Covert Metaphor

The following is a stream of consciousness which I wrote sitting at a café one morning. I was thinking about things which disturb me, and this is what came out. Read it carefully because there are a few key components of persuasion and manipulation sprinkled about.

What do I find disgusting and revolting? Now as I attempt to produce an answer I can’t think of much that really gets to me. Where some people might tend to resist the image of blood and guts, I think what makes me cringe the most is the effects of successful persuasion and manipulation which break all ethical boundaries; those insidious techniques used against people to ruin lives.

Even slightly more mild examples make my skin crawl. I can’t stand watching small children parrot every commercial they see, or spew forth religious dogma on cue like trained puppies, their parents smiling so proud. Vomit.

I see it everyday when someone manipulates their partner using emotional techniques of give and take. The willing victims are those who don’t analyze their own actions, question their own beliefs, and accept everything at face value. Is an unexamined life really worth living?

It is a disturbing thought to think humans may be nothing more than organic vessels carrying loads of useless memes around, infecting each other at every opportunity.

If there is such a thing as absolute truth, I have only seen glimpses of it indirectly. That is through pure intuition, devoid of any symbols, stories, language or thought.

It is possible to translate this experience into language and art, but you are still left with only symbols which represent the experience. This is the reason language will always fail to give that which it promises.

It may seem perplexing to some that I study and teach techniques of persuasion and manipulation when I find many of its effects revolting.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your perspective, life does not work without it. We are all manipulators. Every child manipulates its parents, every lover their partner. It is inescapable.

Of course not all outcomes of persuasion and manipulation are negative. Wouldn’t you try to persuade a friend who might be walking down a path of self-destruction? It all depends on the context doesn’t it? Context is everything in this game.

There are some recent ads targeted at teenagers against the use of methamphetamine (speed). I’ll take two of these ads to clarify the point I am trying to make. The first billboard shows a young man with lesions on his skin, dark circles under his eyes, and a caption reads, “Actually, doing meth won’t make it easier to hook up.”

Imagine if we changed the context and put him in a completely different environment. For example, change the background and put him underneath a tropical sun standing before a beautiful pool, surrounded by a group of skimpily clad bikini models. The caption remains the same, but the story changes completely.

The second billboard is a picture of a filthy toilet stall and a caption that reads, “No one thinks they’ll lose their virginity here. Meth will change that.” Now keep this caption but instead of a filthy toilet stall, replace it with an image of a beautiful room, a large ornate bed with silk sheets and a young attractive half-naked man with muscles. The effects will obviously be different. The context tells an entirely different story. Context is being used to control the masses on a daily basis.

Also, recognize the type of appeal being made in these ads. They are targeted at teenagers who tend to be more susceptible to emotional appeals rather than rational appeals. Ads using rational appeals are declining because of an increase of less-educated people.

Speaking of stories…

Humans are hardwired for stories it would seem. Depending on your own stories is what determines your life outcome. The stories you consistently tell yourself determines your own reality. Is yours a story of frustration, sadness, and failure, or one of success, happiness, and health? Do you hate your job? Well, that’s a story too.

Perceive what is behind the language, symbols, and metaphor. Recognize the context and write your own story.

admin :: Dec.23.2007 :: deception, metaphor, persuasion, propaganda, psychology, storytelling, symbology :: No Comments »

“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.” -Dune by Frank Herbert

What ever happened to those fire and brimstone preachers bent on putting the fear of hell into their followers? Well, they still exist, but allow me to recognize one Johnathan Edwards who in 1741 delivered a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Some of it went a little like this:

So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

You can find the whole sermon here.

It is very educational to study these kind of texts to identify and recognize different types of persuasion, propaganda, and brainwashing techniques being used. Most all literature from large organized religious institutions can be studied in this manner. You may even want to visit different religious organizations in person and tell them you feel lost and are looking for the right path, but you’re just not sure what that is. Make sure you bring a small digital recorder and hide it well so you can later transcribe the conversation and take some time to see what different techniques were being used on you. Religious recruiters are well trained, just like military recruiters. Yes, indeed!

