false beliefs

Hypnotic Convincers and Enlightened Awareness

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Concerning hypnotic convincers, I think Scott Bryant hits the proverbial nail on its proverbial head –

“Nobody is ever convinced of anything until they FEEL convinced, and if you can get them to FEEL convinced, you can convince them of anything.” (Scott Bryant concerning Group Manipulation)

How convinced am I about the way things are? Why do I feel so convinced? Why do I believe in false things? What happens when I’m convinced?

Hypnotists use convincers to strengthen trance. Hypnotic convincers are essentially actions that evoke an emotional response that convinces the person performing the action that they are in a hypnotic trance. Convinced that one is in a hypnotic trance tends to cause the person to strengthen that conviction and thus deepen the trance.

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A Belief Map Reading Primer

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I believe a lot of things. From religion to politics to everyday life, I feel like I have control over what I believe. It SEEMS to me I can change a belief as I feel the need. I suppose you could say I believe that I can choose to change my mind and so change my beliefs.

This, of course, rests upon yet another belief: that I am consciously in control of my beliefs. I wonder just how much conscious control I actually have over my beliefs?

Studies at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin demonstrated that as much as seven seconds before I am consciously aware of a decision, my subconscious mind has considered options and selected a choice. My body prepares to go into action, justifications begin to solidify, and emotional responses line up seconds before my conscious mind is aware of making a choice.

Is there something I can do to consciously take charge of this process?

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My Cause and Effect Hell

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I have a condition. One that vexes me now and then. One that limits my possibilities. One that sometimes puts a strain on my relationships, particularly my close relationships. It has been the cause of many emotion-filled episodes in my life and even now holds me prisoner.

Let me describe some symptoms of this condition: mind-reading; a sense of rightness; overwhelming defensiveness; judgmental-ism; lack of compassion; a sense of inferiority/superiority; know-it-all-ism.

These symptoms and more are associated with my own version of cause and effect hell – a condition in which I believe I can KNOW the cause of an effect. In other words, when I see some phenomenon, I believe I know why it is as it is – I can explain it or at least believe that it is explainable. I believe that my deduction of causality is true and complete. This gets particularly dicey when I think I know what your intentions are (cause) based on what I see you do (effect) – especially when I’m convinced the cause of my troubles is you!

It’s simple reductionism – a belief in causality MY WAY.

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