In this text, "Humaginetics" is a fictitious name of the author's own
making and does not describe any real "Humaginetics," should one
exist.
Doing Hard Time on Planet Earth
1. Susceptibility
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Background
-
Initial Contact - "The Road to Happiness"
-
Practical Humaginetics
-
The Resistible Mind
2. Breaking through Natural Barriers
-
Timeless Truth
-
The Brain's Back Door
-
Camouflage
3. The Program
4. Eliminating the Competition
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Absence of Competition
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The Program of Elimination
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Enslavement is Legal
5. Psychological Addiction
6. The Technology of Verbal Camouflage
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Framing and Associating Concepts
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VERBAL - (VISUAL)
-
Definition - (Silhouette)
-
Context - (Texture)
-
Importance - (Light)
1. Susceptibility
Background
Over two hundred years have passed since humankind started
its transition into the Industrial Age. The hand-held
tools of yore which were originally used to create the
machines of the Industrial Age have gradually been
replaced by the same, fickle machines they created. The
calm, attentive state of mind used by the original
craftsmen has long been giving way to the rush to obtain
yet bigger machines. The once sought-after goal of
achieving God-like serenity is being replaced by a demonic
frenzy for more power.
Power for the new machines was to come from soulless sources like steam,
combustion and finally electricity. Performance came to be measured less in
terms of the skill of the craftsmen and more in the power and speed brought to
bear by the operator. Skill has been replaced by efficiency. Peace of mind has
given way to anxiety.
It should come as no big surprise then, that humankind has been turning away
from peaceful qualities in favor of relentless performance. We have been awed
by modern science which is ever more rapidly achieving the unthinkable.
Technological breakthroughs no longer happen randomly, but are more the product
of an irreversible timetable. Ultimately, creation, the one last realm of God,
came to be undone by modern technology.
One day a half a century ago, scientists stood in the New Mexico desert and
watched as matter violently vanished into a mushroom cloud. The atomic bomb was
born. Up to that point, machines had been the answer to everything. Any
problem had been able to be solved with a bigger, better machine. Now,
suddenly, people started to worry en masse about what was going to happen once
the "button" was pushed which could send all of them and their
machines into nuclear oblivion.
Partially in response to this mass reaction, new religious and psychological
movements have sprung up. Each one promises to perish this thought of impending
doom from the minds of its adherents, or at least to divert attention from their
fate and their money long enough to become a commercially viable business.
Initial Contact - "The Road to Happiness"
The title sounded like one of those Bing Crosby/Bob Hope movies from the good
old days: "The Road to Happiness." I sent in a couple of dollars
expecting to get back some never-to-be-forgotten quotations or nostalgic
photographs of the comedic pair, or maybe even Dorothy Lamour. Instead, the
postman delivered a little booklet of writings that looked like a curiously
relaxed version of the Ten Commandments. A few of them read something like
this:
"Honor your father and mother, if possible.
Do not ever get caught in a lie.
Do not steal it if you can do without it."
Under each "commandment" there were several paragraphs explaining why
a person could, for example, do without stealing. There seemed to be a moral to
each point, but it was impossible to entirely grasp what was written. It seemed
completely harmless, yet compelling in its own, vague way.
I was mildly interested in learning more about where all this was supposed to
lead, so I filled out and mailed back the post card which had come with the
booklet. Within a week, I received a hand-written letter asking me to stop by a
"Humaginetics" Service Center in the nearest larger city (Humaginetics
was some sort of abbreviation for "human engineering genetics"), and
an order form for the basic Humaginetics book. I decided to play it safe and
just order the book for $4.50 plus postage and handling. It arrived several
days later.
First of all, I was informed from my new reading material, we human beings all
have strange feelings which we cannot explain. Furthermore, we do not know
where these feelings come from. They seem to appear out of nowhere. Of course
this is something which everybody knows, but Humaginetics seemed to think it
very important that this particular concept be established as an indisputable,
scientific fact. Apparently it is not that this mere fact will get a person
anywhere in particular all by itself, but that Humaginetics has established a
good many of these facts and has put them together in such a way as to produce a
result which nobody else has yet been able to achieve. A new way of thinking
was said to have been evolved in this manner, spiraling upward more and more
along routes which had previously been overlooked simply because it was thought
they were insignificant.
That thought appealed to me. I had felt before that there must have been a
thousand things which could have been of some use to me, but which I was
overlooking.
The lesson went on to state that what we wanted was not off in some distant,
unreachable place, but right here in front of us. Furthermore, it was not a
matter of knowing what to look for, but of recognizing where we are and what we
are dealing with. Once we knew that, according to Humaginetics, we had already
taken our first step out onto the Road to Happiness. Naturally, there were a
few bends in the road.
My interest was piqued by this, but I still did not care to visit the
Humaginetics Service Center. For some reason I could not quite put my finger on,
I still had nagging doubts. So far it all sounded plausible, but I had not yet
noticed any changes for the better in myself although the promised
transformation was already supposed to be taking place. I assumed that I was on
the Road to Happiness, but could not see any actual changes due to what must
have been the fishbowl effect. I was on the inside looking out, not on the
outside looking in. However, neither did the people around me make any comment
which would have indicated that they knew I was on the path to greater ability.
Maybe it was just one of those things like the book said: it was in front of
them, but they just could not see? I ordered the next book in the series: "Practical
Humaginetics for the Working Person."
Practical Humaginetics
It was not until after I had begun work on the Practical Humaginetics volume
that the Road to Happiness really started taking shape. This book contained the
basic "Teachings" of Humaginetics. The scientific facts which
comprised the intermediate teachings were listed in detail, along with how to
experience some of their relationships with each other. I could tell now that
the previous books I had read on the topic were just written as step-by-step
introductions to lead up to this one. This was the one which would show me the
way. Now I could finally buckle down to see for myself where the Road would
take me.
According to Humaginetics, there is a source for these feelings which we all
have but do not know where they come from. According to what was said to be
years of research and hundreds of case studies, there is a hidden pocket of
consciousness within ourselves. Due to several built-in mechanisms which render
this hidden awareness incapable of being identified by our rational awareness,
it has hovered, undetected, in the background of every human being since the
beginning of time. Humaginetics called this pocket of subconsciousness the "Irresistible
Mind."
The main mechanism which serves to hide this mind from us was said to be that it
only comes alive to the extent that we, ourselves, are unaware or unconscious.
Here is how it worked. In normal, waking moments of consciousness, we control
what we are doing. It is in the moments of obliviousness that the Irresistible
Mind, unbeknownst to us, takes control of our thoughts and actions. The degree
of our own unawareness was proportional to the degree of irresistible control.
That is why we cannot see and thus are not aware of certain things which are
right in front of us; these things are in the realm of the Irresistible Mind.
This hidden mind was called "irresistible" for good reason. It was
one of the driving forces of our lives, but we just did not realize it.
