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 »

The study of our minds’ symbolic language is extremely relevant to the study of metaphor, persuasion, propaganda, and covert hypnosis.

Your so-called reality is made up of an excess of symbols. There are natural symbols and arbitrary symbols. Natural symbols exist regardless of human thought and language. It is probably more appropriate to call a natural symbol a sign. For example, certain cloud formations are signs of specific actions in nature building up to different types of weather; it wasn’t sailors who decided that the presence of cirrus and altocumulus clouds high in the atmosphere would indicate a forecast of rough weather. This relationship already existed naturally.

When you have to go to a public restroom, how do you know which door to enter? As a young child you may have chosen randomnly without a parent or guardian to guide you. Well, how did they know where to go? Because they learned that two stick figures glued to the doors represented a man and a woman. You can argue most people would understand these symbols logically, but that is not the point. These symbols never existed naturally, they were learned. Someone thought it up, everyone else accepted it consciously or unconsciously, and it finally became a convention. Now there are thousands of conventional symbols you experience everyday, created by the minds of others, which are now creating your reality. Symbols are running our lives.

It is interesting to note that certain symbols have different meaning in different cultures. Does that mean they are experiencing a different reality?

Since symbols are mostly a visual language, I’ll begin this category’s discussion with the color red.

The color red can invoke a strong myriad of emotions. Many cultures use red to convey the meaning of danger. Why not blue or pink or some other arbitrary color?

Red is the color of blood of course, and a reminder of our own mortality. The blood is associated with such emotions as love, anger, hate and sexual arousal. These associations are both positive and negative, but blood and its color clearly remind us of the pain of death.

But let’s be fair, red is not all doom and gloom. Red also signifies energy and power, possibly from its association to fire.

In modern daily life red is used to signify danger, instruction to stop, and so on. Many official documents use red to signify importance.

Do you usually take in colors simply on an unconscious level?

Next time try to notice the color red, how it is used, and why.

You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember — all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.

admin :: Sep.12.2007 :: symbology :: 1 Comment »

A metaphor is a verbal or written representation of an experience, but is not necessarily limited to conventional language. Universal language is as old as human beings themselves; a language comprised of symbols. Symbols can be thought of as primal metaphors.

The Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung believed that there exists a set of universal symbols deeply embedded within the human psyche called archetypes, symbols which every human being reacts similarly to without conscious thought. These archetypes encompass all natural forms of the material universe.

Symbols are just as visual as any written language, but their difference in energy is noticeable. Symbols are the language of the unconscious mind, and hold within them a significant amount of emotional, psychological, and spiritual power. Symbols can inspire love, fear, hate, and peace. People will even die for a symbol. When enough imaginative force and emotion is applied to a symbol, it can control entire nations.

Anchors and Personal Symbols

In neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), anchors are associated with specific emotions, and can be triggered later to release emotional content based on a particular memory. Anchors can be visual, tactile and vocal, and tend to set more permanently when matched with a person’s dominant representational system.

Self-created symbols can produce the same effect as an anchor, and are in the author’s opinion a much more powerful method in affecting the unconscious mind to induce self-transformation. By creating a set of symbols, and attaching our own imaginative force and specific emotions to them, we can develop our own personal metaphorical language. This language can then be used to communicate our desires easily and directly to the unconscious mind. This is the key to the law of attraction.

Roll Your Own Symbol

• Sit yourself in a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed for ten to twenty minutes. Make yourself comfortable.
• Place a pen and notepad within arms length if you decide to draw the symbol (read further for details).
• Now for approximately five to ten minutes just breathe naturally through your nose, focusing your awareness on the breath, and the sensations it produces inside the nostrils.
• After some minutes or until you feel a deep sense of calm, intentionally bring up images and emotions related to the outcome of your desire. Wrap yourself up fully in these images and emotions, giving them vivid colors. Spin these colors and images around your body until you feel as if your desire has already been fulfilled.
• Then silence your thoughts and focus only on the pure emotion resonating within your being.
• Ask your unconscious mind to present you with a symbol which represents this desire. When a symbol appears within the dark theater of your mind, draw this symbol immediately on your notepad. Your constructed symbol does not necessarily need to be a drawn symbol. It can be a certain physical gesture or made-up word.

In subsequent meditations you will simply pull up the same images and emotions and mentally link them to your symbol. The more you do this, the stronger those emotions and images will be associated with your constructed symbol.

Begin to use this symbol in your art, notes, and scribbles. Create a paper talisman to carry in your pocket. If your symbol is a physical gesture then incorporate it into dance. If it is a word, use it in poetry and song. Be creative!

It is suggested that your symbols remain private until you are completely convinced of their power.

admin :: Jul.23.2007 :: NLP, magic, metaphor, symbology :: No Comments »