Well this week I got into another philosophy driven discussion with my cousin King Solomon yet again. Where he gets his ideas from I just don’t know, but I attribute them to lack of experience or information of certain things. Yet, one does not have to experience certain things as long as they have the information that makes them aware that there are things in this world that is beyond the scope of a normal person’s day to day life and that the perception of our world is not the entire picture of what is happening in the world that we live in. There is a saying that says that the map is not the territory. This just means because you have not learned something, or is not aware of it; it doesn’t mean that it does not exist. Keep your mind open, be critical and question what doesn’t make sense to you and you may be able to adapt and overcome challenges that come your way.  The subject of discussion was psychological coercion. How a person’s thinking and decision making become compromised and that the person will be subjected to the will of the coercion program perpetrators. They will do what they are told to extent of signing confessions and admit to things they never did. Well you be the judge.

The term coercive persuasion, coercive psychological or coercive influences are the terms used when commonly referred to programs called mind control, or brainwashing. If we look at the word “coercive,” it is defined:

1) To force to act or think in a certain manner,

2) To dominate, restrain, or control by force,

3) To bring about force.

A system of coercive psychological is a behavior change program that uses the forces of psychological coercively in a way to cause learning and adoption of an ideology, a set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, or behaviors. The users of coercive programs use a strategy that systematically select sequence and coordinate many different anxiety and stress-producing tactics over a continuous period of time.  In these programs, the subjects are forced to adapt gradually. Each steps used are designed to be a small gradually implemented sequence so that the subject will not notice the changes in themselves, or identify the nature of the coercive process being used. Thus, the subjects do not become aware of the organizational purpose of the coercive program. The tactics used are usually applied within a group setting, some would include people that the subject knows, and this will keep the subject from putting up ego defenses that normally happens when we face perceived threats. The coercive psychological influence usually aims to overcome a subject’s critical thinking and free will. Subjects will gradually lose the ability to make independent decisions and exercise informed consent. The critical thinking, defenses, cognitive process, values, ideas, attitudes, is undermined.

Tactics used to create these conditions involving anxiety, and stress, the first of those tactics would be that of increased suggestibility. Techniques of increased suggestibility would include and not limited to are audio, visual, verbal or tactile fixation drills. Excessive exact repetition of routine activates. Sleep restriction, and diet modification programs. The diet modification program will include and not limited to nutritional restriction.

The second tactic would be establishing control over the person’s social environment, their time and sources of social support. With this tactic, the techniques used and not limited would be promoting social isolation, contact with family and friends is limited, and contact with people who do not share group- approved activities is extremely limited to non-existence. Economic and other dependencies on the group are developed, as is a system of excessive rewards and punishment.

The third tactic would be a prohibition of information that does not agree with the group’s opinions, and doctrines, in other words; censorship. Also rules are made that dictates what type of topics to discuss with people outside the group. An in-group language or jargon are usually constructed.

The fourth tactic is making the subject re-evaluate the most central aspects of their own self-experience, and their pass conduct in negative ways. The subject’s reality awareness, worldview, emotional control and defense mechanisms are destabilized and undermined. The subject will be guided to reinterpret their life’s history and adopt a new version of causality.

 The fifth tactic would be to create a sense of powerlessness. Putting the subject in a position does this, which undermines the subject’s confidence and judgment. The situations would have to be intense and frequent.

The sixth tactic would be to create strong aversion emotional arousal by using nonphysical punishment, such as intense humiliation, loss of a privilege, social isolation, social status changes, intense guilt, anxiety, manipulation, and other techniques, that will mentally punish the subject.

The seventh tactic would be to intimidate the subject. The force of the group-sanctioned secular psychological threats does this; it is a form of peer pressure. For example it may be implied that failure to adopt the approved attitude, belief, behavior, will lead to severe punishment, or dire consequences, such as physical, or mental illness, or the reappearance of a prior physical illness, drug dependency, economic collapse, social failure, divorce, disintegration, failure to find a mate, etc.

Use of these tactics is applied to such a severe degree, that the subject’s capacity to make informed or free choices is inhibited. The normal and balanced choices that the subject would have made are non-existence. The cumulative effect of the process can be more effective form of influence then pain, torture, drugs, or the use of physical force, and legal threats.

Crossroads