can be stopped.  I don't think it is possible
to legislate against that which often cannot  be  detected;  and  if  those  who
legislate  are using these techniques, there is little hope of affecting laws to
govern usage.  I do know that the first step to initiate change is  to  generate
interest.   In  this  case,  that  will probably only result from an underground
effort.

In talking about this subject, I am talking about my own business.  I  know  it,
and  I  know  how  effective it can be.  I produce hypnosis and subliminal tapes
and, in some of my seminars, I use conversion tactics to assist participants  to
become  independent and self-sufficient.  But, anytime I use these techniques, I
point out that I am using them, and those attending have a choice to participate
or not.  They also know what the desired result of participation will be.

So, to begin, I want to state the most basic of all  facts  about  brainwashing:
IN  THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MAN, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BRAINWASHED AND REALIZED, OR
BELIEVED, THAT HE HAD BEEN BRAINWASHED.  Those who have  been  brainwashed  will
usually  passionately  defend their manipulators, claiming they have simply been
"shown the light" .  .  .  or have been transformed in miraculous ways.

The Birth of Conversion

CONVERSION  is  a  "nice"  word  for  BRAINWASHING  .   .   .   and any study of
brainwashing has to begin with a study of  Christian  revivalism  in  eighteenth
century  America.   Apparently,  Jonathan  Edwards  accidentally  discovered the
techniques during a religious crusade in 1735 in Northampton, Massachusetts.  By
inducing guilt and  acute  apprehension  and  by  increasing  the  tension,  the
"sinners" attending his revival meetings would break down and completely submit.
Technically,  what Edwards was doing was creating conditions that wipe the brain
slate clean so that the mind accepts new programming.  The problem was that  the
new  input was negative.  He would tell them, "You're a sinner!  You're destined
for hell!"

As a result, one person committed suicide and another  attempted  suicide.   And
the  neighbors of the suicidal converts related that they, too, were affected so
deeply that, although they had found "eternal  salvation,"  they  were  obsessed
with a diabolical temptation to end their own lives.

Once  a preacher, cult leader, manipulator or authority figure creates the brain
phase to wipe the brain-slate clean, his subjects are wide open.  New input,  in
the  form  of  suggestion, can be substituted for their previous ideas.  Because
Edwards didn't turn his message positive until the  end  of  the  revival,  many
accepted the negative suggestions and acted, or desired to act, upon them.

Charles J.  Finney was another Christian revivalist who used the same techniques
four years later in mass religious conversions in New York.  The techniques  are
still   being  used  today  by  Christian  revivalists,  cults,  human-potential
trainings, some business rallies, and the United States Armed Services .   .   .
to name just a few.

Let  me  point  out here that I don't think most revivalist preachers realize or
know they are using brainwashing techniques.  Edwards  simply  stumbled  upon  a
technique that really worked, and others copied it and have continued to copy it
for  over  two  hundred  years.   And  the  more sophisticated our knowledge and
technology become, the more effective the conversion.  I feel strongly that this
is one of the major reasons for the increasing rise in Christian fundamentalism,
especially the televised variety, while  most  of  the  orthodox  religions  are
declining.

The Three Brain Phases

The  Christians  may have been the first to successfully formulate brainwashing,
but we  have  to  look  to  Pavlov,  the  Russian  scientist,  for  a  technical
explanation.   In  the  early  1900s,  his  work with animals opened the door to
further investigations with humans.  After the revolution in Russia,  Lenin  was
quick to see the potential of applying Pavlov's research to his own ends.

Three   distinct   and  progressive  states  of  transmarginal  inhibition  were
identified by Pavlov.  The first is the EQUIVALENT phase,  in  which  the  brain
gives  the  same  response  to  both strong and weak stimuli.  The second is the
PARADOXICAL phase, in which the brain responds more  actively  to  weak  stimuli
than  to  strong.   And  the  third  is  the  ULTRA-PARADOXICAL  phase, in which
conditioned responses and behavior patterns turn from positive  to  negative  or
from negative to positive.

With  the  progression through each phase, the degree of conversion becomes more
effective and complete.  The way to achieve conversion are many and varied,  but
the  usual  first  step in religious or political brainwashing is to work on the
emotions of an individual or group until they reach an abnormal level of  anger,
fear, exitement, or nervous tension.

The  progressive  result  of  this  mental  condition is to impair judgement and
increase  suggestibility.   The  more  this  condition  can  be  maintained   or
intensified,  the  more it compounds.  Once catharsis, or the first brain phase,
is reached, the  complete  mental  takeover  becomes  easier.   Existing  mental
programming can be replaced with new patterns of thinking and behavior.

Other  often-used  physiological  weapons  to  modify normal brain functions are
fasting, radical or  high  sugar  diets,  physical  discomforts,  regulation  of
breathing,  mantra  chanting in meditation, the disclosure of awesome mysteries,
special  lighting  and  sound  effects,  programmed  response  to  incense,   or
intoxicating drugs.

The  same  results  can  be  obtained  in  contemporary psychiatric treatment by
electric shock treatments and even by purposely lowering a person's blood  sugar
level with insulin injections.