Apparently, through evolution or whatever, it had formed as a sort of fall-back
mind to look after us during moments of pain or carelessness. The only reason
this separate mind was discovered at all was because the people who traveled up
the Road to Happiness became aware of quite a few things which the rest of us
innocents were not.
One of these previously overlooked, but rather important, phenomena was that the
Irresistible Mind is an unknown source of woe for the human race. This
mischievous mind, since it came about, more or less, by accident, was not geared
to perform with our best interests at heart. Moreover, not only did it take
over our thoughts without our knowledge, but also our feelings, emotions and
actions.
Therefore, two of the prime purposes of Humaginetics was to neutralize the bad
effects the Irresistible Mind and to train it to behave in a pro-survival
manner. The Humaginetics Teachings claimed to tell me how to do this, but there
was a warning. Not only were the Teachings copyrighted, but used in the wrong
hands it was claimed they could bring about dire results.
After a short period of reflection, I decided to be brave and take a chance.
First, I carefully read over each step of the outline. Then I pictured myself
going through the various actions before I performed any one of them. I
religiously repeated the steps the book told me I was to take. Finally, by
using the Teachings, I got to a point where I could see, clearly and distinctly,
the Irresistible Mind, or what I thought was the Irresistible Mind.
The Resistible Mind
I was following a checklist of questions as outlined in chapter 7 of book 2 of
the Practical Teachings. It had to do with finding a spot I was comfortable
with. My spot was sort of hazy at first, but slowly it took shape. Then it
turned around and said,
"Oh, hi, I didn't see you. What's up?"
"Are you my Irresistible Mind?" I asked, hopefully.
"No, sorry. There must have been some kind of a mix-up. You'd probably
better start over."
This was frustrating. I did not want to stop. Neither did I want to start
over. I had already spent over forty dollars on various books to get this far.
"I really don't want to start over, and since I've already gotten this far,
could you help me out a little here? You obviously are a part of my
consciousness which I have previously been unaware of. I was hoping, since I
have already spent a bundle of money, that you could tell me some things which I
did not already know."
"Like what, for instance?"
"For one thing, who or what are you?"
"I'm your Resistible Mind. I know some of your deepest, most intimate
secrets, but you don't have to pay any attention to anything I say."
"Are you here because of Humaginetics?"
"No, Humaginetics is a commercial cult that wants your money, hopes and
dreams. The Humaginetics operators want control over part of your subconscious
as a back door to your own brain. Since you never knew a back door existed in
the first place, you would never have suspected anything like this could have
happened."
"That's crazy," I responded.
"You're talking to me, aren't you?"
"Ok, ok, enough already. What's your name?"
"You can call me Swatron."
2. Breaking through Natural Barriers
Timeless Truth
Swatron and I eventually became steady acquaintances. Even though he knew my
innermost secrets, that was balanced out by the fact that I could, at any time,
resist anything he said. It was frightening, at first, having somebody or
something that knew things about myself which I had never had any intention of
revealing to anybody else. I soon found through experience, though, that with
this new version of my innermost consciousness, I was in complete control and
could change the subject any time I felt like it.
At one point it occurred to me that, following the Teachings, I should have
invoked an Irresistible Mind instead of a resistible mind. Did I really want
what I had? What would be the consequences of keeping this up and of
communicating to my resistible mind? Swatron answered that I would be better
off dealing with something I could resist rather than something I could not. I
had a tendency to agree.
It was enough of a challenge for me just having a different being inside or
around me which actually spoke or somehow communicated thought back to me.
Knowing that I could resist this being gave me comfort and assurance that I was
not just being swept up with the tide, especially with this disturbing idea of a
back door to my brain. I tested Swatron out one day.
"There's no such thing as brainwashing," I challenged him.
"Call it 'Re-education' then."
"What, like going through the 1st grade again?"
"Not again, but for the first time. The purpose of re-education is not to
introduce a system to a person, but to induct a person into a whole new system.
It is a whole new way of looking at the world, but it is not based on logical
coexistence through reading, writing and arithmetic. That was the old system.
The new system is based on absolute timelessness and plausible truth."
"Whoa, there! What do you mean, "absolute timelessness"? I have
a tough enough time just thinking up to the end of this afternoon!"
"OK, I'll put it to you in terms you can understand. Do you have ten
dollars?"
"What do you want to know that for?"
"Look, I'm just a mind, and resistible at that, I can't spend your money.
OK, do you have five dollars?"
"Suppose I do?"
"How long are you going to have that five dollars?"
"Until I spend it."
"Suppose you spend it, but you still have five dollars?"
"Then I'd be rich, because I could keep on spending that five dollars until
the end of time."
"Now you have the idea. Just think of timelessness as your own survival
until the end of time. If you truly had unlimited time, you would have ample
opportunity to solve all your problems. If you had all eternity, you could come
up with a way not only to solve all your problems, but to neutralize all your
enemies. You are only lacking one thing: the belief that you will live for all
time."
"I already sort of believe that to begin with, but not really. I'll just
live until I die, and for me that will be the end of time."
"That's a start. A movement like Humaginetics is geared up to indoctrinate
you into basing your life on the concept of timelessness on the one hand, while
asserting that this timelessness is something which you can lose. It's a
carrot-and-stick routine. If you're good you get the timeless carrot; if you're
bad you get the truth stick."
"So timelessness is the end-all and the be-all?" I commented.
"Surviving the bomb and the end of the world is what it's about,"
replied Swatron. "In order to get you closer to believing in your own
timelessness, you are told that you have to contribute more time and/or money.
This, in certain people, can actually turn into a timeless, addictive cycle in
which Humaginetics keeps constant tabs on their time and money.
"What kind of people can be addicted like that?" I asked.
"Anybody who can be contacted, involved and persuaded on a pre-programmed
issue. The extent to which people are involved in a certain topic is the degree
to which they can be controlled. Therefore, the first problem Humaginetics has
to face is getting people involved. That is the purpose of the inane little
'Road to Happiness' booklet. Why did you pay money for that?"
"I don't know. It wasn't that much."
"That was just to get you interested. That is normal. What is not normal
is the idea that you have a mind which is in control of you when you are not."
That thought deserved a little bit of contemplation. I resisted Swatron, my
Resistible Mind, and went for a walk through the park. It was a beautiful day
and the clouds were what I call playful. Some were the cotton ball variety
while others looked like outstretched feathers. Wherever my mind was, it was
nice to be able to take a break from it.
The Brain's Back Door
Several days later I once again conjured up my comfortable, imaginary spot.
Swatron did not show up immediately, and when he did, it looked like he had been
sleeping. This struck me as funny, since it seemed incongruous that a seemingly
all-knowing mind should have to take a break, the same as I.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You. You look like you just woke up. Look, I have a question. How did I
get you, anyway? I was following the Teachings just like I was supposed to. I
bought the book. I followed the instructions. I did exactly what I was told to
do. The end product of that drill was supposed to have been some sort of
swirling mist which was trying to cloud up my comfy spot. Then you showed up.
