The Johari Window
- from Mind Tools.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Persuasion & Brainwashing
Persuasion & Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public Today
By Dick Sutphen
combine subliminal messages behind the music, subliminal visuals
projected on the screen, hypnotically produced visual effects,
sustained musical beats at a trance-inducing pace . . . you have
extremely effective brainwashing. Every hour that you spend
watching the TV set you become more conditioned. And, in case you
thought there was a law against any of these things, guess again.
There isn't! There are a lot of powerful people who obviously
prefer things exactly the way they are. Maybe they have plans for?
By Dick Sutphen
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
The Birth of Conversion/Brainwashing in Christian Revivalism in
1735. The Pavlovian explanation of the three brain phases. Born-
again preachers: Step-by-Step, how they conduct a revival and the
expected physiological results. The "voice roll" technique used by
preachers, lawyers and hypnotists. New trance-inducing churches.
The 6 steps to conversion. The decognition process. Thought-
stopping techniques. The "sell it by zealot" technique. True
believers and mass movements. Persuasion techniques: "Yes set,"
"Imbedded Commands," "Shock and Confusion," and the "Interspersal
Technique." Subliminals. Vibrato and ELF waves. Inducing trance
with vibrational sound. Even professional observers will be
"possessed" at charismatic gatherings. The "only hope" technique
to attend and not be converted. Non-detectable Neurophone
programming through the skin. The medium for mass take-over.
I'm Dick Sutphen and this tape is a studio-recorded, expanded
version of a talk I delivered at the World Congress of
Professional Hypnotists Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although
the tape carries a copyright to protect it from unlawful
duplication for sale by other companies, in this case, I invite
individuals to make copies and give them to friends or anyone in a
position to communicate this information.
Although I've been interviewed about the subject on many local and
regional radio and TV talk shows, large-scale mass communication
appears to be blocked, since it could result in suspicion or
investigation of the very media presenting it or the sponsors that
support the media. Some government agencies do not want this
information generally known. Nor do the Born-Again Christian
movement, cults, and many human-potential trainings.
Everything I will relate only exposes the surface of the problem.
I don't know how the misuse of these techniques can be stopped. I
don't think it is possible to legislate against that which often
cannot be detected; and if those who legislate are using these
techniques, there is little hope of affecting laws to govern
usage. I do know that the first step to initiate change is to
generate interest. In this case, that will probably only result
from an underground effort. In talking about this subject, I am
talking about my own business. I know it, and I know how effective
it can be. I produce hypnosis and subliminal apes and, in some of
my seminars, I use conversion tactics to assist participants to
become independent and self-sufficient. But, anytime I use these
techniques, I point out that I am using them, and those attending
have a choice to participate or not. They also know what the
desired result of participation will be.
So, to begin, I want to state the most basic of all facts about
brainwashing: IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MAN, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN
BRAINWASHED AND REALIZED, OR BELIEVED, THAT HE HAD BEEN
BRAINWASHED. Those who have been brainwashed will usually
passionately defend their manipulators, claiming they have simply
been "shown the light" . . . or have been transformed in
miraculous ways.
The Birth of Conversion
CONVERSION is a "nice" word for BRAINWASHING . . . and any study
of brainwashing has to begin with a study of Christian revivalism
in eighteenth century America. Apparently, Jonathan Edwards
accidentally discovered the techniques during a religious crusade
in 1735 in Northampton, Massachusetts. By inducing guilt and acute
apprehension and by increasing the tension, the "sinners"
attending his revival meetings would break down and completely
submit. Technically, what Edwards was doing was creating
conditions that wipe the brain slate clean so that the mind
accepts new programming. The problem was that the new input was
negative. He would tell them, "You're a sinner! You're destined
for hell!" As a result, one person committed suicide and another
attempted suicide.
And the neighbors of the suicidal converts related that they, too,
were affected so deeply that, although they had found "eternal
salvation," they were obsessed with a diabolical temptation to end
their own lives.
Once a preacher, cult leader, manipulator or authority figure
creates the brain phase to wipe the brain-slate clean, his
subjects are wide open. New input, in the form of suggestion, can
be substituted for their previous ideas. Because Edwards didn't
turn his message positive until the end of the revival,
many accepted the negative suggestions and acted, or desired to
act, upon them.
Charles J. Finney was another Christian revivalist who used the
same techniques four years later in mass religious conversions in
New York. The techniques are still being used today by Christian
revivalists, cults, human-potential trainings, some business
rallies, and the United States Armed Services . . . to name just a
few. Let me point out here that I don't think most revivalist
preachers realize or know they are using brainwashing techniques.