In this particular post I am recognizing fear as the prime persuader and motivator. Fear is extremely effective.

So, let’s jump ahead two centuries later to Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. In Hitler’s Reichstag speech of December 11, 1941, he declared war on the United States:

Since the beginning of the war [in September 1939], the American President Roosevelt has steadily committed ever more serious crimes against international law. Along with illegal attacks against ships and other property of German and Italian citizens, there have been threats and even arbitrary deprivations of personal freedom by internment and such. The increasingly hostile attacks by the American President Roosevelt have reached the point that he has ordered the American navy to immediately attack, fire upon and sink all German and Italian ships, in complete violation of international law. American officials have even boasted about destroying German submarines in this criminal manner. American cruisers have attacked and captured German and Italian merchant ships, and their peaceful crews were taken away to imprisonment In addition, President Roosevelt’s plan to attack Germany and Italy with military forces in Europe by 1943 at the latest was made public in the United States [by the Chicago Tribune and several other papers on 4 Dec. 1941], and the American government made no effort to deny it.

You can find the whole speech here. This particular translation is true to what was really said in Germany. The New York Times wrote their own version to instill fear into Americans as well.

Although Hitler doesn’t use Hell and he isn’t trying to convince his listeners to give up their lives to Jesus Christ, Johnathan Edwards and Adolf Hitler are both using fear while threatening consequences. This does a wonderful job of motivating and persuading people.

Let’s take a look at a more recent speech made by President George W. Bush on April 16, 2007:

Families gathered here understand that America is not going to be safe until the terrorist threat has been defeated. If we do not defeat the terrorists and extremists in Iraq, they won’t leave us alone — they will follow us to the United States of America. That’s what makes this battle in the war on terror so incredibly important. One of the lessons of September the 11th is what happens overseas matters to the security of the United States of America, and we must not forget that lesson.

The consequences of failure in Iraq would be death and destruction in the Middle East and here in America. To protect our citizens at home, we must defeat the terrorists. We defeat them by staying on the offense and we defeat them by helping young democracies defeat their ideology of hate. And it’s hard work. But it is necessary work, and thousands of men and women who wear our uniform understand the stakes.

The bold italics are my doing. You can find the whole speech here.

Again, this speech is using the exact same techniques of fear and consequence to motivate and persuade its audience. The speaker threatens their listeners with terrifying consequences if their prescribed actions are not met.

Study all three speeches in order to find their similarities. It doesn’t take much effort.

admin :: Aug.28.2007 :: persuasion, psychology :: No Comments »

The “Sacred Science”

This technique is somewhat abstract and a bit hard to explain without going into lengthy examples. I’ll try to summarize it nonetheless.

The purpose behind this technique is to establish your teachings as holy and sacrosanct, so much so that they are beyond question. So sacred are your teachings that they cannot be violated or criticized. And while your teachings are sacred and beyond any critical thought, they must also be scientific and logical, making any would-be debunker seem not only unsanctified, but illogical and unscientific as well.

This reminds me of a friend of mine forced into a 12-step rehabilitation program because his employer surprised him with a drug test. He tested positive and was then forced into an aggressive one year program in order to keep his job. The funny thing is that it has been about fifteen years since he touched anything. It was just bad timing. And yet he is now being told by his rehabilitation councelors that he’s definitely an addict, which they base of course on “scientific” fact.

They’ll lie with statistics, as well as make statements which seem like established facts. For example, “Everybody knows that spiritual healing works.” This example uses another advanced language pattern as well. Can you tell me which one?

Just remember it this way:

1. Your teachings are sacred and therefore unapproachable. For someone to even question them shows their ignorance of the universe and its purpose. Your purpose and the purpose of the universe are one.

