3.29.2005
Mesmerized by the News?
British mentalist Derren Brown confounds people on his TV show using what appear to be simple techniques, including hypnosis. A cabby that can't find a landmark- clearly in sight. A woman answering a payphone- and slumping dead asleep on a busy sidewalk. Pretty entertaining- and thought provoking.
Good the American public be as easily muddled through the use of what Brown considers simple and high tech techniques as well? Marketing experts are on the side of the corporate consensus builders.
His advice on clearly thinking in a pinch sounds like a primer on how to take in the "news" critically while in context it is a tool to thwart marketers. His web presence offers videos of his "paranormal" abilities and the commonsensical techniques he uses to affect them. Some techniques sound as familar as the evening newscast.
The trick is to detach yourself from the problem and see the context in which it operates. Much of the work can be done by separating yourself from the mental images you make when you consider a problem – 'stepping back' in your mind and seeing those mental pictures at arm's length.
When more complex problems in life are being considered, you want to be able to ask:
* What is everybody presuming to be true here?
* What is the box within which everyone is thinking?
* What are the unspoken rules to which everyone is adhering?
Then you can start to think outside the box, or throw a spanner in the works by not obeying the same rules as everyone else. This shouldn't be anti-social – you're not purposely going against the grain, just thinking independently of it.
The strategy used by many people is to remain too involved in the problem, too 'inside the box'. Rather than stepping back, they examine the problem from the inside. This brings the emotions to the fore and restricts the capacity for good decision-making.
The same people selling us toothpaste have sold us the current Administration and war(s).
More thought in this vein: "Cheney and Bush: using NLP to hoodwink America"
Today, we live in two worlds of news and information. One is "fact based," the other 'faith-based." In the former, we cling to a world of objective reporting and verifiable evidence even as we know how facts are skewed by media outlets with undisclosed agendas; in the latter, we only acknowledge facts that support our opinions and often don't let facts get in the way of a good argument.' '
Peruse Derren Browns explanations after watching his videos. Think for a bit.
There is more to our present political reality than meets the eye.
3/29/2005
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