Edwards simply stumbled upon a technique that really worked, and
others copied it and have continued to copy it for over two
hundred years. And the more sophisticated our knowledge and
technology become, the more effective the conversion. I feel
strongly that this is one of the major reasons for the increasing
rise in Christian fundamentalism, especially the televised
variety, while most of the orthodox religions are declining.
The Three Brain Phases
The Christians may have been the first to successfully formulate
brainwashing, but we have to look to Pavlov, the Russian
scientist, for a technical explanation. In the early 1900s, his
work with animals opened the door to further investigations with
humans. After the revolution in Russia, Lenin was quick to see the
potential of applying Pavlov's research to his own ends.
Three distinct and progressive states of transmarginal inhibition
were identified by Pavlov. The first is the EQUIVALENT phase, in
which the brain gives the same response to both strong and weak
stimuli. The second is the PARADOXICAL phase, in which the brain
responds more actively to weak stimuli than to strong. And the
third is the ULTRA-PARADOXICAL phase, in which conditioned
responses and behavior patterns turn from positive to negative or
from negative to positive.
With the progression through each phase, the degree of conversion
becomes more effective and complete. The way to achieve conversion
are many and varied, but the usual first step in religious or
political brainwashing is to work on the emotions of an individual
or group until they reach an abnormal level of anger, fear,
exitement, or nervous tension. The progressive result of this
mental condition is to impair judgement and increase
suggestibility. The more this condition can be maintained or
intensified, the more it compounds. Once catharsis, or the first
brain phase, is reached, the complete mental takeover becomes
easier. Existing mental programming can be replaced with new
patterns of thinking and behavior.
Other often-used physiological weapons to modify normal brain
functions are fasting, radical or high sugar diets, physical
discomforts, regulation of breathing, mantra chanting in
meditation, the disclosure of awesome mysteries, special lighting
and sound effects, programmed response to incense, or intoxicating
drugs.
The same results can be obtained in contemporary psychiatric
treatment by electric shock treatments and even by purposely
lowering a person's blood sugar level with insulin injections.
Before I talk about exactly how some of the techniques are
applied, I want to point out that hypnosis and conversion tactics
are two distinctly different things--and that conversion
techniques are far more powerful. However, the two are often mixed
... with powerful results.
How Revivalist Preachers Work
If you'd like to see a revivalist preacher at work, there are
probably several in your city. Go to the church or tent early and
sit in the rear, about three-quarters of the way back. Most likely
repetitive music will be played while the people come in for the
service. A repetitive beat, ideally ranging from 45 to 72 beats
per minute (a rhythm close to the beat of the human heart), is
very hypnotic and can generate an eyes-open altered state of
consciousness in a very high percentage of people. And, once you
are in an alpha state, you are at least 25 times as suggestible as
you would be in full beta consciousness. The music is probably the
same for every service, or incorporates the same beat, and many of
the people will go into an altered state almost immediately upon
entering the sanctuary. Subconsciously, they recall their state of
mind from previous services and respond according to the post-
hypnotic programming. Watch the people waiting for the service to
begin. Many will exhibit external signs of trance--body relaxation
and slightly dilated eyes. Often, they begin swaying back and
forth with their hands in the air while sitting in their chairs.
Next, the assistant pastor will probably come out. He usually
speaks with a pretty good "voice roll."
Voice Roll Technique
A "voice roll" is a patterned, paced style used by hypnotists when
inducing a trance. It is also used by many lawyers, several of
whom are highly trained hypnotists, when they desire to entrench a
point firmly in the minds of the jurors. A voice roll can sound as
if the speaker were talking to the beat of a metronome or it may
sound as though he were emphasizing every word in a monotonous,
patterned style. The words will usually be delivered at the rate
of 45 to 60 beats per minute, maximizing the hypnotic effect. Now
the assistant pastor begins the "build-up" process. He induces an
altered state of consciousness and/or begins to generate the
excitement and the expectations of the audience. Next, a group of
young women in "sweet and pure" chiffon dresses might come out to
sing a song. Gospel songs are great for building excitement and
INVOLVEMENT. In the middle of the song, one of the girls might be
"smitten by the spirit" and fall down or react as if possessed by
the Holy Spirit. This very effectively increases the intensity in
the room. At this point, hypnosis and conversion tactics are being
mixed. And the result is the audience's attention span is now
totally focused upon the communication while the environment
becomes more exciting or tense.
Right about this time, when an eyes-open mass-induced alpha mental
state has been achieved, they will usually pass the collection
plate or basket. In the background, a 45-beat-per-minute voice
roll from the assistant preacher might exhort, "Give to God . . .
Give to God . . . Give to God . . ." And the audience does give.
