Arnie Lerma's recommended reading

[Sindy]

Hey! Thanks for bumping this thread. It looks very interesting and one which I will consume. I would not have known about it otherwise.

[Jachs]

A fun book which is short and unserious that bears on this topic is:

"Hypnotizing Maria" by Richard Bach, which is a thinly disguised account of

how he discovered how we are all hypnotized in most ways.

He concludes that Hypnotism is ONLY suggestions you have accepted, that's it.

This caused me to shift viewpoints regarding Scientology.

When I read DMSMH it was filled with Suggestions that I was ripe to assume.

I used those conclusions to falsely attest to Life Repair, a sad story started.

A related comment from Bach here including a sample chapter (scroll down):
http://www.nevilshute.org/nlapril2009.php

These Quotes are good from this book.

“Hypnotism… is suggestion accepted.” (From the book – page 47).

“What if we believed we were chained by something that doesn’t exist?” (From the book – page 64)

Fear does powerful things to the mind.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62525.asp


.

[Infinite]

Another of the myriad treasures to be found in the ESMB archives. Thanks Arnie.

[Jachs]

Thats a damn good knowledge tour...
No wonder some folks consider you so annoying.
(grin)
Knowledge does that to people.

Oh here is another one, A little book on Hypnosis, that I webbed for your convenience due to how much I learned from the only hypnotist to ever play Carnegie Hall SEVEN TIMES!!!

Ralph Slater, the #1 stage hypnotist of our time, his 1950 Classic, "HYPNOSIS"

May we never be fooled again!

I couldnt get thru to your link for slater but i managed to get it thru google..

some of the quotes i liked were..

In this world other people accept you
at your own valuation of yourself;
thus it is your first
duty to desire sincerely to help your subject, and your
second to make your subject realise that this is your
desire.

I wish to stress that whatever method is employed, its success depends
upon the receptivity of the subject, and the confidence
instilled by the operator that he will succeed!
THE TRUST METHOD, I WONT LET YOU FALL OR BETRAY YOU.

Development of the ability to use this lighter
side of hypnotism for entertainment purposes will
enable you to add greatly to the enjoyment of those
attending any social gathering; and will add to your
popularity and prestige.

Contrary to general belief, it has been my experience
that the more intelligent the subject, the easier it is to
induce hypnosis. It is not a sign of a weak character to
go quickly into a hypnotic state. Hypnosis is not a
struggle or battle of the wills,
but a matter of co-opera-
tion between two people
Children under three, morons
and completely insane people—those, in fact, who can-
not consciously co-operate with the hypnotist—are not
hypnotisable at all.

You must give this command with absolute
self-assurance that it will be instantly obeyed

It is interesting to note that, even in the lighter side
of hypnotism for entertainment purposes, there is very
definite evidence that the suggestive control of the
subconscious can be used by the operator for more
serious purposes

Suggestions should be kept positive so far as possible,
rather than negative.
In other words, "You will do this
—you will think this—you will feel this",
instead of using the negative form, "You will not do this, etc."
(Justice codes/Ethics)

Of course, an experienced operator, enjoying a very
high degree of confidence in his ability to bring any

subject quickly under complete control, will, in many cases,
do so the first time a subject has ever been under hypnosis, and be
able to carry him over at once into the third stage of complete somnambulism.
The beginner will have to develop
this ability through study, practice,
and achievement of that absolute confidence in his
ability which plays so large a part in the success of the
professional hypnotist.
You can develop this confidence—but not overnight! Before you can master others, you must master yourself.

The subject, of course, does not realize that his will has been subjected
to the dominating power of the hypnotist in whose
hands he has (with trust) placed himself.
As in the case of the deeply hypnotised subject, it displays no ability to accept or reject the suggestions of the operator.
These suggestions may be good or bad. Unfortu-
nately, most of the suggestions given to the subconscious
are negative, rather than positive and constructive

He is largely the product of his environment,

and the sug-gestions given to him. If told persistently he is a bad
boy—no good—a disgrace to the family, his subcon-
scious will accept this low estimate of himself, and
organise his life in conformity. More men and women
have been ruined in later life by adults, ignorant of the
devastating effect of such negative suggestion, than by
all other factors combined.
The powers of destructive suggestion are such that
innumerable cases bear witness to results of sickness,
failure, misery, the distressing sense of inferiority, and
even death.

. During the war, I gave most of my time to visiting U.S.
Army and Navy hospitals, demonstrating the use of
hypnosis to the medical staffs, in the treatment of
shell-shock, battle fatigue, insomnia, amnesia and
other nervous and mental conditions. For ten years
I have toured the U.S.A., giving hundreds of demon-
strations before medical groups, in an effort to stimu-
late the interest of physicians in the medical use of
hypnosis.

At my third appearance in Carnegie Hall in New York recently, over a thousand physicians were in the audience, includ-
ing the medical staffs of Halloran and St. Albans Hospitals

Use a strong, commanding tone in giving these suggestions.

