How to Detect Mind Control
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Name Calling
This can include being called negative names (used inappropriately) like liar, psychotic, paranoid, crazy, communist, etc. The purpose, intentional or unintentional, of the usage of these names is to discredit the person they are being used on, without discussing the facts of the debate or topic. Sometimes names are used to shock the listener, which may put the listener into a more susceptible mind state and not critically think about the topic but simply accept the negative name or opinion subliminally.
Glittering Generalities
Democracy, capitalism or other ideas are often discussed in these terms. These terms may be described positively without a critical analysis of all sides of the issue.
The important thing is to look at the ideas behind the terms and analyze them critically. A group may also only discuss the positives of the organization, ignoring any negative criticism about the group. The important thing is to check out any group or organization as completely as possible before joining. But I believe it is also important to trust people when they are safe, so that we can recover by sharing and connecting.
Exaggeration
A user of propaganda may use terms like "many," "a lot," "numerous," or "a few" without backing up these numbers or statistics. The usage of these words may make a person or organization look better or worse without data or substantial proof.
Emotional Manipulation
Sometimes it is important to look at the argument(s) with as little emotion as possible, and try to see the facts only.
From http://carmen.artsci. washington.edu/propaganda/fear.htm, "...there
are four elements to a successful fear appeal: 1) a threat, 2) a specific recommendation about how the audience should behave, 3) audience perception that the recommendation will be effective in addressing the threat, and 4) audience perception that they are capable of performing the recommended behavior." Groups may also use these techniques on their members. They may say, "If you don’t do this, then the world will end, we will close, etc." For members that are very needy or attached to the organization or person making the statement, this threat may be very difficult to ignore.
In E-mail, this may be caused by the use of capital letters or other techniques. The writer may say things like, "apples are always red," and then, "apples are always blue," to cause confusion in the reader and make them more susceptible to the ideas in the E-mail. While the mind is trying to figure out which statement is true, the reader’s mind may become more susceptible to the suggestion or idea.
Sutphen in his article talks about "Shock and Confusion," how people go into a meditative state when scared and are more likely to be compliant to the second suggestion. If people are made to feel guilty that they were given something, they are more likely to follow the next command, like give money, etc.
For survivors, I think the important thing is to realize when these techniques are being used on us. To fight the second suggestion and not follow it blindly. This may entail leaving the area immediately and going to a safe spot. Online this may mean reading certain E-mails with support people present. And to avoid those that may use these suggestions on us whenever possible. Learning how to develop safe support systems and safe resources can help with this. I believe it is dangerous to believe that we can’t be MC’ed.
Guilt may also be used as a technique, especially on survivors. Making people feel like they haven’t done enough for a particular group or organization, asking people to do things without considering all sides of the issue or their own needs.
Neediness can also be used. Survivors may be looking for approval, acceptance and a place to discuss their feelings. So they may not be able to critically decide what support systems may be the safest for them. Groups will first be very nice or overly nice to them (love bombing), but this will often disappear later and emotional manipulation and threats or guilt may be used to try to cause the desired behavior.
Subliminal Commands
The techniques used to create subliminal commands can vary. I believe they usually create a meditative state in the individual. I have heard that TV can cause these states. "Glassy eyed stares" or "being spaced out" are often used to describe this state. Shock or fear or other extreme emotional states may also be used to create meditative states. These commands may help the writer bypass the reader’s conscious mind.
Specific triggers may be used on survivors. These may sound like the ideas of those that do not believe in the existence of recovered memory or ritual abuse. These can include calling a person paranoid, psychotic or crazy (see "name calling") and allude to the fact that a person’s paranoia is connected to a psychotic disorder, which, I believe, usually isn’t the case. This can be used to try and get the survivor to doubt their own reality and the reality of their memories. (See SMART issue #27 for the low rate (less than 5 percent) of "false" memories.)
Subliminal triggers may also be used intentionally or unintentionally to remind a survivor of a specific ritual or past program. Repeated use (or the one time use) of certain terms, that could be triggering for survivors, could qualify. The writer may be using these terms to scare or trigger the reader.
A colleague of mine wrote me and told me that she uses three criterion to determine online if a person may be a perpetrator of MC.
1) If the person uses guilt.
2) If the person tells them to "f_ off." (Could be considered a technique to shock the reader.)
3) Using lots of triggers to control their actions.
I think the one thing that all 3 above have in common is they entail some sort of emotional manipulation and/or trigger.
Changing the Topic
Rather than deal with the specific topic, a group or person may try to change the topic, or discredit the other side, rather than deal with the criticisms or arguments in the debate. A variety of propaganda techniques may be used to try and do this. This technique has occasionally been used by politicians and others.
Repetition
One way of remembering something is to constantly repeat it. This is one way we learn to remember new words and songs. Rather than debating the points of the debate, a debater may simply continue calling a person a liar or crazy or a traitor, etc. (see "name calling") without backing up their statements. How often is an idea in an argument presented without a source or logical backing. This is one place in a debate or argument where a debater may show their "true colors." Are they interested in debating the points of the argument or are they using propaganda and mind control techniques?
Testimonials
Individuals that are not qualified to discuss the particulars (the specific facts) of a debate or product may join the debate or ad campaign and make statements that may have little or no logical backing or factual basis. Organizations and companies may use a variety of techniques to encourage such participation.
Band Wagon
The user of propaganda may encourage people to join the cause without asking them to think about the facts and other side of the argument. This may include a kind of hero worship, including fancy clothes, high expenditures, claims of a large following, etc. I think the most important thing is to follow your instincts and recovery, not someone else. Other people may have valid and helpful things to say, but I believe our recovery has to be our own.
Logical Fallacies
These will be intentionally used by the user of propaganda to manipulate opinion.
Example: John likes apples.
Hitler liked apples.
John likes Hitler.
This can be used in politics. Equating communism to fascism because one or several communist governments may have been fascist is an example of this. A person may agree with someone on one topic and disagree with the same person on another topic. The user of propaganda may try to lump the two people or a group of people together that disagree with them, suggesting a conspiracy, when it may only be people agreeing on a certain topic.
You might hear that we can’t trust anyone if certain people aren’t safe. This is a logical fallacy and isn’t true. It may take time for the survivor to trust again, but I think we need to keep trying to trust safe people, so we can heal.
Unwarranted Extrapolation
This is another logical fallacy. A person receiving a criticism may claim that a critique of themselves or their group may cause divisiveness in society or their movement. ("Love it or leave" is an example of this.) The repetition of this idea may reinforce the idea in the reader’s mind. An alternative way of looking at this is that the same critique could also make the movement stronger, by encouraging people to think about their choices and use caution before making those choices. It may encourage all those in the movement to become healthier, making the movement even stronger.
In all logical fallacies, and in terms of propaganda in general, try to see the other possible conclusions of the argument, not simply those presented by the user of propaganda.
How to Avoid Blindly Accepting Propaganda and Being Mind Controlled
(Please note: these are only suggestions. You may want to analyze each of them to see if they have any value to you and if necessary, add some of your own.)