God may not get the money, but his already wealthy representative
will. Next, the fire-and-brimstone preacher will come out. He
induces fear and increases the tension by talking about "the
devil," "going to hell," or the forthcoming Armegeddon.
In the last such rally I attended, the preacher talked about the blood
that would soon be running out of every faucet in the land. He was
also obsessed with a "bloody axe of God," which everyone had seen
hanging above the pulpit the previous week. I have no doubt that
everyone saw it--the power of suggestion given to hundreds of
people in hypnosis assures that at least 10 to 25 percent would
see whatever he suggested they see. (Note: If you want to KNOW the
FULL IMPLICATIONS of this RELIGIOUS MIND CONTROL,
CLICK HERE!!)
In most revivalist gatherings, "testifying" or "witnessing"
usually follows the fear-based sermon. People from the audience
come up on stage and relate their stories. "I was crippled and now
I can walk!" "I had arthritis and now it's gone!" It is a
psychological manipulation that works. After listening to numerous
case histories of miraculous healings, the average guy in the
audience with a minor problem is sure he can be healed. The room
is charged with fear, guilt, intense excitement, and expectations.
Now those who want to be healed are frequently lined up around the
edge of the room, or they are told to come down to the front. The
preacher might touch them on the head firmly and scream, "Be
healed!" This releases the psychic energy and, for many, catharsis
results. Catharsis is a purging of repressed emotions. Individuals
might cry, fall down or even go into spasms. And if catharsis is
effected, they stand a chance of being healed. In catharsis (one
of the three brain phases mentioned earlier), the brain-slate is
temporarily wiped clean and the new suggestion is accepted.
For some, the healing may be permanent. For many, it will last
four days to a week, which is, incidentally, how long a hypnotic
suggestion given to a somnambulistic subject will usually last.
Even if the healing doesn't last, if they come back every week,
the power of suggestion may continually override the problem . . .
or sometimes, sadly, it can mask a physical problem which could
prove to be very detrimental to the individual in the long run.
I'm not saying that legitimate healings do not take place. They
do. Maybe the individual was ready to let go of the negativity
that caused the problem in the first place; maybe it was the work
of God. Yet I contend that it can be explained with existing
knowledge of brain/mind function.
The techniques and staging will vary from church to church. Many use
"speaking in tongues" to generate catharsis in some while the
spectacle creates intense excitement in the observers.
The use of hypnotic techniques by religions is sophisticated, and
professionals are assuring that they become even more effective. A
man in Los Angeles is designing, building, and reworking a lot of
churches around the country. He tells ministers what they need and
how to use it. This man's track record indicates that the
congregation and the monetary income will double if the minister
follows his instructions. He admits that about 80 percent of his
efforts are in the sound system and lighting.
Powerful sound and the proper use of lighting are of primary
importance in inducing an altered state of consciousnes--I've been
using them for years in my own seminars. However, my participants
are fully aware of the process and what they can expect as a
result of their participation.
Six Conversion Techniques
Cults and human-potential organizations are always looking for new
converts. To attain them, they must also create a brain-phase. And
they often need to do it within a short space of time--a weekend,
or maybe even a day. The following are the six primary techniques
used to generate the conversion.
The meeting or training takes place in an area where participants
are cut off from the outside world. This may be any place: a
private home, a remote or rural setting, or even a hotel ballroom
where the participants are allowed only limited bathroom usage. In
human-potential trainings, the controllers will give a lengthy
talk about the importance of "keeping agreements" in life. The
participants are told that if they don't keep agreements, their
life will never work. It's a good idea to keep agreements, but the
controllers are subverting a positive human value for selfish
purposes. The participants vow to themselves and their trainer
that they will keep their agreements. Anyone who does not will be
intimidated into agreement or forced to leave. The next step is to
agree to complete training, thus assuring a high percentage of
conversions for the organizations. They will USUALLY have to agree
not to take drugs, smoke, and sometimes not to eat . . . or they
are given such short meal breaks that it creates tension. The real
reason for the agreements is to alter internal chemistry, which
generates anxiety and hopefully causes at least a slight
malfunction of the nervous system, which in turn increases the
conversion potential. Before the gathering is complete, the
agreements will be used to ensure that the new converts go out and
find new participants. They are intimidated into agreeing to do so
before they leave. Since the importance of keeping agreements is
so high on their priority list, the converts will twist the arms
of everyone they know, attempting to talk them into attending a
free introductory session offered at a future date by the
organization. The new converts are zealots. In fact, the inside
term for merchandising the largest and most successful human-
potential training is, "sell it by zealot!" At least a million
people are graduates and a good percentage have been
left with a mental activation button that assures their future
loyalty and assistance if the guru figure or organization calls.