Before  I  talk  about exactly how some of the techniques are applied, I want to
point out that hypnosis and conversion  tactics  are  two  distinctly  different
things--and  that conversion techniques are far more powerful.  However, the two
are often mixed .  .  .  with powerful results.

How Revivalist Preachers Work


If you'd like to see a revivalist preacher at work, there are  probably  several
in  your  city.   Go  to  the  church  or  tent early and sit in the rear, about
three-quarters of the way back.  Most likely repetitive  music  will  be  played
while  the  people  come in for the service.  A repetitive beat, ideally ranging
from 45 to 72 beats per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the human  heart),
is very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open altered state of consciousness in
a  very high percentage of people.  And, once you are in an alpha state, you are
at least 25 times as suggestible as you would be  in  full  beta  consciousness.
The music is probably the same for every service, or incorporates the same beat,
and  many  of  the  people will go into an altered state almost immediately upon
entering the sanctuary.  Subconsciously, they recall their state  of  mind  from
previous services and respond according to the post-hypnotic programming.

Watch  the  people waiting for the service to begin.  Many will exhibit external
signs of trance--body relaxation and slightly dilated eyes.  Often,  they  begin
swaying  back  and  forth  with  their  hands  in the air while sitting in their
chairs.  Next, the assistant pastor will probably come out.  He  usually  speaks
with a pretty good "voice roll."

Voice Roll Technique

A  "voice  roll"  is a patterned, paced style used by hypnotists when inducing a
trance.  It is also used by many lawyers, several of  whom  are  highly  trained
hypnotists,  when  they  desire  to  entrench a point firmly in the minds of the
jurors.  A voice roll can sound as if the speaker were talking to the beat of  a
metronome  or  it  may  sound  as  though  he  were  emphasizing every word in a
monotonous, patterned style.  The words will usually be delivered at the rate of
45 to 60 beats per minute, maximizing the hypnotic effect.

Now the assistant pastor begins the "build-up" process.  He induces  an  altered
state  of  consciousness  and/or  begins  to  generate  the  excitement  and the
expectations of the audience.  Next, a group of young women in "sweet and  pure"
chiffon  dresses  might  come  out  to  sing a song.  Gospel songs are great for
building excitement and INVOLVEMENT.  In the middle of  the  song,  one  of  the
girls might be "smitten by the spirit" and fall down or react as if possessed by
the Holy Spirit.  This very effectively increases the intensity in the room.  At
this  point, hypnosis and conversion tactics are being mixed.  And the result is
the audience's attention span is now  totally  focused  upon  the  communication
while the environment becomes more exciting or tense.

Right  about  this  time,  when an eyes-open mass-induced alpha mental state has
been achieved, they will usually pass the collection plate or  basket.   In  the
background,  a  45-beat-per-minute  voice roll from the assistant preacher might
exhort, "Give to God .  .  .  Give to God .  .  .  Give to God .  .  ."  And the
audience does give.  God  may  not  get  the  money,  but  his  already  wealthy
representative will.

Next,  the  fire-and-brimstone  preacher  will  come  out.   He induces fear and
increases the tension by talking about "the devil,"  "going  to  hell,"  or  the
forthcoming Armegeddon.

In  the  last  such  rally  I attended, the preacher talked about the blood that
would soon be running out of every faucet in the land.   He  was  also  obsessed
with a "bloody axe of God," which everyone had seen hanging above the pulpit the
previous  week.   I  have no doubt that everyone saw it--the power of suggestion
given to hundreds of people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to  25  percent
would see whatever he suggested they see.

In  most revivalist gatherings, "testifying" or "witnessing" usually follows the
fear-based sermon.  People from the audience come up on stage and  relate  their
stories.   "I  was  crippled and now I can walk!"  "I had arthritis and now it's
gone!"  It is a psychological  manipulation  that  works.   After  listening  to
numerous  case histories of miraculous healings, the average guy in the audience
with a minor problem is sure he can be healed.  The room is charged  with  fear,
guilt, intense excitement, and expectations.


Now those who want to be healed are frequently lined up around the edge  of  the
room, or they are told to come down to the front.  The preacher might touch them
on  the  head  firmly and scream, "Be healed!"  This releases the psychic energy
and, for many, catharsis results.  Catharsis is a purging of repressed emotions.
Individuals might cry, fall down or even go into spasms.  And  if  catharsis  is
effected,  they  stand a chance of being healed.  In catharsis (one of the three
brain phases mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is temporarily wiped clean  and
the new suggestion is accepted.

For  some,  the healing may be permanent.  For many, it will last four days to a
week, which is,  incidentally,  how  long  a  hypnotic  suggestion  given  to  a
somnambulistic  subject will usually last.  Even if the healing doesn't last, if
they come back every week, the power of suggestion may continually override  the
problem .  .  .  or sometimes, sadly, it can mask a physical problem which could
prove to be very detrimental to the individule in the long run.