Why?"
"Did you really believe that an evil, swirling mist would come in and cloud
up your mind?"
"Not really," I said. There are moments in which I am less aware of
what is going on around me. However, I do not really believe that there could
be a single, ethereal source which secretly causes those moments of unawareness.
The very idea of a solitary something which causes unknown personal problems,
in fact, gives me a picture of a grinning monkey sitting on my shoulder, just
waiting for a moment of weakness so he can get up to some kind of mischief."
"When I am feeling out of it," I continued to muse, "I just think
of the reasons why that kind of feeling could happen: am I tired, hungry,
suffering from information overload or lack of information? Things like that
usually make me feel light-headed or slow. If I cannot figure it out, I take a
break and it will come to me if it was important, if not it will go away. If I
do not stop feeling dizzy or whatever, then I go see a doctor."
Swatron grinned bashfully.
"That is not true for everybody, though," I said, exploring new
territory now. "The reason why I take the time to figure out my own
feelings is that I have seen the effects on people who act on bad information.
Take, for instance, a child who is having a minor tantrum over some perceived
upset, just bawling his eyes out like there was no tomorrow. A concerned uncle
may first ask the child the reason for his behavior, then reach his hand to the
back of the child's head to produce a coin. 'Look what just came out of your
ear!' he might say. The child suddenly stops his crying and looks in surprise
at the coin which seemed to appear out of thin air. If he laughs and goes on to
something else, no harm has been done. If, however, he really believes that the
coin came out of his ear, that child is eventually going to be disappointed, if
not publicly shamed.
The same thing can happen to adults. Suppose I formed a conclusion in advance
that the Irresistible Mind really does appear like a monkey on my back during
moments of giddiness. Then I really would have believed that anything which I
experienced during my Humaginetics drill was actually the Irresistible Mind, due
to my own anticipations."
"Instead I appeared," Swatron said glumly. Then he brightened up. "How
do you know I'm not the swirling mist which was trying to cloud up your comfort
zone? Maybe I'm just softening you up for the real thing."
"You mean the Irresistible Mind? How would I know it when I see it?"
"You won't be able to resist it."
"Any other helpful hints?" I asked, not very reassured by this
painfully obvious clue.
"It would have to sneak up on you without your realizing it," said my
resistible mind, "otherwise you could resist it. How could a corporate
program sneak up on a person?"
I puffed out my cheeks and widened my eyes. I think that gives me inspiration,
although my brother thinks it makes me look like a goldfish.
"Ok, I already have some control over every part of my own life which I am
responsible for. For the purpose of controlling me, Humaginetics could invent a
mind I was not aware of: the Irresistible Mind. To further make me believe that
I was personally involved in this mind which suddenly appeared behind my head
like a coin out of well-meaning uncle's hand, this allegedly subconscious mind
could be given charge of important chunks of my life which not only I am unaware
of, but which were supposed to control me without my even knowing it!
In other words, I could be led to believe that a part of me was already acting
on its own without my knowledge, without my control, and was taking charge of my
behavior in times of stress when I could least afford it. To firm up this
control the Irresistible Mind could be privy to my innermost thoughts; it would
seem a part of me almost more so than I am. Then the plot complication: instead
of having my own interests at heart, it would to act more like an evil
stepmother so Humaginetics could step in and 'rescue' me."
"That sounds like the Irresistible Mind is an actress in the play of your
personal life," interjected Swatron.
"'Could be', not 'is'," I corrected him, "but that is a good
analogy. Humaginetics is the producer of the play and supplied me with the
script in the form of the Teachings. Which I then blithely applied with myself
as guinea pig," I added wryly.
My resistible mind pursued the line of thought I had started, "The
Teachings are a series of programs designed to control your Irresistible Mind.
First you had to believe that you have an Irresistible Mind. If you concluded
that your unknown feelings and thoughts were the product of this mind which you
did not know about, then you would be positioned to accept the next line in the
program. If you do not come to that conclusion, then you are only a few dollars
poorer when you walk away, but none the wiser about the way Humaginetics does
business."
"For those gullible or adventurous, self-seeking souls who are willing to
give Humaginetics a try," he went on, "it becomes a matter of putting
two and two together. The Irresistible Mind controls the self-seeker. The
Teachings control the Irresistible Mind, which after all, is only a figment of
the Teacher's imagination. The Teachings, therefore, control people through an
artificial machine which nobody else is even aware of, but which is now a very
real part of their lives."
"That's not what 'Practical Humaginetics for the Working Person' said!"
I broke in.
"Naturally, that is not the way Humaginetics presents the Teachings to the
Road to Happiness or the Irresistible Mind. Each concept is carefully
camouflaged to look like something else. That is an art unto itself."
That was enough for me for a while. I spent the next several days catching up
on my day-to-day routine, but I also managed a stop by the public library. A
concept Swatron had mentioned, the art of camouflage, intrigued me.
Camouflage
I found that much material about camouflage is not widely distributed. After
all, the purpose of camouflage is to operate without being seen, and if you tell
the whole world how you are hiding your operations, then your actions are not
very well hidden, are they? Fortunately I found some books by an organization
which is very open about camouflage and security - the Army.
One of the "common tasks" a soldier has to learn is how to camouflage
a person or object. There are three aspects to visual camouflage: outline
(silhouette), texture (color) and brightness.
The silhouette of a soldier's helmet is broken up by twigs or leaves which are
inserted into webbing wrapped around the outside. Change of texture or color is
provided by those splotchy green and black or brown and black clothes which are
worn in the field. Finally, the facial features are turned around by inverting
brightness: the dark camouflage stick is used to color the shiny portions of the
hands and face like the forehead, knuckles, bridge of the nose and cheekbones,
and the lighter shaded stick is used to accent the darker, hollow portions.
While this may have been interesting enough to hunters, I did not quite make the
connection as to how this would be able to disguise something as ethereal as
intent. How was Humaginetics intending to use my Irresistible Mind on me to
indoctrinate me with the idea of timelessness?
Once I thought it over further, though, it did make sense to me that a cult
would want to disguise itself. Look in the telephone book under "cult,"
and see how many entries you find. Something also clicked with the
coin-out-of-the-ear analogy. If seeming to pull a coin out of a child's ear
could have an immediate, perceivable effect on behavior, what effect could be
caused by pulling a far more menacing "Irresistible Mind" out of one's
own imagination?
Before I paid more money for the next book, I thought it might be a good idea to
get as much background as I could on my own. At this point, I could not really
decide if Swatron was helping or hurting my case, but I had nothing at all
against listening to what he had to say. I just made sure that one thing he
said remained true: I absolutely had to be able to resist anything he said. At
any time, I wanted to be able to interrupt and ask questions, change the subject
for the sake of comparison or walk out without threat of reprisal - all without
having to explain a thing or being made to feel like I was breaking any
promises. My goal was to gain specific awareness, but not at the expense of
cutting other communications lines which I used to stay mentally alert.