Think about the potential political implications of hundreds of
thousands of zealots programmed to campaign for their guru.
Be wary of an organization of this type that offers follow-up
sessions after the seminar. Follow-up sessions might be weekly
meetings or inexpensive seminars given on a regular basis which
the organization will attempt to talk you into taking--or any
regularly scheduled event used to maintain control. As the early
Christian revivalists found, long-term control is dependent upon a
good follow-up system.
All right. Now, let's look at the second tip-off that indicates
conversion tactics are being used. A schedule is maintained that
causes physical and mental fatigue. This is primarily accomplished
by long hours in which the participants are given no opportunity
for relaxation or reflection. The third tip-off: techniques used
to increase the tension in the room or environment.
Number four: Uncertainty. I could spend hours relating various
techniques to increase tension and generate uncertainty.
Basically, the participants are concerned about being "put on the
spot" or encountered by the trainers, guilt feelings are played
upon, participants are tempted to verbally relate their innermost
secrets to the other participants or forced to take part in
activities that emphasize removing their masks. One of the most
successful human-potential seminars forces the participants to
stand on a stage in front of the entire audience while being
verbally attacked by the trainers. A public opinion poll,
conducted a few years ago, showed that the number one most-fearful
situation an individual could encounter is to speak to an
audience. It ranked above window washing outside the 85th floor of
an office building. So you can imagine the fear and tension this
situation generates within the participants. Many faint, but most
cope with the stress by mentally going away. They literally go
into an alpha state, which automatically makes them many times as
suggestible as they normally are. And another loop of the downward
spiral into conversion is successfully effected. The fifth clue
that conversion tactics are being used is the introduction
of jargon--new terms that have meaning only to the "insiders" who
participate. Vicious language is also frequently used, purposely,
to make participants uncomfortable.
The final tip-off is that there is no humor in the communications
. . . at least until the participants are converted. Then, merry-
making and humor are highly desirable as symbols of the new joy
the participants have supposedly "found." I'm not saying that good
does not result from participation in such gatherings. It can and
does. But I contend it is important for people to know what has
happened and to be aware that continual involvement may not be in
their best interest. Over the years, I've conducted professional
seminars to teach people to be hypnotists, trainers, and
counselors. I've had many of those who conduct trainings and
rallies come to me and say, "I'm here because I know that what I'm
doing works, but I don't know why." After showing them how and
why, many have gotten out of the business or have decided to
approach it differently or in a much more loving and supportive
manner.
Many of these trainers have become personal friends, and it scares
us all to have experienced the power of one person with a
microphone and a room full of people. Add a little charisma and
you can count on a high percentage of conversions. The sad truth
is that a high percentage of people want to give away their power-
-they are true "believers"! Cult gatherings or human-potential
trainings are an ideal environment to observe first-hand what is
technically called the "Stockholm Syndrome." This is a situation
in which those who are intimidated, controlled, or made to suffer,
begin to love, admire, and even sometimes sexually desire their
controllers or captors.
But let me inject a word of warning here: If you think you can
attend such gatherings and not be affected, you are probably
wrong. A perfect example is the case of a woman who went to Haiti
on a Guggenheim Fellowship to study Haitian Voodoo. In her report,
she related how the music eventually induced uncontrollable bodily
movement and an altered state of consciousness. Although she
understood the process and thought herself above it, when she
began to feel herself become vulnerable to the music, she
attempted to fight it and turned away. Anger or resistance almost
always assures conversion. A few moments later she was possessed
by the music and began dancing in a trance around the Voodoo
meeting house. A brain phase had been induced by the music and
excitement, and she awoke feeling reborn. The only hope of
attending such gatherings without being affected is to be a Buddha
and allow no positive or negative emotions to surface. Few people
are capable of such detachment.
Before I go on, let's go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I
want to mention the United States Government and military boot
camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before
"rebuilding" them as new men--as marines! Well, that is exactly
what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people down and
rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local street corner.
Every one of the six conversion techniques are used in boot camp.
Considering the needs of the military, I'm not making a judgement
as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A FACT that the men are
effectively brainwashed. Those who won't submit must be discharged
or spend much of their time in the brig.
Decognition Process
Once the initial conversion is effected, cults, armed services,
and similar groups cannot have cynicism among their members.
Members must respond to commands and do as they are told,
otherwise they are dangerous to the organizational control. This
is normally accomplished as a three-step Decognition Process.
Step One is ALERTNESS REDUCTION: The controllers cause the nervous
system to malfunction, making it difficult to distinguish between
fantasy and reality. This can be accomplished in several ways.