I'm  not saying that legitimate healings do not take place.  They do.  Maybe the
individual was ready to let go of the negativity that caused the problem in  the
first  place;  maybe  it  was  the  work  of  God.  Yet I contend that it can be
explained with existing knowledge of brain/mind function.

The techniques and staging will vary from church to church.  Many use  "speaking
in  tongues"  to  generate catharsis in some while the spectacle creates intense
excitement in the observers.

The use of hypnotic techniques by religions is sophisticated, and  professionals
are  assuring  that  they  become  even more effective.  A man in Los Angeles is
designing, building, and reworking a lot of churches  around  the  country.   He
tells  ministers  what  they  need  and  how to use it.  This man's track record
indicates that the congregation and the  monetary  income  will  double  if  the
minister  follows  his  instructions.   He  admits  that about 80 percent of his
efforts are in the sound system and lighting.

Powerful sound and the proper use of  lighting  are  of  primary  importance  in
inducing  an altered state of consciousnes--I've been using them for years in my
own seminars.  However, my participants are fully aware of the process and  what
they can expect as a result of their participation.

Six Conversion Techniques

Cults and human-potential organizations are always looking for new converts.  To
attain  them, they must also create a brain-phase.  And they often need to do it
within a short space of time--a weekend, or maybe even a day.  The following are
the six primary techniques used to generate the conversion.

The meeting or training takes place in an area where participants  are  cut  off
from  the  outside  world.   This may be any place:  a private home, a remote or
rural setting, or even a hotel ballroom where the participants are allowed  only
limited bathroom usage.  In human-potential trainings, the controllers will give
a  lengthy  talk  about  the  importance  of  "keeping agreements" in life.  The
participants are told that if they don't keep agreements, their life will  never
work.  It's a good idea to keep agreements, but the controllers are subverting a
positive  human  value for selfish purposes.  The participants vow to themselves
and their trainer that they will keep their agreements.   Anyone  who  does  not
will  be  intimidated  into  agreement  or forced to leave.  The next step is to
agree to complete training, thus assuring a high percentage of  conversions  for
the  organizations.   They  will USUALLY have to agree not to take drugs, smoke,
and sometimes not to eat .  .  .  or they are given such short meal breaks  that
it  creates  tension.   The  real reason for the agreements is to alter internal
chemistry, which generates anxiety  and  hopefully  causes  at  least  a  slight
malfunction  of  the  nervous  system,  which  in  turn increases the conversion
potential.

Before the gathering is complete, the agreements will be used to ensure that the
new converts go out and  find  new  participants.   They  are  intimidated  into
agreeing to do so before they leave.  Since the importance of keeping agreements
is  so high on their priority list, the converts will twist the arms of everyone
they know, attempting to talk them into attending a  free  introductory  session
offered at a future date by the organization.  The new converts are zealots.  In
fact,  the  inside  term  for  merchandising  the  largest  and  most successful
human-potential training is, "sell it by zealot!"

At  least  a  million  people are graduates and a good percentage have been left
with a mental activation button that assures their future loyalty and assistance
if the guru figure or organization calls.  Think about the  potential  political
implications  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of zealots programmed to campaign for
their guru.

Be wary of an organization of this type that offers follow-up sessions after the
seminar.  Follow-up sessions might be weekly meetings  or  inexpensive  seminars
given  on  a  regular basis which the organization will attempt to talk you into
taking--or any regularly scheduled event used to maintain control.  As the early
Christian  revivalists  found,  long-term  control  is  dependent  upon  a  good
follow-up system.

Alright.   Now,  let's  look  at  the  second  tip-off that indicates conversion
tactics are being used.  A schedule  is  maintained  that  causes  physical  and
mental  fatigue.   This  is  primarily  accomplished  by long hours in which the
participants are given no opportunity for relaxation or reflection.

The third tip-off:  techniques used to increase  the  tension  in  the  room  or
environment.

Number  four:   Uncertainty.  I could spend hours relating various techniques to
increase tension and generate  uncertainty.   Basically,  the  participants  are
concerned  about  being  "put on the spot" or encountered by the trainers, guilt
feelings are played upon, participants are  tempted  to  verbally  relate  their
innermost secrets to the other participants or forced to take part in activities
that emphasize removing their masks.  One of the most successful human-potential
seminars  forces  the  participants  to  stand on a stage in front of the entire
audience while being verbally attacked by the trainers.  A public opinion  poll,
conducted  a few years ago, showed that the number one most-fearful situation an
individual could encounter is to speak to an audience.  It ranked  above  window
washing  outside  the  85th floor of an office building.  So you can imagine the
fear and tension this situation generates within the participants.  Many  faint,
but most cope with the stress by mentally going away.  They literally go into an
alpha  state,  which  automatically makes them many times as suggestible as they
normally are.  And another loop  of  the  downward  spiral  into  conversion  is
successfully effected.

The  fifth  clue  that  conversion tactics are being used is the introduction of
jargon--new terms that have meaning only  to  the  "insiders"  who  participate.
Vicious  language  is  also  frequently  used,  purposely,  to make participants
uncomfortable.