In short, I wanted to raise my own higher level of consciousness, and not just
narrow it to fit someone else's concept of what I am. That was a big plus point
in Swatron's favor: he was strong enough to be able to give in to my requests
and listen to my side of the story. He did not feel that a different point of
view would detract from discussion; he gave the impression that a variety of
viewpoints made for a more complete picture. Most of all, he did not try to
impress me with any sort of urgency that I would lose money or time if I did not
agree with his perspective right away.
3. The Program
"Initially, the Irresistible Mind only fulfills the function of an
imaginary blank circuit board," Swatron started out. "It subsequently
becomes more real as more parts of it are revealed and added to the board by
Humaginetics. "Think of the Irresistible Mind as fulfilling a function of
control. It is used as a channel to bypass your normal, built-in protection
mechanisms.
The usual situation is that you would justifiably question the idea of being
controlled by some unknown, outside presence. The idea, though, that this
presence does not stem from true outside control, but from within yourself,
somewhat alleviates the unease. It gives a temporary sense of reassurance to
think that those passing qualms which you get are not from somewhere outside of
yourself. They just have this nagging little habit of not being consciously
controlled at all times. That nagging little bit of anxiety eventually and
imperceptibly causes an altered state of consciousness. True, recuperative
relaxation becomes less frequent.
The Irresistible Mind is said to be constantly lurking, just waiting for the
opportunity to further embarrass you or even to mislead you into making what
could possibly be your last, fatal miscalculation. This idea that it could lead
to a fatal mistake is especially alarming. The blank circuit board is said to
have no rhyme or reason. It just supposedly programmed itself, haphazardly,
down through the ages, to take everything it sees or hears literally, in a
zombie-like manner.
Once Humaginetics, however, starts rearranging the circuit board, it wants to
make sure that its tried-and-true program stays in place. This requires mental
'solder' to keep its components from falling out. In the case of the
Irresistible Mind, the soldering elements are self-justification, shedding of
past responsibility and guilt.
Self-justification is a closed loop. It shuts out any outside influence by
giving a pre-determined explanation. The explanation, however, does not answer
any questions, but merely loops around and around within itself in response to
questions. Example: the Irresistible Mind causes unawareness, therefore any
lessening of awareness is caused by the Irresistible Mind. Feeling tired but
had enough sleep? It's that Irresistible Mind. Have a hard time concentrating?
It's the Irresistible Mind again. Can't get along with your parents? Guess
who? Humaginetics' explanation is used as a one-size-fits-all answer for any
question.
Self-justification eventually leads to a gleeful feeling, a shedding of past
obligation and responsibility. Failed your test? It's not your fault, just the
old Irresistible Mind acting up. Feeling ill or have a headache? That monkey
on your back is pounding on you. Did you trip because you did not look where
you were walking? Old Reliable is still there. The cult remedy for the obvious
fallacy in this thinking is to create another closed loop in the form of a
standing instruction:
any misfortune which befalls its members is their own fault, and not the fault
of the program.
In this way, any snag which will predictably happen as a result of the program
is to be considered the responsibility of the person who is vainly trying to
follow instructions."
"Remember when you were following the instructions in your Humaginetics
book and you got me instead of your Irresistible Mind?" Swatron asked by
way of example. "What was the first thing you thought when you realized
that something else had happened instead?"
"I thought I had not followed the instructions properly," I replied.
"That was the whole idea," said Swatron. "When you failed it
made you want to try harder. Humaginetics encourages that feeling, and people
who do not get past this stage are disparaged by the cult as 'not being able to
follow simple instructions.'
Now, being under the impression that they are totally responsible for any
failure of the Humaginetics instructions, regular members will feel a continual
sense of guilt and shame. Could anybody else know that the Teachings did not
have the predicted results? Humaginetics only presents smiling faces of people
who say they have gained success after success from using the Teachings! By now
the answer has always been presented in one form only: the closed loop. The
closed loop becomes subconsciously identified with "real," solid
explanations which make everything so simple by the process of shutting out the
possibility of any alternative.
The closed loop itself is eventually subconsciously identified as the 'proper'
way to experience a feeling of rightness. The only other condition is that the
content of the closed loop come from the Teachings
This concept bears repeating. The user of this concept is dependent upon a
psychological crutch by which perceived personal responsibility can be
manipulated. This alteration of personal responsibility can then be used as a
staging point for another powerful motivator-justifier: guilt.
Because it may be unsettling to think of oneself as being controlled by an
external force, the artificially induced guilt can be temporarily relieved by
acceptance of the cult's closed-loop explanation system. This is the
turn-around point in favor of the cult.
Seeking relief from guilt from the program which caused the guilt will only
result in more guilt. The cult fully anticipates this secret feeling that
something has gone wrong and offers a variety of explanations from which to
choose.
One explanation offered by the cult is that the instructions which supposedly
originated from within the Irresistible Mind can be intercepted and turned
around to your own good - but only with the aid of the cult, and only if you pay
the price, in advance.
With the intent of forming an instant alliance with you, this notion is framed
in the context of a conspiracy between the cult and you against the supposedly
unsuspecting Irresistible Mind. What was irresistible to you as a person is
presented merely as a target which will yield to modern psychological or
spiritual counseling. The complex bureaucracy of the religious or
psychological corporation, in this respect, is viewed by the customer as an
ally.
If you join this one-sided alliance without doing some comparison shopping, then
the thought of doing comparative evaluation will probably not come up when it
comes to seeking assistance in overcoming this new impedance of the Irresistible
Mind. When you then trustingly give complete control of your 'Irresistible'
Mind over to the cult, you have also delivered a device by which you can be
controlled."
All I had heard from Swatron about the cult was that one simple trick after the
next would be used. If the first trick did not work, the prospective customer
would not make it to the second.
"That serves to conceal the program from those people who do not accept it,"
Swatron replied. "Acceptance of one step is a pre-condition of going on
to the next step. Each step is not harmful by itself, but takes a normal,
rational human being a little closer to dependency upon the organization."
"I'm still waiting to hear where all this leads."
"From here on in there are truly an endless number of programs. Once a
person has accepted the idea of an Irresistible Mind, and has also accepted the
idea that Humaginetics can de-program the Irresistible Mind, the next step is to
introduce the true programs of Humaginetics."
"You mean everything up to this point was just an introduction for what is
next?"
"And the next and the next. The feeling of constant re-discovery helps to
motivate the customer to hand over more money. It is a larger amount each time.
The idea is to create a trend of obligation which can only increase. That
helps to produce the general mind-set that importance itself is increasing and
that the goal being pursued has no limits. (The reality of the matter, though,
is that the goal is just never reached.)
All this may seem like child's play now that it has been laid out, but quite a
bit has been accomplished up to this point. At this stage of the game, the
prospective customers:
-
have agreed that they may be controlled by an outside force,
-
are willing to try out Humaginetics instructions,
-
have made themselves and their money available,
-
have shown an interest in accepting something new, and
-
have shown that they do not do comparative shopping.