POOR DIET is one; watch out for Brownies and Koolaid. The sugar
throws the nervous system off. More subtle is the "SPIRITUAL DIET"
used by many cults. They eat only vegetables and fruits; without
the grounding of grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, fish or
meat, an individual becomes mentally "spacey." INADEQUATE SLEEP is
another primary way to reduce alertness, especially when combined
with long hours of work or intense physical activity. Also, being
bombarded with intense and unique experiences achieves the same
result.
Step Two is PROGRAMMED CONFUSION: You are mentally assaulted while
your alertness is being reduced as in Step One. This is
accomplished with a deluge of new information, lectures,
discussion groups, encounters or one-to-one processing, which
usually amounts to the controller bombarding the individual with
questions. During this phase of decognition, reality and illusion
often merge and perverted logic is likely to be accepted.
Step Three is THOUGHT STOPPING: Techniques are used to cause the
mind to go "flat." These are altered-state-of-consciousness
techniques that initially induce calmness by giving the mind
something simple to deal with and focusing awareness. The
continued use brings on a feeling of elation and eventually
hallucination. The result is the reduction of thought and
eventually, if used long enough, the cessation of all thought and
withdrawal from everyone and everything except that which the
controllers direct. The takeover is then complete. It is important
to be aware that when members or participants are instructed to
use "thought-stopping" techniques, they are told that they will
benefit by so doing: they will become "better soldiers" or "find
enlightenment."
There are three primary techniques used for thought stopping. The
first is MARCHING: the thump, thump, thump beat literally
generates self-hypnosis and thus great susceptibility to
suggestion.
The second thought stopping technique is MEDITATION. If you spend
an hour to an hour and a half a day in meditation, after a few
weeks, there is a great probability that you will not return to
full beta consciousness. You will remain in a fixed state of alpha
for as long as you continue to meditate. I'm not saying this is
bad--if you do it yourself. It may be very beneficial. But it is a
fact that you are causing your mind to go flat. I've worked with
meditators on an EEG machine and the results are conclusive: the
more you meditate, the flatter your mind becomes until, eventually
and especially if used to excess or in combination with
decognition, all thought ceases. Some spiritual groups see this as
nirvana--which is bullshit. It is simply a predictable
physiological result. And if heaven on earth is non-thinking and
non-involvement, I really question why we are here.
The third thought-stopping technique is CHANTING, and often
chanting in meditation. "Speaking in tongues" could also be
included in this category. All three-stopping techniques produce
an altered state of consciousness.
This may be very good if YOU are controlling the process, for you
also control the input. I personally use at least one self-
hypnosis programming session every day and I know how beneficial
it is for me. But you need to know if you use these techniques to
the degree of remaining continually in alpha that, although you'll
be very mellow, you'll also be more suggestible.
True Believers & Mass Movements
Before ending this section on conversion, I want to talk about the
people who are most susceptible to it and about Mass Movements. I
am convinced that at least a third of the population is what Eric
Hoffer calls "true believers." They are joiners and followers . .
. people who want to give away their power. They look for answers,
meaning, and enlightenment outside themselves.
Hoffer, who wrote THE TRUE BELIEVER, a classic on mass movements,
says, "true believers are not intent on bolstering and advancing a
cherished self, but are those craving to be rid of unwanted self.
They are followers, not because of a desire for self-advancement,
but because it can satisfy their passion for self-renunciation!"
Hoffer also says that true believers "are eternally incomplete and
eternally insecure"!
I know this from my own experience. In my years of communicating
concepts and conducting trainings, I have run into them again and
again. All I can do is attempt to show them that the only thing to
seek is the True Self within. Their personal answers are to be
found there and there alone. I communicate that the basics of
spirituality are self-responsibility and self-actualization.
But most of the true believers just tell me that I'm not spiritual
and go looking for someone who will give them the dogma and
structure they desire.
Never underestimate the potential danger of these people. They can
easily be molded into fanatics who will gladly work and die for
their holy cause. It is a substitute for their lost faith in
themselves and offers them as a substitute for individual hope.
The Moral Majority is made up of true believers. All cults are
composed of true believers. You'll find them in politics,
churches, businesses, and social cause groups. They are the
fanatics in these organizations.
Mass Movements will usually have a charismatic leader. The
followers want to convert others to their way of living or impose
a new way of life--if necessary, by legislating laws forcing
others to their view, as evidenced by the activities of the Moral
Majority. This means enforcement by guns or punishment, for that
is the bottomline in law enforcement.