The final tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications .   .   .   at
least  until  the  participants are converted.  Then, merry-making and humor are
highly desirable as symbols of the new  joy  the  participants  have  supposedly
"found."

I'm  not saying that good does not result from participation in such gatherings.
It can and does.  But I contend it is important for  people  to  know  what  has
happened  and  to  be  aware that continual involvement may not be in their best
interest.

Over the years, I've conducted professional  seminars  to  teach  people  to  be
hypnotists,  trainers,  and  counselors.   I've  had  many  of those who conduct
trainings and rallies come to me and say, "I'm here because I know that what I'm
doing works, but I don't know why."  After showing them how and why,  many  have
gotten  out  of  the business or have decided to approach it differently or in a
much more loving and supportive manner.

Many of these trainers have become personal friends, and it  scares  us  all  to
have  experienced  the  power of one person with a microphone and a room full of
people.  Add a little charisma and  you  can  count  on  a  high  percentage  of
conversions.   The  sad  truth  is that a high percentage of people want to give
away their power--they are true "believers"!

Cult gatherings or human-potential trainings are an ideal environment to observe
first-hand what is technically called  the  "Stockholm  Syndrome."   This  is  a
situation  in  which  those  who are intimidated, controlled, or made to suffer,
begin to love, admire, and even sometimes sexually desire their  controllers  or
captors.

But  let  me  inject  a  word of warning here:  If you think you can attend such
gatherings and not be affected, you are probably wrong.  A  perfect  example  is
the  case  of  a  woman  who  went  to Haiti on a Guggenheim Fellowship to study
Haitian Voodoo.  In her report, she related how  the  music  eventually  induced
uncontrollable  bodily movement and an altered state of consciousness.  Although
she understood the process and thought herself above it, when she began to  feel
herself  become  vulnerable  to  the music, she attempted to fight it and turned
away.  Anger or resistance almost always  assures  conversion.   A  few  moments
later  she  was  possessed by the music and began dancing in a trance around the
Voodoo meeting house.   A  brain  phase  had  been  induced  by  the  music  and
excitement,  and  she  awoke  feeling  reborn.   The only hope of attending such
gatherings without being affected is to be a Buddha and  allow  no  positive  or
negative emotions to surface.  Few people are capable of such detachment.

Before  I  go  on,  let's  go back to the six tip-offs to conversion.  I want to
mention the United States Government and military boot camp.  The  Marine  Corps
talks  about  breaking men down before "rebuilding" them as new men--as marines!
Well, that is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its  people  down
and  rebuilds  them  as happy flower sellers on your local street corner.  Every
one of the six conversion techniques are used in  boot  camp.   Considering  the
needs  of the military, I'm not making a judgement as to whether that is good or
bad.  IT IS A FACT that the men are effectively brainwashed.   Those  who  won't
submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the brig.

Decognition Process

Once  the  initial  conversion  is  effected, cults, armed services, and similar
groups cannot have cynicism  among  their  members.   Members  must  respond  to
commands  and  do  as  they  are  told,  otherwise  they  are  dangerous  to the
organizational  control.   This  is  normally  accomplished  as   a   three-step
Decognition Process.

Step  One  is  ALERTNESS REDUCTION:  The controllers cause the nervous system to
malfunction, making it difficult to distinguish  between  fantasy  and  reality.
This  can  be  accomplished  in  several  ways.  POOR DIET is one; watch out for
Brownies and Koolaid.  The sugar throws the nervous system off.  More subtle  is
the  "SPIRITUAL  DIET" used by many cults.  They eat only vegetables and fruits;
without the grounding of grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or  meat,  an
individual  becomes  mentally "spacey."  INADEQUATE SLEEP is another primary way
to reduce alertness, especially when combined with long hours of work or intense
physical activity.  Also, being bombarded with intense  and  unique  experiences
achieves the same result.

Step  Two  is  PROGRAMMED  CONFUSION:   You  are  mentally  assaulted while your
alertness is being reduced as in Step One.  This is accomplished with  a  deluge
of  new  information,  lectures,  discussion  groups,  encounters  or one-to-one
processing, which usually amounts to the controller  bombarding  the  individual
with  questions.   During  this phase of decognition, reality and illusion often
merge and perverted logic is likely to be accepted.

<<Continued>>





Title: Everyday Brainwashing Pt3  (16/18)
 From: Tom Betz  (ID=70)
 Date: Tue Apr 07 09:28:38 1987


<<BRAINWASHING: Part 3>>


Step Three is THOUGHT STOPPING:  Techniques are used to cause  the  mind  to  go
"flat."   These  are  altered-state-of-consciousness  techniques  that initially
induce calmness by giving the mind something simple to deal  with  and  focusing
awareness.   The  continued  use  brings  on a feeling of elation and eventually
hallucination.  The result is the reduction of thought and eventually,  if  used
long  enough,  the  cessation  of  all  thought and withdrawal from everyone and
everything except that which the  controllers  direct.   The  takeover  is  then
complete.   It  is  important  to be aware that when members or participants are
instructed to use "thought-stopping" techniques, they are told  that  they  will
benefit   by   so   doing:    they   will  become  "better  soldiers"  or  "find
enlightenment."

