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 living room 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."
Part 8 of The Battle for Your Mind
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