2. Use lots of pseudo-science to back up what you’re saying. A good example of this is the Law of Attraction and Quantum Physics. You can pair just about anything together and make it sound good. Then you can dig up plenty of examples to “prove” your claims.

Loading the Language

The purpose of loading the language is to limit the usage of language by restricting creativity and using repetitive words and phrases. This method is often found in political and religious cliches. Those people which identify themselves with a certain group will use many of the same keywords. The beauty of this is your followers don’t really need to understand the phrases they are parroting. Note the similarities to advanced language patterns used in persuasion, only in the case of brainwashing it is used to replace a person’s vocabulary and limit their self-expression, making it much easier to lead them. Basically, the true purpose of the public education system. Bahahahaha!

“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!” (Just ask any Christian you know what Hallelujah really means. They don’t know. Who are you to question God anyways!?).

“He understands the voters.”

“You need an upgrade.”

Are you scratching your head at this point? It really is abstract and hard to grasp which makes it all the more powerful. The less powerful one feels by using loaded language, the more they will use it to mask their own fear and guilt. Again, are we really saying anything to each other?

Doctrine Over Person

This is very much how it looks. Don’t modify the teachings, but create new rationalizations in order to cause people to conform. Just look at the core teachings of all major religions. They don’t modify their fundamental beliefs to fit in with a more contemporary perspective, isn’t that right? They change the people to fit the same doctrine.

The same goes for history. Each country rewrites history to fit in with its own doctrine. It no longer matters what really happened so long as they submit to whatever you have arbitrarily decided as true.

We all live in a totalist environment even if we’ve been told otherwise. The majority and the masses comply to the environment’s doctrine for the most part without question. Then there are those few who are like “mutants” for lack of a better term. The mutants may comply to a certain extent, but know there are alternate versions of reality to experience. I imagine many of this blog’s readers are like this and many of them will find themselves immune to techniques like Doctrine Over Person. The reasoning behind this is the majority of people do not have a strong self-made identity and easily accept any identity that is given to them. The “mutants” have a strong sense of individuality and therefore are less prone to believe in outside influences.

Do you see how similar we are? You are one of the elite. You are special. Join Me.

The Dispensing of Existence

This makes me think of a song by a favorite band of mine called Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. The song is called The Perplexity of Hybris. What we call hubris the Greeks called hybris.

Among the roses where I stand
Torn and scratched disguised by blood
I watch the puppets stagger in their unlife
Caught in the web of perplexity

I glorify myself
I glorify myself for who I am
I glorify myself
I glorify myself for what I am

Screams of frustration echo
While my feet walk across the shells of the damned
In these realms of demise
Where life seeks its mark

Listen to my laughter
High upon the wind
I walk the path of my choice
Trampling those who seek to stand in my way

A bright glowing star
Shines almost invisible
Down into the crypts in the city of worms
Where life pursues in darkness

This is my life
And I rightfully praise myself for my accomplishments
My intellect guides me
As my life ceaselessly progresses

What is hybris in a world that thrives on contempt?
What is hybris in a world that fosters shame?
What is hybris in a world where blind are made to lead?
What is hybris in a world where abstinence is a deed?
What is hybris in world where the fools are highly praised?
What is hybris for a god in a world of the impaled?
What is hybris for a god in a world that spews on strength?
What is hybris in a world where virtue is repent?

We have the divine right to destroy those that do not submit to our chosen doctrine. Our path and only our path is the one true path to freedom. All others are false and deserve to be destroyed. Our God is the only true God. Blah blah blah…

Does this remind you of anything going on in the world right now?

The dispensing of existence need not be physical. You can cause the fear of extinction and annihilation by forcing others to choose a path of existence of the future. This is an easy task in a society where people are not longer self-reliant. Loss of house, job, credit cards, bank account, driver’s license, spouse, family is for the most part equated with death. You must now obey the doctrine or your personal identity which was created for you will be stripped away. So don’t question too much and just follow along.

admin :: Aug.23.2007 :: persuasion, psychology :: No Comments »

“Guilty on all counts.