There are three primary techniques used for  thought  stopping.   The  first  is
MARCHING:   the  thump,  thump, thump beat literally generates self-hypnosis and
thus great susceptibility to suggestion.

The second thought stopping technique is MEDITATION.  If you spend an hour to an
hour and a half a day in meditation,  after  a  few  weeks,  there  is  a  great
probability  that  you  will  not  return  to full beta consciousness.  You will
remain in a fixed state of alpha for as long as you continue to  meditate.   I'm
not  saying this is bad--if you do it yourself.  It may be very beneficial.  But
it is a fact that you are causing your  mind  to  go  flat.   I've  worked  with
meditators  on  an  EEG  machine  and  the results are conclusive:  the more you
meditate, the flatter your mind becomes until, eventually and especially if used
to excess  or  in  combination  with  decognition,  all  thought  ceases.   Some
spiritual  groups  see  this  as  nirvana--which  is  bullshit.   It is simply a
predictable physiological result.  And if heaven on earth  is  non-thinking  and
non-involvement, I really question why we are here.

The  third  thought-stopping  technique  is  CHANTING,  and  often  chanting  in
meditation.  "Speaking in tongues" could also be included in this category.

All three stopping techniques produce an altered state of  consciousness.   This
may  be  very  good if YOU are controlling the process, for you also control the
input.  I personally use at least one self-hypnosis  programming  session  every
day  and  I  know  how beneficial it is for me.  But you need to know if you use
these techniques to the degree of remaining continually in alpha that,  although
you'll be very mellow, you'll also be more suggestible.

True Believers & Mass Movements

Before  ending  this  section on conversion, I want to talk about the people who
are most susceptible to it and about Mass Movements.  I  am  convinced  that  at
least  a  third  of  the  population is what Eric Hoffer calls "true believers."
They are joiners and followers .  .  .  people  who  want  to  give  away  their
power.  They look for answers, meaning, and enlightenment outside themselves.

Hoffer,  who  wrote  THE TRUE BELIEVER, a classic on mass movements, says, "true
believers are not intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self,  but  are
those  craving to be rid of unwanted self.  They are followers, not because of a
desire for self-advancement, but  because  it  can  satisfy  their  passion  for
self-renunciation!"   Hoffer  also  says  that  true  believers  "are  eternally
incomplete and eternally insecure"!

I know this from my own experience.  In my years of communicating  concepts  and
conducting  trainings,  I  have  run into them again and again.  All I can do is
attempt to show them that the only thing to seek is the True Self within.  Their
personal answers are to be found there and there alone.  I communicate that  the
basics of spirituality are self-responsibility and self-actualization.  But most
of  the  true  believers  just tell me that I'm not spiritual and go looking for
someone who will give them the dogma and structure they desire.

Never underestimate the potential danger of these people.  They  can  easily  be
molded into fanatics who will gladly work and die for their holy cause.  It is a
substitute  for  their  lost faith in themselves and offers them as a substitute
for individual hope.  The Moral Majority is made  up  of  true  believers.   All
cults  are  composed of true believers.  You'll find them in politics, churches,
businesses,  and  social  cause  groups.   They  are  the  fanatics   in   these
organizations.

Mass  Movements  will  usually have a charismatic leader.  The followers want to
convert others to their way of living or impose a new way of life--if necessary,
by legislating laws forcing others to their view, as evidenced by the activities
of the Moral Majority.  This means enforcement by guns or punishment,  for  that
is the bottomline in law enforcement.

A common hatred, enemy, or devil is essential to the success of a mass movement.
The  Born-Again  Christians  have  Satan himself, but that isn't enough--they've
added the occult, the New Age thinkers and, lately, all those who  oppose  their
integration  of  church and politics, as evidenced in their political reelection
campaigns against those who oppose their views.  In revolutions,  the  devil  is
usually the ruling power or aristocracy.  Some human-potential movements are far
too  clever to ask their graduates to join anything, thus labeling themselves as
a cult--but, if you look closely, you'll find that their  devil  is  anyone  and
everyone who hasn't taken their training.

There  are  mass  movements  without devils but they seldom attain major status.
The True Believers are mentally unbalanced or insecure people, or those  without
hope  or friends.  People don't look for allies when they love, but they do when
they hate or become obsessed with a cause.  And those who desire a new life  and
a  new  order  feel  the old ways must be eliminated before the new order can be
built.

Persuasion Techniques

Persuasion isn't technically brainwashing but it  is  the  manipulation  of  the
human mind by another individual, without the manipulated party being aware what
caused his opinion shift.  I only have time to very basically introduce you to a
few  of the thousands of techniques in use today, but the basis of persuasion is
always to access your RIGHT BRAIN.  The left half of your  brain  is  analytical
and  rational.   The  right  side  is  creative and imaginative.  That is overly
simplified but it makes my point.  So, the idea is to distract  the  left  brain
and  keep  it busy.  Ideally, the persuader generates an eyes-open altered state
of consciousness, causing you to shift from beta awareness into alpha; this  can
be measured on an EEG machine.