These suggestions will impress upon the conscious mind the suggestions already given to the subconscious, thus forming another con-
structive association of ideas.

(Think OT3)
Assure the patient he will no longer fear the
dark, high places, closed places, or whatever his trouble
may be. This is simple, direct and effective hypnotic
treatment—regardless of causes. The chain of negative
association which comprises the cause can be utterly
broken up, through positive suggestion, during hypnosis.

(Think Pain and Sex and general write ups Masturbation).

This is especially true in cases of frigidity. Almost
all authorities are agreed now that very few women are
really frigid. The causes of the apparent frigidity may
be many: misguided teaching by parents or other adults
resulting in the idea that everything pertaining to sex is
vile, filthy and should be strictly repressed; premature
sex experience with its attendant sense of guilt; the
husband's lack of knowledge of how to perform the sex
act so as to achieve mutual satisfaction, etc.
Hypnotist suggestion...
: "You will cease to think of sex as
something vile which you must repress—you are com-
pletely a normal woman, and possess natural and strong
sexual desire—you will respond to your husband's love-
making without any resistance or repression—you will
find complete satisfaction in your marital relations—
your sexual thoughts will be dominated by the idea of
beauty and love—you will find the sex relation natural
and beautiful."

In Chapter One on the History of Hypnotism, it was
pointed out that Bernheim and Liébault

It was their belief that the therapeutic agent used in hypnotism was suggestion.

They taught that hypnosis was a mental state in which the subject's
susceptibility to suggestion was greatly increased.
They also demonstrated that suggestion could be used therapeutically

without hypnosis. The value of hypno-tic suggestion is that the patient's
acceptance of the healing suggestion is heightened by the inability of the conscious mind to doubt,
contest or reject the suggestions made by the operator.

This use of suggestive therapy is as old as the
practice of medicine itself. What hypnotism does is to
multiply many times over the force of the suggestion
through the greater susceptibility of the patient under
hypnosis.
If suggestion is to be successful, the patient must
believe.
No patient
under complete hypnosis can resist the influence of the
suggestions given by the operator.

1. Hypnosis is an art like playing the violin
2. Test your subject before undertaking hypnotism
to make sure he is a good subject.
3. Create a sense of expectancy in the subject that he is
going to
4. Understand the great secret of hypnotism: the
operator does not hypnotise the subject—the
subject hypnotises himself(belief)
5. No one can be hypnotised against his will. The
complete co-operation of the subject is needed.
6. Every suggestion must have a constructive pur-
pose
7. Do not become alarmed if the subject fails to
awaken immediately when you tell him to do so.
8. Do not expect always to place the subject into a
deep sleep the first time you hypnotise him. That
may be expected after several treatments
9. Use a firm, confident tone of voice. Speak dis-
tinctly. Never hesitate
10. Never admit you are a beginner. You must act
with the confidence of a professional—otherwise
you cannot succeed.

hey saves the link.

The trusted authority you accept to educate you and suggest to you whats wrong
and what is not acceptable is a dangerous authority with a power over your thoughts beyond your awareness.

abracadrabra.........Canceller

[Lermanet_com]

Some Principles of Mass Persuasion

doi: 10.1177/001872674900200303 Human Relations July 1949 vol. 2 no. 3 253-267

http://hum.sagepub.com/content/2/3/253 (abstract)

Creating a particular motivational structure

1. The "message" (i.e. information, facts etc.), must reach the sense organs of the persons who are to be influenced

1a. Total stimulus situations are selected or rejected on the basis of an impression of their general characteristics.

1b. The categories employed by a person in characterizing stimulus situations tend to protect him from unwanted changes in his cognitive structure

2. Having reached the sense organs, the message must be accepted as a part of the person's cognitive structure.

2a.Once a given message is received it will tend to be accepted or rejected on the basis of more general categories to which it appears to belong.

2b. The categories employed by a person in characterizing messages tend to protect him from unwanted changes in his cognitive structure.

2c. When a message is inconsistent with a person's cognitive structure it will either
a) be rejected
b) be distorted so as to fit
c) produce changes in the cognitive structure

"We have now explored some of the implications of the notion that behavior is guided by a person's cognitive structure. For satisfactory analysis of the process of social inductions of behavior, however, it is necessary to examine a bit further what it is that energizes behavior."

3. To induce a given action by mass persuasion, this action must be seen as a path to some goal that he has.

3a. a given action will be accepted as a path to a goal only if the connections fits the person's larger cognitive structure.

3b. The more goals which are seen as attainable by a single path, the more likely it is that person will take that path.

3c. If an action is seen as not leading to a desired goal, it will tend to not be chosen to the extent that easier, cheaper, or otherwise more desirable actions are also seen as leading to the same goal.

4. To induce a given action, an appropriate cognitive and motivational system must gain control of the person's behavior at a particular point in time.

4a. The more specifically defined the path of action to a goal (in an accepted motivational structure), the more likely it is that the structure will gain control of behavior.

4b. The more specifically a path of action is located in time, the likely it is that the structure will gain control of behavior.