I’m glad I was caught. I was mentally deranged.

Now I am cured.

I ask only for you to accept my love of our leader.

I ask only to be shot while my mind is still clean.” – Movie adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984

In 1961 psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton wrote Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, a study of brainwashing. Chapter 22 of this book appears to have caught the most attention, and was probably responsible for helping a handful of cults get their start in the 60’s and 70’s. It was in this chapter that Dr. Lifton expounds on eight specific techniques of brainwashing, which evidently were being used in China. Aspiring charismatic leaders now had eight techniques of ‘ideological totalism’ to control just about anyone. People ask me quite a bit how does one start a cult. Well, here it is. In my opinion these eight techniques are the best place to start.

Just keep in mind how many so-called reputable business and religious organizations use these very same techniques to convert and keep their members. Perhaps even our own government? Hmmmmm.

Now join me as I show you how to start your own cult starting with the first four techniques today and the last four techniques tomorrow.

Milieu Control

A milieu is a physical or social setting in which something happens. If you control the environment, you can control most of the communication going in and out of it. If you’ve been reading this blog up until now, you will undoubtably understand how powerful it is to have control of your own or someone else’s internal state. Our internal states can change through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic communication. Take control of the environment and you will take control of a person’s internal state and communication, leading then to change in beliefs. Your version of the “truth” should permeate their whole reality, making it difficult for any other contradicting ideas to get in.

Mystical Manipulation

At this stage you will define your purpose as divine, something higher than yourself. You are one of the chosen few or perhaps you are the “chosen one”. This will give you the justification to do whatever you want to, and if it is questioned, then the subject can be told that their questioning indicates ignorance on their part. To question your ultimate path of truth shows that they understand very little of this world. You can have sex with all your members, take drugs, and abuse your followers. Who are they to question? You have a direct connection to God and they’re not advanced enough to understand why only you, the master of the universe, are permitted to do such things.

“God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.” – President Bush

They may at some point begin to submit, out of trust or mistrust, but any chance of independent thought or action will have become minimized due to the anticipated pressures of the environment.

“Remember, you must have faith brothers and sisters. You cannot question these higher truths because they are beyond your understanding at this time. You must just accept them and have faith until your day comes.”

The Demand for Purity

It is here we must deal in absolutes. There is either good or evil. Everything is in black and white. Anything which deviates from your truth and beliefs is impure, and should be treated appropriately. Use the weapons of shame and guilt as punishment. Since you are chosen you have the power to judge, but you have the power to forgive as well.

This was a common tactic during the Cold War. The captors would strip the prisoner naked or give them a room without a toilet or running water. Good behavior was rewarded with a toothbrush or shower, etc.

Governments do this as well. They get people to identify with totalist polarizations of black and white, knowing individuals will eventually apply these same judgements to themselves.

For example, you know what it is to be a good American don’t you? Anything outside of that and you may be siding with terrorists. After all, freedom ain’t free and soldiers are dying in the Middle East so you can live the life you do. Shame on you or your neighbors.

The Cult of Confession

Now where have I heard of confession before?

The use of confession helps a subject to purge themselves of all impurities you have shown them. In reality it doesn’t matter if they are guilty of them or not. In the history of brainwashing many prisoners confessed to crimes they did not commit.

Although it appears that confession is meant to give relief to the subject, the true reason is to exploit the subject and their vulnerabilities even further. In this way they will never maintain any kind of balance. If I, the chosen one, can judge myself, I have the right to judge you even more.

“I once was lost in sin…”

admin :: Aug.19.2007 :: persuasion, psychology :: 1 Comment »

I’m not sure if I should be writing this on the front page of my site, but I’m sure you’ll keep what you’re about to read to yourself.

No one can keep a secret even though they swear on their mother’s grave they’ll never tell a soul. They just can’t help it. “Hey, I’m not supposed to tell you this, so make sure you don’t tell anyone, alright?” And before you know everyone knows your secret.

