[ExI] scary stuff

[Damien Broderick]

At 01:39 AM 7/14/2007 -0700, Jeff Davis wrote:

>The second conversion episode, the one where the fellow was standing,
>was quite interesting.  Watch it carefully.  The man's back is turned.
>  He cannot see what is going on behind him.  Yet the motion of his
>body in falling backward is remarkably well coordinated with the
>gestural motion of the man behind him out of sight.

The hypnotist has suggested indirectly that he will fall ("don't be 
afraid, I'll catch you"), and makes the repeated "magic pass" 
gestures (for the benefit of the audience) until he sees the 
beginning of the topple, at which point he whips his hand away, 
implying a "pull". This guy is a tremendously acute observer, as can 
be seen in some of the other YouTube fragments from his stunts and 
performances.

>Why scary, Damien?  For me it would be because it challenges my
>non-faith.

Scary because, unless it *is* a bogus performances using stooges 
(which I doubt) it's an index of how astonishingly *easy* it is to 
program humans by eliciting narratives and feelings inserted into 
them by both evolutionary history and their culture. Watch carefully 
how he brings into the awareness of the first woman whom he 
"converts" overwhelming childhood memories of her grandmother, 
associating those feelings with granny's "faith". I'm not sure how 
persistent such instant (re-)conversions would be, but if they were 
supported by ongoing encouragement from an emotional "faith 
community" I think they'd be likely to stick. And the victims 
*wouldn't notice* their manipulation.

Damien Broderick