Dark Persuasion

[Rocky]

From Chapter Eight, Flash Conversion of Hostages, Stockholm Syndrome and Its Variants 

It was the hostages' fault. They did everything I told them to do.... Why didn't any of them attack me? ... There was nothing to do but get to know each other. --Jan-Erik Olsson

From roughly 1915 to 1965, governments and universities tried to develop tools for brainwashing. They weren't exactly successful. Torture did not persuade people to adopt political beliefs, nor did it elicit reliable information. Any number of drugs could sedate, stimulate, or confuse people, but they were not effective in interrogations or persuasion. [However] Group pressures, sensory isolation, and sleep deprivation were promising tools for persuading people, but these required time and finesse.

In the 1970s and 1980s two unlikely players emerged to demonstrate new techniques in dark persuasion--kidnappers and clerics. While some kidnappers were able to radically change their hostages' behavior, usually this did not reflect the kidnappers' deliberate intention. Rather, the changes were a by-product of what one hostage called "the constant and palpable threat of death." (p. 125)  

(Jump ahead to p.134) ...when framed from the perspective of life stress and coping, the syndrome is readily understandable, viewed less as a mark of psychopathology and more as an instance of coping under extraordinary stress.

Getting close to the abductor is actually lifesaving. Psychiatrist Frank Ochberg ... consultant to the FBI, called Stockholm syndrome an "unholy alliance between terrorist and captive, involving fear, distrust, or anger toward authorities on the outside." [YOU, my people, are THE called of God (unspoken at first), to obey ME, VPW and my lieutenants]. The captive focuses attention on the captors' occasional kindnesses rather than their brutality. [If you LEAVE the household, God won't even spit in your direction... btw, how freakin' paranoid was Wierwille, anyway] This can be lifesaving because a positive bond affects both captive and captor. ... Captives want to survive but are totally dependent upon their captors [see Pavlov's hierarchy of needs].  The power differential between the two is enormous, and to survive, captives must do all in their power to turn aside the lethal anger of their captors.

It may be uncommon for FBI agents to speak about child development and regression but Agent Thomas Strentz described the situation masterfully: "The five-year-old is able to feed himself, speak for himself, and has locomotion. The hostage is more like an infant who must cry for food, cannot speak, and may be bound.... The hostage is in a state of extreme dependence and fright. He is terrified of the outside world. [...]

Ochberg observed that "brainwashing is deliberate, but Stockholm just happens. It's a shrewd observation. 

-----
The text in the book has several end notes citing where Dimsdale got the quotes and the insight.

I maintain that these passages more than coincidentally point to the cult behavior in the way corpse and paid staff of twi.

Obedience is implicitly demanded with severe shame and threats to one's sense of belonging and hence, need for survival. Why do they have armed security? Why do they immediately expel people for what the cult perceives as threats to ITS survival? How does such expulsion impact those who still belong?

Does TWI get away with these practices because they craftily and subtly impose these emotional and financial abuses and the constant and palpable threats of harm?

And to any leaders of twi spinoff groups, I'd recommend get an education and get a real job. Do GOOD in society rather than the illusory benefit you might provide to your followers.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Rocky

[Bolshevik]

Happy Ho-Ho (If we are reinforcing the shared fantasy via language - are you with us, or them?)

Love is Obedience they(LCM etc) taught explicitly.  If you do not obey, love is withdrawn.  If you obey, you give away more of yourself. 

[Rocky]

We can, of course, be deceived in many ways. We can be deceived by believing what is not true, but we certainly are also deceived by not believing what IS true. -- Søren Kierkegaard  in the epigraph to chapter twelve, The Beleaguered Persistence of Brainwashing, Dark Persuasion.
 

Hopefully nobody these days is unaware of events illustrating this concept.

[Rocky]

My bottom-line on this subject (for now) is that if we think being sucked into TWI is the end of a journey of Dark Persuasion/brainwashing, we need to rethink it. 

My review of Dark Persuasion (as posted on Goodreads.com):
 

Quote

I've understood for a few years that all of humankind is subject to being conned. It has happened to me. I spent 12 years in a fundamentalist Christian cult. That's not the only time I've been deceived and taken advantage of.

Dimsdale makes a solid case for being watchful... and that's not all. Humankind is ALL about stories. To discern which are worth embracing takes skills. Critical thinking skills certainly, also including but not necessarily limited to emotional intelligence.

In his afterword, Dimsdale says,
I know brainwashing is an outlandish term, but we are stuck with it. I also know that for one hundred years we have been scaring ourselves silly with the idea in countless novels and movies, but that doesn't mean the danger isn't real. [...]

George Orwell soberly observed, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever." If we ignore the potential developments of brainwashing in the twenty-first century, we will be defenseless against it, and Orwell will have been right.

 

 

 

[chockfull]

Rocky thanks for the book review.  That is quite an analysis tying together the elements of Stockholm syndrome to the pressures enacted by a cult.  I think you are spot on.  It’s also a cult peer pressure thing where the higher the position the more they try to influence and pressure as we have seen evidence of through many here’s stories.  
 

I remember a while ago when a current BODummy was putting his resume out there on the internet being passed over for the Prez position. The way that guy thought about himself and his so called accomplishments were the epitome of vomit inducing ego.  The reality was more like he publicly stated on more than one occasion.  “I’m not a yes man I’m a yes ma’am”.

I think most of their day encompasses dreaming up how to control the masses and pump up their own ego.  And preserve their power.

They have their reward now.  I’m planning on avoiding them and saving on collecting my reward at the return.

Peace spotters Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Jesus is the reason for the season not cult leaders antics and power.  And I’m not gonna get reproved for not saying happy household holidays.  Holidays in the “household” were seldom happy.

So for me cult recovery involves distance from the captors not closeness.  Where they don’t control or influence my food clothing and shelter and work to provide for my family.  Captors can stay the f in Stockholm.

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by chockfull

[Rocky]

A video featuring a discussion with the author the book Dark Persuasion.