I understood very early on that people just can’t keep a secret even if they have the best intentions. I used to play around with this a bit in High School for my own amusement. I’d tell someone a secret, making sure they promised to absolutely keep it to themselves, and then sit back and watch it spread like a virus.

A good example of this can be seen in the movie American Pie. The character Paul Finch gives his friend Jessica $200 to spread rumors about his extraordinary sexual abilities. Soon he’s getting a lot of attention from other girls.

Secrets are considered more believable and valid. If it wasn’t true, why would someone want to keep it a secret, right?

So, imagine the potential of persuading whole groups of people by telling one person a little secret that will lead to your desired outcome.

There are so many business and social applications to telling secrets. Ever hear this one? “You seem like a nice person and I could get in trouble for this, but if you can keep this to yourself, I can give you a real good deal on this car.” Yes, now I’ll get the same price everyone else does!

Yes, it is somewhat devious, but it can be a very effective persuasion technique. Remember, don’t get hung up only on conversational hypnosis and language patterns. There are no rules to any of this. The real power comes from knowing what combination to use in any situation. Don’t wait for the perfect moment to try and use these techniques. If you fall on your face in the beginning so be it, but honestly how many people study persuasion and consciously guard themselves against it?

I use this stuff all the time against those that study persuasion and conversational hypnosis, most of the time unconsciously, and they still fall victim to it. Nobody is aware 100% of the time. It happens to me too. Friends and family are out to tweak me, and they are successful. They even use my own material against me!

Just don’t tell anyone I told you about this.

Learn Conversational Hypnosis, NLP, Sleight of Mouth, and Metaphor techniques which you can use instantly. Click Here To Find Out How >>

admin :: Jul.28.2007 :: persuasion, psychology :: No Comments »

I take the time to research everything out there from Reichian Therapy to Chaos Magic; anything that might enhance spiritual and psychological growth. I have found Psychosynthesis to demonstrate sustaining self-transformation.

Psychosynthesis is based on the work of Roberto Assagioli, and consists of a number of very effective techniques that allow both psychological and spiritual growth. A major part of psychosynthesis techniques are working with subpersonalities.

In psychosynthesis, subpersonalities have have their own motivations. They each perceive the world in their own unique way. The psychosynthesis model of subpersonalities separates our overall personality into mini-personalities. The subpersonality model can be a very useful one if your goal is to unite your unconscious and conscious mind to focus on those things you really want.

Each subpersonality has its own mythology, its own story. Metaphor can be very useful when communicating directly with one of your subpersonalities.

By keeping a daily journal you can easily identify different moods, desires, traits, and reality perceptions. One idea is to separate these traits into subpersonalities using your favorite mythology, and gave each one a name. By objectifying a subpersonality in this way, it makes it possible to dis-identify with it and observe its behaviours.

admin :: Jul.20.2007 :: metaphor, myth, psychology, psychosynthesis :: 1 Comment »

When I was a child I noticed that adults drifted into trance during a conversation numerous times. I did not know what this state was called at the time of course, but I definitely could recognize the signs. I watched many grown-ups space out or become deeply absorbed in their activities. It was not long before I realized they did not hear everything I was saying to them. This was extremely amusing to me and when I noticed my parents, for example, spacing out during their conversations, I would slip in a nonsensical sentence between whatever I was saying. One particular phrase I can remember using often was, “Mickey Mouse in his underwear.” This went on for days before it was consciously recognized by any of my victims.

Common Trance States

Common trance states with a little practice are very easy to recognize. We drift in and out of trance all day long when we, for example, read a book, watch TV or drive a car. We become so absorbed in our internal experience, that it causes notable external changes to our bodies. Our breathing may change, our pupils can dilate, and the hue of our skin may alternate between different shades. Simply observe others when they engage in any activity that requires a focused awareness and you will soon learn to recognize most signs of trance.