In view of the fact that each of the above steps in itself is quite simple - as
simple as advertising on a billboard, for instance - that is quite a bit of
progress for such a simple system. The system appears simple only because the
individual steps are put together in such a way so as to mean something much
more taken together than they do individually.
The prospects of getting a person who has done all the above to continue with a
program are much higher than those of someone who just glances at a billboard on
the way to work in the morning. This may not seem like a big deal if you only
look at one person, but when you consider the entire group of people addressed,
that narrows down the numbers and the work considerably."
4. Eliminating the Competition
Absence of Competition
"If the business is just one trick after the next, that cannot be too good
for business in the long-term," I said.
"People who are in for the long-term have been subjected to many programs
and have had their judgment altered in numerous ways," replied my new-found
consciousness, "and people who realize a trick is being played on them just
leave because they are not prepared to deal with the gigantic legal entanglement
in which they have found themselves. Besides that, many are just ashamed at
having been taken in by such childish measures, and take their loss as one of
life's bitter lessons. That is not a major concern for a relatively unknown,
tax-exempt organization which deals primarily with one-time customers in large
numbers.
Therefore, the big problem is that the basic instructions which the prospective
customers are to follow be unfolded in such a way that they will be acceptable.
Since long-term competition is not a concern for this type of corporation, the
easiest, most direct way of getting something accepted is to present it as
having already been accepted, preferably by an authority foremost in the field.
This establishment of authority gives people a type of lightning rod to which
they can direct blame and responsibility in the event that something goes wrong.
This step is even more effective if the authoritative acceptance can be coupled
with time-honored tradition. This can be yet more convincing if any opposing
voice is regarded with disbelief and/or scorn.
Notice that these methods of getting something accepted are no longer based on
principles of logical coexistence or ethical competition. They are now based on
the semi-secret Teachings of absolute timelessness and plausible truth. These
methods are used to present apparent proof that the Teachings are, indeed,
superior to the old system of coexistence. This exploits the fact that
sometimes people will accept apparent authority, tradition and a feeling of
superiority without independent, critical evaluation.
These are similar to psychological and sleight-of-hand tricks used by merchants
in the old traveling carnivals. Those unethical salesmen used the fact that
people got worked up enough by the carnival atmosphere to overcome their natural
reserve. A modern-day corporation, though, is not going to be out of town the
day after. Therefore, the flow of customers is approached in a different way.
This often includes the signing of a legal contract in which the customer
absolves the religious or psychological corporation, in advance, for any harm
which comes of its practices.
The Program of Elimination
Each instruction which is funneled through the imaginary Irresistible Mind
builds the base of that which immediately follows. Sequence is essential to the
operation.
The instructions are unfolded, one step at a time, to the customer. The
customers first see them presented authoritatively as scientific fact. The
customers are then led to believe that each item has been observed as fact for a
long, seemingly endless, time, and will be continued to be observed as fact for
an equally endless time. The customers are invited to draw their own conclusion
from a given list of alternatives about what this could mean. This process is a
little program used to restrict the customers' perceptions to certain, selected
areas.
How does an unethical group block out information it does not want its customers
to see? It must set up a procedure whereby it can be concluded by the new
members that they have looked at new information, they have put it to the test,
and the results of these new tests are accurate and true. The test is rigged,
but those using it must believe it is infallible.
This is where a group starts making conditions and requirements. The customers
are not allowed to gain something without giving something up, especially
something which is supposedly so valuable that it will be good for all time.
That means the receivers of this so-called timeless truth will have to
experience an initially small loss. This is seen as a perhaps tantalizing bit
of discomfort which becomes associated with the process of gaining "timeless
truth." The loss is often in terms of money, but more frequently it is a
concession of judgment.
That's how the endless cycle works. Each time the new members mention to their
Humaginetics representative that they are not quite sure as to whether they are
on the Road to Happiness and timeless truth, they are told that in order to
follow the instructions they already have, they need to pay for more instruction
and/or counseling.
The more money they invest, the more deeply involved they get. The involved
they get, the more they are able to be controlled. The more they are
controlled, the less they can resist."
"If that were really the case, then we'd all be slaves," I said, happy
to resist this gloomy outlook. "We are not all slaves, so therefore that
is not the case."
Enslavement is Legal
"We were not all slaves back when slavery was legal, so why should we be
now?" Swatron replied, "Besides, the act of psychological enslavement,
by itself, is not illegal. It is the buying and selling of slaves which is
illegal. That means that a corporation cannot legally claim that it has
ownership of a human being.
In order to understand how enslavement works, it may be helpful to relate a
couple of historical legends about two forms of enslavement which do not use
force. Instead, both of these episodes rely on physical drugs for creating the
psychological condition necessary for enslavement. One legend is on the origin
of zombiism. The other is based on a presentation made by a vice cop on illegal
drug providers and their involvement in crime. Even though these two examples
are based on physical drugs, the end result of enslavement, which is the total
submission of a human being, is psychological, and can be achieved without
drugs.
Zombiism is defined in the dictionary as a belief in a supernatural force which
can re-animate the dead. Here is a legend of the origins of zombiism:
Have ever you seen one of those colorful puffer fish on the deep-sea adventure
shows on TV? When the fish feels threatened it puffs up so as to look bigger
than it actually is. Not only do some of them puff up, but they also have
razor-sharp spines which protrude out when the fish inflates itself. To
complicate matters even more, some are poisonous, and their spines are deadly to
the touch.
In Japan, Africa and the Caribbean, people have found a way of preparing this
type of fish so that it can be eaten even though it is lethally poisonous in its
native state. The processing takes most, but not all, of the poison out of the
fish. Just enough is left in the flesh to have a certain effect upon whomever
consumes the fish. As the fish is processed in Japan, the effect is to give the
fish eater a "high." If the fish is processed too much, not enough of
the poison is left in it and the person who eats it feels no different than if
he had eaten any other fish.
If the fish is not processed enough, however, too much of the poison remains.
If the unlucky person does not die from an overdose, his vital signs can slow
down to the point of seeming death. That is the secret of a type of zombiism.
In ritual zombiism there was a person who knew how to prepare this usually
lethal fish so as to leave the proper amount of poison in it. Of course this
was done in secret. The zombie candidate would then be fed some of this fish.
He would fall unconscious and his vital signs would nearly stop. He would be
quickly buried by the mastermind of the operation, allegedly to keep some
lethal, fictitious disease from spreading. A funeral would be promptly held and
the coffin duly buried.
Later that night the coffin would be dug up by the cohorts of the person who
prepared the poison fish and the person who fed it to the victim. The target
person, waking up from his drugged trance, would be taken off to a prison camp
with the other zombies. This system of enslavement was used to a certain extent
and it actually worked, but there was one, delicate condition to it.