A common hatred, enemy, or devil is essential to the success of a
mass movement. The Born-Again Christians have Satan himself, but
that isn't enough--they've added the occult, the New Age thinkers
and, lately, all those who oppose their integration of church and
politics, as evidenced in their political reelection campaigns
against those who oppose their views. In revolutions, the devil is
usually the ruling power or aristocracy. Some human-potential
movements are far too clever to ask their graduates to join
anything, thus labeling themselves as a cult--but, if you look
closely, you'll find that their devil is anyone and everyone who
hasn't taken their training.
There are mass movements without devils but they seldom attain
major status. The True Believers are mentally unbalanced or
insecure people, or those without hope or friends. People don't
look for allies when they love, but they do when they hate or
become obsessed with a cause. And those who desire a new life and
a new order feel the old ways must be eliminated before the new
order can be built.
Persuasion Techniques
Persuasion isn't technically brainwashing but it is the
manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without the
manipulated party being aware what caused his opinion shift. I
only have time to very basically introduce you to a few of the
thousands of techniques in use today, but the basis of persuasion
is always to access your RIGHT BRAIN. The left half of your brain
is analytical and rational. The right side is creative and
imaginative. That is overly simplified but it makes my point. So,
the idea is to distract the left brain and keep it busy. Ideally,
the persuader generates an eyes-open altered state of
consciousness, causing you to shift from beta awareness into
alpha; this can be measured on an EEG machine.
First, let me give you an example of distracting the left brain.
Politicians use these powerful techniques all the time; lawyers
use many variations which, I've been told, they call "tightening
the noose."
Assume for a moment that you are watching a politician give a
speech. First, he might generate what is called a "YES SET." These
are statements that will cause listeners to agree; they might even
unknowingly nod their heads in agreement. Next come the TRUISMS.
These are usually facts that could be debated but, once the
politician has his audience agreeing, the odds are in the
politician's favor that the audience won't stop to think for
themselves, thus continuing to agree. Last comes the SUGGESTION.
This is what the politician wants you to do and, since you have
been agreeing all along, you could be persuaded to accept the
suggestion. Now, if you'll listen closely to my political speech,
you'll find that the first three are the "yes set," the next three
are truisms and the last is the suggestion.
"Ladies and gentlemen: are you angry about high food prices? Are
you tired of astronomical gas prices? Are you sick of out-of-
control inflation? Well, you know the Other Party allowed 18
percent inflation last year; you know crime has increased 50
percent nationwide in the last 12 months, and you know your
paycheck hardly covers your expenses any more. Well, the answer to
resolving these problems is to elect me, John Jones, to the U.S.
Senate."
And I think you've heard all that before. But you might also watch
for what are called Imbedded Commands. As an example: On key
words, the speaker would make a gesture with his left hand, which
research has shown is more apt to access your right brain. Today's
media-oriented politicians and spellbinders are often carefully
trained by a whole new breed of specialist who are using every
trick in the book--both old and new--to manipulate you into
accepting their candidate.
The concepts and techniques of Neuro-Linguistics are so heavily
protected that I found out the hard way that to even talk about
them publicly or in print results in threatened legal action. Yet
Neuro-Linguistic training is readily available to anyone willing
to devote the time and pay the price. It is some of the most
subtle and powerful manipulation I have yet been exposed to. A
good friend who recently attended a two-week seminar on Neuro-
Linguistics found that many of those she talked to during the
breaks were government people.
Another technique that I'm just learning about is unbelievably
slippery; it is called an INTERSPERSAL TECHNIQUE and the idea is
to say one thing with words but plant a subconscious impression of
something else in the minds of the listeners and/or watchers.
Let me give you an example: Assume you are watching a television
commentator make the following statement: SENATOR JOHNSON is
assisting local authorities to clear up the stupid mistakes of
companies contributing to the nuclear waste problems." It sounds
like a statement of fact, but, if the speaker emphasizes the right
word, and especially if he makes the proper hand gestures on the
key words, you could be left with the subconscious impression that
Senator Johnson is stupid. That was the subliminal goal of the
statement and the speaker cannot be called to account for
anything.
Persuasion techniques are also frequently used on a much smaller
scale with just as much effectiveness. The insurance salesman
knows his pitch is likely to be much more effective if he can get
you to visualize something in your mind. This is right-brain
communication. For instance, he might pause in his conversation,
look slowly around your livingroom and say, "Can you just imagine
this beautiful home burning to the ground?" Of course you can! It
is one of your unconscious fears and, when he forces you to
visualize it, you are more likely to be manipulated into signing
his insurance policy.