First,  let  me  give you an example of distracting the left brain.  Politicians
use these powerful techniques all the time;  lawyers use many variations  which,
I've been told, they call "tightening the noose."

Assume for a moment that you are watching a politician give a speech.  First, he
might generate what is called a "YES SET."  These are statements that will cause
listeners  to  agree;  they might even unknowingly nod their heads in agreement.
Next come the TRUISMS.  These are usually facts that could be debated but,  once
the politician has his audience agreeing, the odds are in the politician's favor
that  the audience won't stop to think for themselves, thus continuing to agree.
Last comes the SUGGESTION.  This is what the politician wants  you  to  do  and,
since  you  have  been  agreeing all along, you could be persuaded to accept the
suggestion.  Now, if you'll listen closely to my political speech,  you'll  find
that  the first three are the "yes set," the next three are truisms and the last
is the suggestion.

"Ladies and gentlemen:  are you angry about high food prices?  Are you tired  of
astronomical  gas  prices?  Are you sick of out-of-control inflation?  Well, you
know the Other Party allowed 18 percent inflation last year; you know crime  has
increased  50  percent  nationwide  in  the  last  12  months, and you know your
paycheck hardly covers your expenses any more.  Well, the  answer  to  resolving
these problems is to elect me, John Jones, to the U.S.  Senate."

And I think you've heard all that before.  But you might also watch for what are
called  Imbedded Commands.  As an example:  On key words, the speaker would make
a gesture with his left hand, which research has shown is  more  apt  to  access
your right brain.  Today's media-oriented politicians and spellbinders are often
carefully  trained  by a whole new breed of specialist who are using every trick
in the book--both old and new--to manipulate you into accepting their candidate.

The concepts and techniques of Neuro-Linguistics are so heavily protected that I
found out the hard way that to even talk about them publicly or in print results
in threatened legal action.  Yet Neuro-Linguistic training is readily  available
to  anyone willing to devote the time and pay the price.  It is some of the most
subtle and powerful manipulation I have yet been exposed to.  A good friend  who
recently  attended  a  two-week  seminar on Neuro-Linguistics found that many of
those she talked to during the breaks were government people.

Another technique that I'm just learning about is unbelievably slippery;  it  is
called an INTERSPERSAL TECHNIQUE and the idea is to say one thing with words but
plant  a subconscious impression of something else in the minds of the listeners
and/or watchers.

Let me give you an example:  Assume you are watching  a  television  commentator
make the following statement:  SENATOR JOHNSON is assisting local authorities to
clear  up  the  stupid  mistakes  of companies contributing to the nuclear waste
problems."  It sounds like a statement of fact, but, if the  speaker  emphasizes
the  right  word, and especially if he makes the proper hand gestures on the key
words, you could be left with the subconscious impression that  Senator  Johnson
is stupid.  That was the subliminal goal of the statement and the speaker cannot
be called to account for anything.

Persuasion techniques are also frequently used on a much smaller scale with just
as  much  effectiveness.  The insurance salesman knows his pitch is likely to be
much more effective if he can get you to visualize something in your mind.  This
is right-brain communication.  For instance, he might pause in his conversation,
look slowly around your livingroom and say, "Can you just imagine this beautiful
home burning to the ground?"  Of course you can!  It is one of your  unconscious
fears  and,  when  he  forces  you  to  visualize  it, you are more likely to be
manipulated into signing his insurance policy.

The Hare Krishnas, operating in  every  airport,  use  what  I  call  SHOCK  AND
CONFUSION  techniques  to  distract the left brain and communicate directly with
the right brain.  While waiting for a plane, I once watched one operate for over
an hour.  He had a technique of almost jumping in front of someone.   Initially,
his  voice  was  loud  then  dropped  as  he  made  his pitch to take a book and
contribute  money  to  the  cause.   Usually,  when  people  are  shocked,  they
immediately withdraw.  In this case they were shocked by the strange appearance,
sudden  materialization  and  loud  voice of the Hare Krishna devotee.  In other
words, the people went into an alpha state for security because they didn't want
to confront the reality before them.  In alpha, they were highly suggestible  so
they  responded  to  the suggestion of taking the book; the moment they took the
book, they felt guilty and responded to the second suggestion:  give money.   We
are  all  conditioned  that  if someone gives us something, we have to give them
something in return--in that case, it was money.  While watching this hustler, I
was close enough to notice that many of  the  people  he  stopped  exhibited  an
outward sign of alpha--their eyes were actually dilated.

<<Continued>>



Title: Everyday Brainwashing Pt4  (17/18)
 From: Tom Betz  (ID=70)
 Date: Tue Apr 07 09:46:37 1987




<<BRAINWASHING: Conclusion>>


Subliminal Programming

Subliminals  are hidden suggestions that only your subconscious perceives.  They
can be audio, hidden behind music, or visual, airbrushed into a picture, flashed
on  a  screen  so  fast  that  you  don't  consciously  see  them,  or  cleverly
incorporated into a picture or design.

