THE BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND
by Dick Sutphen -- 22.2 KB
Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques
Being Used On The Public Today courtesy of Double
Helix at 212-865-7043
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 is through the use of the non-detectable Neurophone to
program through the skin. This is 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 ways 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 individual 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.
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 re-election 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.
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 cycle-
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 (extra low frequencies)
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??
FINIS
TUCoPS is optimized to look best in Firefox® on a widescreen monitor (1440x900 or better).
Site design & layout copyright © 1986-2024 AOH