The whole process would only work if the target person who was drugged
previously believed in zombies. When the believer awoke from his trance, he
would think that everything he had heard about zombies was actually coming true:
that he had actually risen from the dead, that he was now a zombie, and he now
had to do whatever he was told.
In contrast, a person who did not believe in zombies simply walked away when
given the chance. That is the reason zombiism does not continue today: the
secret leaked out. Nobody believes in it anymore.
Even though a drug was used to bring about a physical effect upon the zombie,
the drug by itself cannot be seen as the source of the enslavement. It was only
the belief in zombiism, and nothing but that belief, which made people
susceptible to the psychological trap. The next episode is different in this
respect in that it features a drug which is used to create psychological
susceptibility to enslavement. The drug everyone knows about in the drug world
is heroin, but how many people make up their minds in advance that they want to
get addicted? Not many, but some people are pre-disposed to psychological
addiction.
First there has to be a person who moves out among people who are not addicted,
but who may be susceptible by reason of a recent emotional or social upheaval.
This scout provides a sympathetic ear, approaches people in need and offers them
some kind of solace, something to take the edge off their worries. This has to
happen not only once, but repeatedly, so that constant contact is kept up. The
drug provider gets more and more possessive of his addicts. Unlike the
trafficker, he is not in it for the money; he is in it for the power over
people, to actually enslave them.
He will case out potential burglary sites for the men and work as a pimp for the
women. His enslaved people have to do what they are told or they do not get
their supply. The pusher knows where his people are and if they do not show up
once every four hours to get a fix, there will be consequences. After all, he
is the one who gives them their shots and if someone is disloyal, their next
shot may contain the lethal dose.
If an addict does die as a result of overdose, then the pusher killed the
addict. Nobody can prove that the pusher killed anybody, but all his addicts
know it as they were actually there when the deed was done. The event is taken
as a lesson as to what can happen if they try to break the enslavement. Even
thought heroin users are physical addicts, the physical addiction alone does not
suffice to illustrate the psychological intensity which is being experienced.
The laws directed against this sort of activity are directed at drugs, burglary
and prostitution, but the action which actually takes place is that of
psychological enslavement."
5. Psychological Addiction
"Due to the fact that chemicals have been used as a means to enslave
people, countermeasures have been developed against drugs used for this purpose.
These countermeasures include batteries of tests designed to determine whether
or not an individual has ingested drugs. These are 'litmus' tests which
indicate whether people may be under the influence of drugs, and this, in turn,
indicates the presence of a potential for excessive control by others.
The ability to deny control is a primary concern for manipulators in a
democratic society when dealing with people external to their own control
system. That is because it is only when their means of control have been
detected that their power over others can be identified and evaluated.
Therefore, corporations which do not wish to have their methods of control
evaluated have strict regulations about maintaining secrecy and security. Drugs
are contrary to security in that they provide physical evidence.
In the search to avoid leaving an identifiable trail, refinement in the process
of manipulative control has resulted in a practically drugless system. This
refinement has led to the introduction of certain methods used by psychological
cults. A cult may enslave people, not by making them chemically dependent, but
by making them psychologically dependent.
Psychological dependency is established by setting up a progressive cycle by
which an addict repetitively depends upon a provider for a unique effect. This
unique effect is something which addicts are drawn towards to the exclusion of
constructive activity in their own lives. In addition, it is something which
only the provider can give them under the circumstances which they need to
obtain the desired effect.
In commerce, there is a time limit put on inventions so that the inventor has
enough time to gain back the time and money he has invested in research and
development of the product. That time limit does not hold for copyrighted and
trademarked psychological products.
Outside activity can be downplayed as being a temporary, and thus unworthy,
pastime. Timeless truth, as provided by a cult, is presented as something which
adds to the uniqueness for which there is no substitute. In getting this
feeling of absolute, timeless superiority over to new members, both physical and
psychological methods may be used to set up progressive cycles.
Physical methods used in conjunction with timeless truth which can be used by
cults to produce a unique effect upon members include changes in: nutrition,
sleep, sex, public involvement, spending habits, and socialization.
Psychological methods include the shedding of responsibility and the formation
of an enemy picture. The physical methods should be self-explanatory; the
psychological methods need some discussion.
When responsibility which has been held since childhood is shed, that can bring
about a strong feeling of relief. It is comparable to giving up worries. We
worry too much; it makes sense, therefore, if we worry less. Why waste all that
energy worrying about what people think of us?
This may produce an immediate feeling of relief and may even have a short-term
beneficial effect, if, and that is a big 'if,' a person happened to be worrying
too much in the first place.
Take the idea of having a separate mind which was responsible for feelings and
thoughts which we have, but of which we are not fully aware. Imagine the
feeling of relief you might experience if you suddenly realized, justifiably or
not, that this 'separate' mind was the single source of all the unwanted,
bothersome ideas which had ever flitted about your head when you were trying to
concentrate on something important. If you succeeded in doing that, you may
have experienced a psychological rush of well-being (or confusion). This
feeling of exhilaration was not brought about by a drug imbalance of the type
experienced by heroin addicts, but by a psychological imbalance similar to a
sudden realization that one is truly and really a zombie, just like the legend
said.
Upon experiencing an artificially induced rush, some cult members can become
willing to make sacrifices in their personal, physical and psychological habits
in order to obtain more of this seeming timelessness. When the sacrifice
continues on a regular basis and when it begins to outweigh the benefits, the
cycle of destructive addiction has set in.
Another psychological means of supporting a psychological addiction is the
acquisition of an enemy image. An enemy image is a set of criteria which
obviates the need for critical evaluation and rational reaction to
pre-determined external actions. For instance, the Teachings may instruct the
followers that since enemies are critical of the Teachings, then the mere
criticism of the Teachings is an indication of the presence of an enemy. In
this sense, an enemy would be anybody who disagreed with the movement. This
method serves a dual purpose in that it can maintain the delusion of the
timelessness of the Teachings, and it can also keep the now tractable adherent
from being influenced by others.
Psychological dependency does not happen all at once, but is the product of a
sequential process. Certain steps are necessary in order for it to work. First
the contact needs to be made. This can be done in a simple advertisement, or as
part of a purported social activism campaign. A certain percentage of those
contacted maintain their contact to the organization, which then works to
establish susceptibility of their customers to systematic control programs. The
people who do not leave are then guided towards acquiescence and an initial
turnover of personal control. Once that all-important threshold of control has
been crossed, two more programs are installed. One is a program for the
uncritical acceptance of apparent truth. The other is a program for the
rejection of outside evaluation.
Only a certain number of people make it from one step to the next. That means
in order to actually get people through the entire program, a huge throughput is
required. Of the total number of people who fill out the first application or
buy the first book, only a small percentage will end up turning over all their
money and dedicating the rest of their lives to the cult. Once people get that
far, though, keeping them there is much simpler than getting them there. All
they need at that stage is a meaning to life and an enemy picture which
threatens life's meaning.