Most audio subliminal reprogramming tapes offer verbal suggestions recorded at a
low  volume.   I question the efficacy of this technique--if subliminals are not
perceptible, they cannot  be  effective,  and  subliminals  recorded  below  the
audible  threshold are therefore useless.  The oldest audio subliminal technique
uses a voice that follows the volume of the music so subliminals are  impossible
to  detect  without a parametric equalizer.  But this technique is patented and,
when I wanted to develop my own line of subliminal audiocassettes,  negotiations
with the patent holder proved to be unsatisfactory.  My attorney obtained copies
of  the  patents which I gave to some talented Hollywood sound engineers, asking
them to create a new technique.  They found a way to psycho-acoustically  modify
and  synthesize the suggestions so that they are projected in the same chord and
frequency as the music, thus giving them the effect of being part of the  music.
But  we  found  that  in using this technique, there is no way to reduce various
frequencies to detect the subliminals.  In other words, although the suggestions
are being heard by the subconscious mind, they cannot be monitored with even the
most sophisticated equipment.

If we were able to come up with this technique as easily as we did, I  can  only
imagine  how  sophisticated the technology has become, with unlimited government
or advertising funding.  And  I  shudder  to  think  about  the  propaganda  and
commercial  manipulation  that  we  are  exposed  to on a daily basis.  There is
simply no way to know what is behind  the  music  you  hear.   It  may  even  be
possible to hide a second voice behind the voice to which you are listening.

The  series  by  Wilson  Bryan  Key,  Ph.D.,  on  subliminals in advertising and
political campaigns well documents the misuse in many areas, especially  printed
advertising in newspapers, magazines, and posters.

The  big question about subliminals is:  do they work?  And I guarantee you they
do.  Not only from the response of those who have used my tapes,  but  from  the
results  of  such  programs  as  the  subliminals behind the music in department
stores.  Supposedly, the only message is instructions to not  steal:   one  East
Coast  department  store  chain reported a 37 percent reduction in thefts in the
first nine months of testing.

A 1984 article in the technical newsletter, "Brain-Mind Bulletin,"  states  that
as  much  as  99  percent  of  our  cognitive  activity  may be "non-conscious,"
according to the director of the Laboratory for  Cognitive  Psychophysiology  at
the  University of Illinois.  The lengthy report ends with the statement, "these
findings support the use of subliminal approaches such as taped suggestions  for
weight   loss   and   the  therapeutic  use  of  hypnosis  and  Neuro-Linguistic
Programming."

Mass Misuse

I could relate many stories that support subliminal programming, but I'd  rather
use my time to make you aware of even more subtle uses of such programming.

I  have personally experienced sitting in a Los Angeles auditorium with over ten
thousand people who were gathered to listen to  a  current  charismatic  figure.
Twenty minutes after entering the auditorium, I became aware that I was going in
and  out of an altered state.  Those accompanying me experienced the same thing.
Since it is our business, we were aware of what was happening, but those  around
us   were  not.   By  careful  observation,  what  appeared  to  be  spontaneous
demonstrations were, in fact, artful manipulations.  The only way I could figure
that the eyes-open trance had been induced was that a 6-  to  7-cycle-per-second
vibration  was being piped into the room behind the air conditioner sound.  That
particular vibration generates alpha, which would  render  the  audience  highly
susceptible.  Ten to 25 percent of the population is capable of a somnambulistic
level  of  altered states of consciousness; for these people, the suggestions of
the speaker, if non-threatening, could potentially be accepted as "commands."

Vibrato

This leads to the mention of VIBRATO.  Vibrato is the tremulous effect  imparted
in some vocal or instrumental music, and the cyle-per-second range causes people
to go into an altered state of consciousness.  At one period of English history,
singers  whose  voices  contained pronounced vibrato were not allowed to perform
publicly because listeners would go into an altered state  and  have  fantasies,
often sexual in nature.

People  who  attend  opera  or  enjoy  listening to singers like Mario Lanza are
familiar with this altered state induced by the performers.

ELFs

Now, let's carry this awareness a little farther.  There are also inaudible ELFs
(extra-low frequency waves).  These are electromagnetic in nature.  One  of  the
primary  uses  of  ELFs  is  to  communicate  with our submarines.  Dr.  Andrija
Puharich, a highly respected researcher, in an attempt to warn  U.S.   officials
about Russian use of ELFs, set up an experiment.  Volunteers were wired so their
brain  waves could be measured on an EEG.  They were sealed in a metal room that
could not be penetrated by a normal signal.

Puharich then beamed ELF waves at the volunteers.  ELFs  go  right  through  the
earth  and, of course, right through metal walls.  Those inside couldn't know if
the signal was or was not being sent.  And Puharich watched the reactions on the
technical equipment:  30 percent of those inside the room were taken over by the
ELF signal in six to ten seconds.

When I say "taken over,"  I  mean  that  their  behavior  followed  the  changes
anticipated at very precise frequencies.  Waves below 6 cycles per second caused
the  subjects  to  become  very  emotionally  upset,  and  even disrupted bodily
functions.  At 8.2 cycles, they felt very high .  .  .  an elevated feeling,  as
though  they  had  been in masterful meditation, learned over a period of years.
Eleven to 11.3 cycles induced waves of depressed agitation  leading  to  riotous
behavior.