Embedded Commands

Dr. Milton H. Erickson, considered the father of modern hypnotherapy, and his wife Elizabeth Erickson, were pioneers in the art of embedded commands. It was during the 60’s that this husband and wife team began to teach these techniques, but only to professionals with advanced degrees in medicine, psychiatry and psychology. Some years later in the early 70’s, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) was created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. At this point, other individuals who were not necessarily therapists, began learning and teaching embedded commands.

It was not until the 80’s that embedded commands were used in the context of persuasion. Embedded commands were the privileged black arts of elite underground sales groups. How else could they sell a Delorian?

In 1990 the book Unlimited Selling Power: How to Master Hypnotic Selling Skills by Donald Moine and Kenneth Lloyd was published, helping many people already in marketing and sales to learn conversational hypnosis and hypnotic selling skills.

Embedded commands are suggestions which circumvent the conscious mind and slip unseen into the unconscious mind. Embedded commands can be found naturally in many people’s everyday speech. For example, when parents tell their children, “Make sure you don’t drop that glass.” What usually happens? The child imagines that very experience which they want to avoid, only to watch juice spill everywhere moments later.

Traditional embedded commands usually employ a transitive verb to identify the beginning of the suggestion in combination with a change in tonality or physical gesture. Embedded commands must be marked off consistently in a conversation in order for the listener’s unconscious mind to pick out the patterns.

Tell a Story

Causing distraction by using a nonsensical sentence within a story can cause someone to temporarily go internal and experience a sort of mini-trance, giving the conversational hypnotist ample time to embed a suggestion. If the listener is already obviously absorbed in their own thoughts, this makes the task that much easier.

For example, “Those shoes you are trying on remind me of a friend of mine. He is very attractive and has a keen eye for nice clothes. Although, every time I go out with him it can get quite annoying. Women constantly flirt with him, smile and say hello. I wonder where those women studied watercolor. Move forward and buy those shoes. My friend also had great taste in coats. Are you looking for a coat as well?”

Many beginners learning these techniques are apprehensive and fear they might get caught immediately. In my experience, it is very rare that anyone ever recognizes nonsensical phrases just before an embedded command is used. Even friends and family will be at the mercy of your story.

admin :: Jul.17.2007 :: advanced language patterns, covert hypnosis, metaphor, persuasion, psychology, storytelling :: 7 Comments »

In psychology and hypnosis we often hear the terms conscious and unconscious mind. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what exactly is the unconscious mind. We can’t exactly see it; it’s just an abstract concept. What the hell is it exactly?

I was under the impression for a long time that psychologists and hypnotists viewed the unconscious mind as being the same thing. I’m still unsure of their subtle differences on perspective.

If you’ve ever ventured into the occult you’ve no doubt heard of or used a pendulum. Most pendulums you can buy these days consist of a string or metal chain tied to some ornate piece of metal or quartz crystal. From time to time people involved in the New Age scene still believe the pendulum moves by itself or by a spirit guide. There is actually a scientific explanation for it.

If you’ve studied psychology and hypnosis before I’m sure you’ve already learned that the unconscious mind can’t differentiate between something real and something vividly imagined. Well, a French natural scientist named Michel-Eugene Chevreul discovered in 1883 while using a pendulum that the unconscious mind can effect physical movements which are not controlled by the conscious mind (see my post on subcommunications); these movements can be sustained by the unconscious mind despite any interference from the conscious mind; and the unconscious mind can be conditioned by repetition.

This is interesting because if we think of our body language as a system of unconscious ideomotor signaling, how is it possible to consciously be aware of it? And what about the rest of our unconscious behavior that  is never physically expressed?

By using a pendulum you can actually get a dialogue going with your unconscious mind. Take a look into it when you get a chance. There are some interesting applications. I’ve had some interesting experiences with automatic writing as well. Please comment if you have any experiences to share.

admin :: Jun.29.2007 :: hypnosis, psychology :: No Comments »