Thus it appears to the outside world that the primary activity of the
organization is putting people through its programs. This is, in fact, the
source of most of the cult's money. The significance of the underlying purpose
of culling members who are subjugated by this process is thereby minimized.
However, it is the underlying activity which provides the cult with the lion's
share of its dedicated members, and its dedicated members are the ones who guide
the throngs of humanity through the programs. These programs can be understood
as a set of filters, each one of which works in conjunction with the others to
filter out self-determined thought.
Along the way, though, the result of unethical practices eventually manifest
themselves: lawsuits, illness due to neglected medication, and health problems
due to the strenuous activities needed to bring about an adequately high level
of zealotry. A good summary of legal difficulties a cult has gotten into is
contained in its initial service contract. This is a multi-page, legally
binding contract of legal disclaimers which the member has to sign as a
condition of acceptance.
Some indications of prior legal difficulties would be: a true photocopy of the
contract is not furnished to the signer, the contract states that the signer
agrees not to sue the provider, the contract states something other than what
the signer was told verbally, the signer is discouraged from seeking outside
counsel.
As Americans, we would not tolerate this sort of behavior from a food or spirits
establishment. Imagine having to sign a contract at a restaurant saying that
you will not sue if you should get sick from the food. We are much less
discriminating, however, when it comes to poisoning a healthy mind than we are
about poisoning a healthy stomach. Nevertheless, when signing a contract giving
up rights is carried out under the guise of religion, it will not only be
tolerated, but it can also be tax-exempt. Critical evaluation of corporate
religious contracts can actually bring about accusations of bigotry."
"I only wanted the Road to Happiness!" I shouted.
"You got it," said Swatron.
"But I'm not happy! This Road just keeps on getting narrower with a longer
stretch around every bend."
I had to admit, though, that the idea of "timeless truth" was starting
to take hold of me. Even though I did not personally feel that I was affected
by it just by understanding it, I could see that if this would have been fed to
me subconsciously, I could have had some problems.
"What is the common link," I wondered aloud, "which ties this all
together?"
6. The Technology of Verbal Camouflage
Framing and Associating Concepts
"Something does, indeed, tie this process together," remarked Swatron.
"Although these events have been presented as a seemingly random series of
actions which could be viewed as being necessary for business, they are not at
all chance occurrences."
"Then what are they?"
"Up to this point, I have been describing the exercise of the art of magic,"
stated Swatron triumphantly, "staged by a magician of the mind. Instead of
pulling a rabbit out of a hat to the applause of an audience, the showman has
pulled an Irresistible Mind out of your own imagination for the benefit of the
cult money collectors. Those are the people who are waiting to greet you and
your money at the nearby Humaginetics Service Center. Once they lure you in,
cult psychology operators at the service center have the next set of tricks all
lined up to snag as many people as possible. They also use deceptive tricks
which can be rigged in the same manner as the Irresistible Mind. This entire
process has been legitimized to the outside world, including the Internal
Revenue Service, by redefining it as a new form of religious conversion."
That short summary took my breath away. I had a hard time believing that one
person would ever have put all this together. How could it have been done?
I could see that the number of ways people can be manipulated is limited only by
their own imagination. The number of organizations which engage in manipulative
activity would be difficult to calculate, though, because the criteria needed
for calculation are purposely suppressed. How many cults list themselves in the
telephone book under "Cults, psychologically manipulative"?
Organizations which have been identified as using unethical standards of control
merely dissolve to form elsewhere under new names, but with the same core
management. Therefore, rather than write a multi-volume work describing all
cults, which would be outdated as soon as it was written, it might be more
helpful to look at a method of identifying systematic deceptiveness, rather than
the individual organizations which use systematic deceptiveness, and which would
only characterize their unfavorable description by non-members or former members
as "stigmatization."
What could be identified collectively which would adequately cover groups which
use deceptive means to bring about changes in personality? This question
triggered off an idea which had come up before. "What about camouflage?"
I asked.
"Behind camouflage," said Swatron, "lies the intention to operate
without being detected. The best defense the person or group who is hiding
something can have is to divert attention altogether. That way their camouflage
need never be put to the test.
One of the first resorts used by groups of this type is the attempt to deflect
attention by baseless recrimination. Recrimination is a factor which is common
to groups which use a systematic, deceptive force to influence their members'
judgment. Remember the whole magical, enslavement process above redefined as
'religious conversion'? As a result of that redefinition, any person who
questions the procedure can be condemned with accusations of 'religious
bigotry.' It would be like the magician who pulled a rabbit out of a hat
damning anyone who dare suggest that he pulled the rabbit out of a false bottom
for being narrow-minded.
When the issue at hand is avoided and the individual critic is attacked, then
that should immediately send up a red flag that something has gone wrong with
the process of rational discussion. However, it is only when the evader fails
to divert attention altogether that the art of verbal camouflage is employed."
"To grasp the whole idea of camouflage," Swatron got to the point, "think
of one of those pictures which has another picture poised inside of it. The
inside picture does not have to have anything at all to do with the outside
picture, which merely serves as a medium. For instance the outside picture can
be of a water glass filled with ice cubes, while the inside picture, set amongst
the ice cubes, may be anything at all: an animal, a human form or a specific
person, for instance.
An additional consideration in the realm of mental camouflage is that the human
mind automatically tries to associate things which have been placed in proximity
to each other. For instance, if you see a human form set in ice cubes, you will
have an irresistible notion that the human inside the ice cubes is cold.
Goosebumps may even result.
So camouflage has two purposes: 1) to hide what it is you are not supposed to
see, and 2) to present to you what you are supposed to see in a manner which
makes you think that what you are being presented with is really the natural
state of things."
"Honor your father and mother, if possible," I said.
"What's that?"
"'Honor your father and mother' is one of the Ten Commandments. But when
it is included in an entirely different sentence, it takes on a meaning which is
different from what was originally meant. 'Honor your mother and father' means
exactly that, whereas 'Honor your father and mother, if possible' sounds like
something which should be done, but only if it is convenient for some other
purpose."
"Since you recognized that as one of the Ten Commandments," pointed
out Swatron, "then you would see the true connection right away. But
someone who did not know what the Ten Commandments were may have unintentionally
made a connection between the simple wisdom of that statement and the commercial
organization which printed the booklet. An involuntary association would have
been made between Humaginetics and the practicality of parental obedience."
"On the other hand," I took up a different aspect of the picture, "a
person who recognized that phrase might have already had some prior disagreement
with it. After all, who wants to honor their parents all the time, especially
after an argument? In that case, the 'if possible' serves as a back door out, a
way to claim you're following the guideline, but not actually making the
commitment. Either you are or you are not."
"That brings me to the three aspects of conceptual camouflage," said
Swatron. "A mental magician can influence his audience in three different
ways - by altering 1) definition, 2) context and 3) importance. Conceptually
speaking, silhouette, texture and light in the visual world are analogous to
definition, context and importance in the verbal environment.