The Neurophone

Dr.   Patrick  Flanagan  is a personal friend of mine.  In the early 1960s, as a
teenager, Pat was listed as one of the top scientists in  the  world  by  "Life"
magazine.   Among  his many inventions was a device he called the Neurophone--an
electronic  instrument  that  can  successfully  programm  suggestions  directly
through  contact  with  the  skin.   When he attempted to patent the device, the
government demanded that he prove it worked.  When he did, the National Security
Agency confiscated the neurophone.  It took Pat two years of legal battle to get
his invention back.

In using the device, you don't hear or see a thing; it is applied to  the  skin,
which  Pat  claims  is  the  source  of  special senses.  The skin contains more
sensors for heat, touch, pain, vibration, and electrical fields than  any  other
part of the human anatomy.

In  one of his recent tests, Pat conducted two identical seminars for a military
audience--one seminar one night and one the next night, because the size of  the
room  was  not  large  enough  to accommodate all of them at one time.  When the
first group proved to be very cool and unwilling to respond, Patrick  spent  the
next  day  making  a  special  tape  to  play  at  the second seminar.  The tape
instructed the audience to be extremely warm and responsive and for their  hands
to  become  "tingly."   The  tape  was  played through the neurophone, which was
connected to a wire he placed along the ceiling of  the  room.   There  were  no
speakers,  so  no  sound  could  be  heard,  yet  the  message  was successfully
transmitted from that wire directly into the brains of the audience.  They  were
warm  and  receptive,  their  hands  tingled  and  they  responded, according to
programming, in other ways that I cannot mention here.

The more we find out about how human beings work through today's highly advanced
technological research, the more we learn to control  human  beings.   And  what
probably scares me the most is that the medium for takeover is already in place!
The  television set in your livingroom and bedroom is doing a lot more than just
entertaining you.

Before I continue, let me point out something else about  an  altered  state  of
consciousness.   When  you  go  into  an  altered state, you transfer into right
brain, which results  in  the  internal  release  of  the  body's  own  opiates:
enkephalins and Beta-endorphins, chemically almost identical to opium.  In other
words, it feels good .  .  .  and you want to come back for more.

Recent  tests  by  researcher  Herbert  Krugman  showed that, while viewers were
watching TV, right-brain activity outnumbered left-brain activity by a ratio  of
two  to  one.  Put more simply, the viewers were in an altered state .  .  .  in
trance more often than not.  They were getting their Beta-endorphin "fix."

To measure attention spans, psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland of the Veterans
Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, attached young viewers  to  an  EEG  machine
that  was wired to shut the TV set off whenever the children's brains produced a
majority of alpha waves.  Although the children were told to concentrate, only a
few could keep the set on for more than 30 seconds!

Most viewers are already hypnotized.  To deepen the trance is easy.  One  simple
way  is  to place a blank, black frame every 32 frames in the film that is being
projected.  This creates a 45-beat-per-minute pulsation perceived  only  by  the
subconscious mind--the ideal pace to generate deep hypnosis.

The commercials or suggestions presented following this alpha-inducing broadcast
are  much  more likely to be accepted by the viewer.  The high percentage of the
viewing audience that has somnambulistic-depth ability could  very  well  accept
the suggestions as commands--as long as those commands did not ask the viewer to
do something contrary to his morals, religion, or self-preservation.

The medium for takeover is here.  By the age of 16, children have  spent  10,000
to  15,000  hours  watching  television--that  is  more  time than they spend in
school!  In the average home, the TV set is on for six hours and 44 minutes  per
day--an increase of nine minutes from last year and three times the average rate
of increase during the 1970s.

It  obviously  isn't  getting  better  .   .   .   we are rapidly moving into an
alpha-level  world--very  possibly  the  Orwellian  world   of   "1984"--placid,
glassy-eyed, and responding obediently to instructions.

A research project by Jacob Jacoby, a Purdue University psychologist, found that
of  2,700  people tested, 90 percent misunderstood even such simple viewing fare
as commercials and "Barnaby Jones."  Only minutes after  watching,  the  typical
viewer  missed  23 to 36 percent of the questions about what he or she had seen.
Of course they did--they were going in and out of trance!  If you go into a deep
trance, you must be instructed to remember--otherwise you automatically forget.

I have just touched  the  tip  of  the  iceberg.   When  you  start  to  combine
subliminal  messages  behind  the  music,  subliminal  visuals  projected on the
screen, hypnotically produced visual  effects,  sustained  musical  beats  at  a
trance-inducing  pace .  .  .  you have extremely effective brainwashing.  Every
hour that you spend watching the TV set you become more  conditioned.   And,  in
case  you  thought  there  was  a  law against any of these things, guess again.
There isn't!  There are a lot of powerful people  who  obviously  prefer  things
exactly the way they are.  Maybe they have plans for?

<<End of Article>>