Thursday, April 10, 2008

An Example of Lifton's "Doctrine Over Person" at Work


The Doctrine Over Person technique of thought reform requires that members of the group subjugate their own experiences to fit the desired group model, and they often will redefine their own histories in order to comply. Usually this takes place through social mentoring, pressure and the direct/indirect requests by leadership, but it can take place in other ways as well.

Watch Derren Brown use a technique of NeuroLinguistic Programing to convince a subject to redefine his own perceptions, wants and desires through use of a technique called "anchoring." This is perhaps one of the most powerful techniques used in hypnotherapy and is often referred to as a type of "waking hypnosis." Watch how Brown grabs the subject's right wrist to establish his authority and then "anchors" his subtle suggestions by touching the subject's left arm repeatedly as he speaks to him.

This technique may not be used by the patriocentrics to "anchor" their moral imperatives and their doctrines, but this demonstrates how easy it is for a skilled person to surreptitiously influence their thinking. In this example, one can see "Doctrine Over Person" at work. The manipulator influences the subject to accept his "doctrine" by one of many available techniques that manipulators and salesmen have done since the beginning of time.

Resisting manipulation starts with knowledge about the techniques of manipulation.