4c. A given motivational structure may be set in control of behavior by placing the person in a situation requiring a decision to take, a step of action that is a part of the structure.

"Conclusions
The principles presented here derive from a more extensive theory of human motivation. They are concerned with the particular motivational problem of inducing behavior from the outside. To the extent that they are valid, they should apply to all inductions, whether through the mass media or in a face to face situation. The should also apply to inductions attempted for all types of purposes, whether to sell, to train, to supervise work, to produce therapy, and so on. In all such attempts the process of induction must be concerned with the establishment of cognitive, motivational and behavioral structures.
Applied to the field of mass persuasion, these principles may serve as a yardstick for evaluating the probable success of any proposed campaign. The principles are by no means exhaustive, nor do they give detailed guides for the creative aspects of the development of campaigns. The do, however, provide a list of essential requirements for the success of any campaign of mass persuasion. It can be seen, moreover, that, because of inherent difficulties in meeting these requirements, campaigns are not likely to make basic changes in the behavior of large numbers of people unless there is a monopolization of the channels of communication or unless the changes being encouraged are in the same direction as those being stimulated by other influences."

-end of edited excerpt, taken from pages 426-447,
Chapter: Some principles of mass persuasion, selected findings of research on the sale of US War Bonds. by Dorwin Cartwright 1949 as published in "The Process and effects of Mass communication" University of Illinois Press (c) 1971

A google search for Dr Dorwin Cartwright + Ford Foundation is revealing..

[Lermanet_com]

The only way to prevent mental manipulation is to become familiar with the tactics being used to control your thinking. These tactics have been used on the net, and on chatboards and media... LEARN to recognize their use, and learn to recognize those who USE them: lifted from http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnew...isinformation/. I have seen these in use here against me.

The 25 Rules of Disinformation

From Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress Truth: The Rules of Disinformation (Includes The 8 Traits of A Disinformationalist) by H. Michael Sweeney. These 25 rules are everywhere in media, from political debates, to television shows, to comments on a blog.

1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don’t discuss it — especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it’s not reported, it didn’t happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.

2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the “How dare you!” gambit.

3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such “arguable rumors”. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a “wild rumor” which can have no basis in fact.

4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent’s argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.

5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary attack the messenger ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as “kooks”, “right-wing”, “liberal”, “left-wing”, “terrorists”, “conspiracy buffs”, “radicals”, “militia”, “racists”, “religious fanatics”, “sexual deviates”, and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.

6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism reasoning — simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent’s viewpoint.

7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could so taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.

8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough “jargon” and “minutiae” to illustrate you are “one who knows”, and simply say it isn’t so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.

9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues with denial they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.

10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with. Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually them be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues — so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.

11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the “high road” and “confess” with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made — but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, “just isn’t so.” Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later. Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for “coming clean” and “owning up” to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.

12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to loose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.

13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards with an apparent deductive logic in a way that forbears any actual material fact.

14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best for items qualifying for rule 10.

15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.

16. Vanishing evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won’t have to address the issue.

17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can “argue” with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.

18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can’t do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how “sensitive they are to criticism”.

19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the “play dumb” rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon). In order to completely avoid discussing issues may require you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.

20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.

21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed an unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict (usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim) is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed.

22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.

23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.

24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by proper intimidation with blackmail or other threats.

25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.

[Infinite]

Timely post is timely.

[uniquemand]

Nice post, Arnie. A lot of those disinformation techniques look remarkably similar to Success Through Communication Course drills, or Dissemination Course drills. Of course, anyone with an IQ over 100 and some training in spotting logical fallacies wouldn't fall prey to those, anyway, unless they were distracted or disturbed. (I don't pretend that use of logic means you know the truth, but it can mean that you aren't confused by illogic)

[uniquemand]

Sort of a definition, of sorts, of people who are vulnerable to cult propaganda, as I was: disturbed, distracted, and/or untrained in recognition of logical fallacies.

[Lermanet_com]

Some quotes that have recently pleasured this mind...

French economist Frederic Bastiat
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”

John Donne's "No Man Is an Island"
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as a manor of thy friends or of thine own were;
any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

And... for everyone who has read "To be or not be" here is the section from Hamlet Act 3, for amazing context, but first a few unfamiliar words defined per Virginia Waddy's 1889 guide to good study habits LINK

contumely: rudeness or contempt arising from arrogance; insolence
quietus: demise, death
bodkin: A blunt needle for pulling tape or ribbon through a series of loops or a hem.
fardels: pack, bundle (from Arabic)
bourne: destination, limit (Archaic)
Ophelia! Nymph: be used for a scoff or insult Johnsons annotations
orisons: prayers


A room in the castle....

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die; to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause; there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
That undiscover'd country from whose bourne
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd. (III,i)

and from Marjorie Wakefield from Facebook:
Margery Wakefield Arnie, Here's another quote that I like: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

To my friends reading this far, please don't stop, please keep going,
remember: perseverance trumps all!