The Hare Krishnas, operating in every airport, use what I call
SHOCK AND CONFUSION techniques to distract the left brain and
communicate directly with the right brain. While waiting for a
plane, I once watched one operate for over an hour. He had a
technique of almost jumping in front of someone. Initially, his
voice was loud then dropped as he made his pitch to take a book
and contribute money to the cause. Usually, when people are
shocked, they immediately withdraw. In this case they were shocked
by the strange appearance, sudden materialization and loud voice
of the Hare Krishna devotee. In other words, the people went into
an alpha state for security because they didn't want to confront
the reality before them. In alpha, they were highly suggestible so
they responded to the suggestion of taking the book; the moment
they took the book, they felt guilty and responded to the second
suggestion: give money. We are all conditioned that if someone
gives us something, we have to give them something in return--in
that case, it was money. While watching this hustler, I was close
enough to notice that many of the people he stopped exhibited an
outward sign of alpha--their eyes were actually dilated.
Subliminal Programming
Subliminals are hidden suggestions that only your subconscious
perceives. They can be audio, hidden behind music, or visual,
airbrushed into a picture, flashed on a screen so fast that you
don't consciously see them, or cleverly incorporated into a
picture or design.
Most audio subliminal reprogramming tapes offer verbal suggestions
recorded at a low volume. I question the efficacy of this
technique--if subliminals are not perceptible, they cannot be
effective, and subliminals recorded below the audible threshold
are therefore useless. The oldest audio subliminal technique uses
a voice that follows the volume of the music so subliminals are
impossible to detect without a parametric equalizer. But this
technique is patented and, when I wanted to develop my own line of
subliminal audiocassettes, negotiations with the patent holder
proved to be unsatisfactory. My attorney obtained copies of the
patents which I gave to some talented Hollywood sound engineers,
asking them to create a new technique. They found a way to psycho-
acoustically modify and synthesize the suggestions so that they
are projected in the same chord and frequency as the music, thus
giving them the effect of being part of the music. But we found
that in using this technique, there is no way to reduce various
frequencies to detect the subliminals. In other words, although
the suggestions are being heard by the subconscious mind, they
cannot be monitored with even the most sophisticated equipment.
If we were able to come up with this technique as easily as we
did, I can only imagine how sophisticated the technology has
become, with unlimited government or advertising funding. And I
shudder to think about the propaganda and commercial manipulation
that we are exposed to on a daily basis. There is simply no way to
know what is behind the music you hear. It may even be possible to
hide a second voice behind the voice to which you are listening.
The series by Wilson Bryan Key, Ph.D., on subliminals in
advertising and political campaigns well documents the misuse in
many areas, especially printed advertising in newspapers,
magazines, and posters.
The big question about subliminals is: do they work? And I
guarantee you they do. Not only from the response of those who
have used my tapes, but from the results of such programs as the
subliminals behind the music in department stores. Supposedly, the
only message is instructions to not steal: one East Coast
department store chain reported a 37 percent reduction in thefts
in the first nine months of testing.
A 1984 article in the technical newsletter, "Brain-Mind Bulletin,"
states that as much as 99 percent of our cognitive activity may be
"non-conscious," according to the director of the Laboratory for
Cognitive Psychophysiology at the University of Illinois. The
lengthy report ends with the statement, "these findings support
the use of subliminal approaches such as taped suggestions for
weight loss and the therapeutic use of hypnosis and Neuro-
Linguistic Programming."
Mass Misuse
I could relate many stories that support subliminal programming,
but I'd rather use my time to make you aware of even more subtle
uses of such programming.
I have personally experienced sitting in a Los Angeles auditorium with
over ten thousand people who were gathered to listen to a current
charismatic figure. Twenty minutes after entering the auditorium,
I became aware that I was going in and out of an altered state.
Those accompanying me experienced the same thing. Since it is our
business, we were aware of what was happening, but those around us
were not. By careful observation, what appeared to be spontaneous
demonstrations were, in fact, artful manipulations. The only way I
could figure that the eyes-open trance had been induced was that a
6- to 7-cycle-per-second vibration was being piped into the room
behind the air conditioner sound. That particular vibration
generates alpha, which would render the audience highly
susceptible. Ten to 25 percent of the population is capable of a
somnambulistic level of altered states of consciousness; for these
people, the suggestions of the speaker, if non-threatening, could
potentially be accepted as "commands."
Vibrato
This leads to the mention of VIBRATO. Vibrato is the tremulous
effect imparted in some vocal or instrumental music, and the cyle-
per-second range causes people to go into an altered state of
consciousness. At one period of English history, singers whose
voices contained pronounced vibrato were not allowed to perform
publicly because listeners would go into an altered state and have
fantasies, often sexual in nature.
People who attend opera or enjoy listening to singers like Mario
Lanza are familiar with this altered state induced by the
performers.