Definition (Silhouette)
Definition relates to the structure of a word or concept. Definition gives a
pre-accepted outline of what we mean. It is a condition of language. Without
definition, we could not speak to each other, much less peacefully coexist.
Definition is one of at least three ways we can use to identify an object or
idea. Like the visual silhouette of a physical shape, definition gives external
form to a word or to a concept.
Truth in definition is completely different from truth in the material world.
Truth in the material world is true by virtue of the fact that it can be proven,
over and over again. When you drop a pencil, it will always go down. This
happens again and again. Conceivably, there are exceptions. If you happen to
be standing above a powerful updraft, for example, the pencil you drop may
travel upwards, but only at first. Even if it is picked up by a tornado,
though, we accept one thing as being inevitable; the pencil will eventually come
down somewhere. Therefore we say that it is true that whatever is dropped will
always fall down.
Truth in definition, while also meant to be predictable, is not predictable in
the physical sense of the word. The outcome of truth in definition is
predictable only if the definition has been accepted by everybody who is using
it. For example, if two people are told to sit down in a chair, both of those
people will sit down in a chair only if they both have accepted the same
definition of what a chair is. The way we have agreed upon this mutual
acceptance of definition is by accepting the authority of a dictionary. The
dictionary is, by tradition, the final authority on the definition of a
general-purpose word.
The important thing to remember in this is that truth can be obtained in at
least two, separate and unequal ways. One is by observable, unalterable fact,
the other is by mere acceptance of a definition.
Context (Texture)
Those are two lines of thought which are used for establishing truth in reality
and in definition. To establish a disguise, however, it is not necessary to
change the truth itself; it may be sufficient just to alter the observers'
perception of known idea."
"Like introducing the idea of being controlled by a second mind to explain
feelings or thoughts which are not understood," I commented.
"Right. The thoughts and feelings which you have but which you do not
understand may exist, but they do not originate from a separate mind just
because somebody who claims to be an authority defines them that way.
You need to do comparative shopping and to evaluate different ideas to make a
sound decision. For instance, those disassociated ideas you have may just be
little bits and pieces of thought which you have not had time to sort out. They
may have come about through the complexity of our environment. For instance,
people in a busy environment do not make sense out of every single thing they
see or hear nor do they resolve every impression they get. If things are
getting too busy, most people will have the innate sense to take it easier and
slow down a little. That, however, does not always happen, and there are groups
who make their living off of the confusion of others."
"Can't you tell definition by context?" I asked.
"That is one of the things which context can be used for," replied
Swatron. "Context is another specific aspect of intellectual camouflage.
While definition is the relationship of a word to its own meaning, context is
the specific relationship which a word or concept has to its environment.
Context, by virtue of association, will have a tendency to pin down the specific
definition which is intended.
The word 'coke,' for instance, may have a different definition depending on
whether the context is that of a coal mine, a drug deal or a soft drink.
Regardless of definition, however, anything which is associated with a coal mine
will also be associated with dirt, anything associated with a drug deal will
have connotations of illegality, and anything associated with a carbonated drink
brings to mind commercial advertising.
If you want something to take on the flavor of religion, you have only to
associate it with something which has already been religiously accepted."
"Like the Ten Commandments."
"Yes. Now here is a plot complication. Definition and context can be
positioned so as to reinforce each other. If you want something to have the
feeling of a definition, you only have to associate it with something which has
been previously accepted as an authority on definitions, like a technical
dictionary. A technical dictionary is different from a general dictionary in
that the meanings it contains have not necessarily been universally accepted.
Therefore, an organization which intends to hide the meaning of what it is doing
will redefine common household words to mean something which, at first, appear
only slightly different from the definitions which are normally accepted for
those words. Let's take the word 'truth,' for instance. As noted above, truth
can be established either by observation of the real world or by agreement.
A group which presents itself as being superior will also have a 'superior'
definition of truth. Truth will generally be used in the context of that which
has been agreed upon, like a definition, or it will also be used to mean that
which is contained in the Teachings. This particular context will be used to
gradually increase the meaning of truth in the Teachings. First the Teachings
are true some of the time, then all of the time - over the course of months and
years, it is finally learned that nothing is true unless it is contained in the
Teachings. The cult does not want to 'overwhelm' its members with too much
'truth' at one time.
A general example of the use of context is the idea that if everyone in the
world would only agree that a pencil would fall upward instead of down, that is
what would really happen. The context of this is that everything we see in
front of us is a product of the group's power of agreement. Naturally you are
reassured that the group would never have a pencil fall upward out of
consideration for others. But look at what has happened. It has been assumed
without question that the power of the group takes precedence over natural law.
The definition of truth, which was originated by the group, was specifically
based on the context that the group controls everything we see. The conclusion
that the group controls everything we see further reinforces the idea that the
definition of truth, as originated by the group, is based on fact."
"Using a closed loop to cross a threshold!" I said, thinking back to a
previous discussion.
"Also known as a merry-go-round," murmured my resistible mind.
I said, "People must have been doing this for a long time. If you want to
make emotions seem scientific, just talk about them as though they were science.
If you want to make random thought appear philosophical, just categorize it
into conceivably similar categories. If you want to make anything seem artsy,
put it to music or paint pictures of it. Each one of these aspects you're
bringing up may make some sense unto itself, but how does it all fit together?"
I asked.
Happy to oblige, Swatron replied, "All this only fits together to the
degree that it is personally important to you. Definition is how the word
relates to itself, context is how it relates to what is around it, and
importance is how it relates to you or what you perceive as important."
Importance (Light)
In visual camouflage, I thought, light shows importance. Shades and brightness
let the observer know where the objects portrayed are in relation to the source
of light.
"How could any of this be important to me?" I asked smugly.
"You answered the ad. You sent in your money. You ordered the booklet.
You bought the book. You tried hard to follow the instructions. If the
instructions would not have worked, you may have eventually gone into the
Humaginetics Service Center."
"Then what would have happened?" I asked.
"You may have agreed to give up money to the organization just because they
suggested you could increase your ability by doing so."
"That's crazy!"
"But it would have been included as part of 'the big picture.' You would
have been told you were taking courses or getting counseling."
"What would I learn?"
"That the evil Irresistible Mind was not only larger than you had
originally been led to believe, but getting bigger. The longer you did nothing
to contain it, the more it would keep on growing, growing, growing to take you
over. Not only would the concept of the Irresistible Mind cover this lifetime,
but soon it would go back into past lifetimes, too. Then the Teachings expand
it into sort of a universal Irresistible Mind which infect all 'right-thinking'
people."
"Is that all?" I asked, knowing that was not all.
"Keep in mind that you, yourself, have not personally invested thousands of
dollars, years of your life and ended relationships with your friends and family
(who thought you were strange to give all your money away) to get this far. The
Road to 'Happiness,' which brings you through the Irresistible Mind, eventually
leads you to see irresistible beings in different universes."
"Space aliens!" I blurted out in disbelief.
"Space aliens doing hard time on Planet Earth," Swatron completed the
picture.