ELFs
Now, let's carry this awareness a little farther. There are also
inaudible ELFs (extra-low frequency waves). These are
electromagnetic in nature. One of the primary uses of ELFs is to
communicate with our submarines. Dr. Andrija Puharich, a highly
respected researcher, in an attempt to warn U.S. officials about
Russian use of ELFs, set up an experiment. Volunteers were wired
so their brain waves could be measured on an EEG. They were sealed
in a metal room that could not be penetrated by a normal signal.
Puharich then beamed ELF waves at the volunteers. ELFs go right
through the earth and, of course, right through metal walls. Those
inside couldn't know if the signal was or was not being sent. And
Puharich watched the reactions on the technical equipment: 30
percent of those inside the room were taken over by the ELF signal
in six to ten seconds.
When I say "taken over," I mean that their behavior followed the
changes anticipated at very precise frequencies. Waves below 6
cycles per second caused the subjects to become very emotionally
upset, and even disrupted bodily functions. At 8.2 cycles, they
felt very high . . . an elevated feeling, as though they had been
in masterful meditation, learned over a period of years. Eleven to
11.3 cycles induced waves of depressed agitation leading to
riotous behavior.
The Neurophone
Dr. Patrick Flanagan is a personal friend of mine. In the early
1960s, as a teenager, Pat was listed as one of the top scientists
in the world by "Life" magazine. Among his many inventions was a
device he called the Neurophone--an electronic instrument that can
successfully programm suggestions directly through contact with
the skin. When he attempted to patent the device, the government
demanded that he prove it worked. When he did, the National
Security Agency confiscated the neurophone. It took Pat two years
of legal battle to get his invention back.
In using the device, you don't hear or see a thing; it is applied
to the skin, which Pat claims is the source of special senses. The
skin contains more sensors for heat, touch, pain, vibration, and
electrical fields than any other part of the human anatomy.
In one of his recent tests, Pat conducted two identical seminars
for a military audience--one seminar one night and one the next
night, because the size of the room was not large enough to
accommodate all of them at one time. When the first group proved
to be very cool and unwilling to respond, Patrick spent the next
day making a special tape to play at the second seminar. The tape
instructed the audience to be extremely warm and responsive and
for their hands to become "tingly." The tape was played through
the neurophone, which was connected to a wire he placed along the
ceiling of the room. There were no speakers, so no sound could be
heard, yet the message was successfully transmitted from that wire
directly into the brains of the audience. They were warm and
receptive, their hands tingled and they responded, according to
programming, in other ways that I cannot mention here.
The more we find out about how human beings work through today's
highly advanced technological research, the more we learn to
control human beings. And what probably scares me the most is that
the medium for takeover is already in place! The television set in
your livingroom and bedroom is doing a lot more than just
entertaining you.
Before I continue, let me point out something else about an
altered state of consciousness. When you go into an altered state,
you transfer into right brain, which results in the internal
release of the body's own opiates: enkephalins and Beta-
endorphins, chemically almost identical to opium. In other words,
it feels good . . . and you want to come back for more.
Recent tests by researcher Herbert Krugman showed that, while
viewers were watching TV, right-brain activity outnumbered left-
brain activity by a ratio of two to one. Put more simply, the
viewers were in an altered state . . . in trance more often than
not. They were getting their Beta-endorphin "fix."
To measure attention spans, psychophysiologist Thomas Mulholland of the
Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, attached young
viewers to an EEG machine that was wired to shut the TV set off
whenever the children's brains produced a majority of alpha waves.
Although the children were told to concentrate, only a few could
keep the set on for more than 30 seconds!
Most viewers are already hypnotized. To deepen the trance is easy.
One simple way is to place a blank, black frame every 32 frames in
the film that is being projected. This creates a 45-beat-per-
minute pulsation perceived only by the subconscious mind--the
ideal pace to generate deep hypnosis.
The commercials or suggestions presented following this alpha-
inducing broadcast are much more likely to be accepted by the
viewer. The high percentage of the viewing audience that has
somnambulistic-depth ability could very well accept the
suggestions as commands--as long as those commands did not ask the
viewer to dosomething contrary to his morals, religion, or self-
preservation.
The medium for takeover is here. By the age of 16, children have
spent 10,000 to 15,000 hours watching television--that is more
time than they spend n school! In the average home, the TV set is
on for six hours and 44 minutes per day--an increase of nine
minutes from last year and three times the average rate of
increase during the 1970s.
It obviously isn't getting better . . . we are rapidly moving into
an alpha-level world--very possibly the Orwellian world of "1984"-
-placid, glassy-eyed, and responding obediently to instructions.
A research project by Jacob Jacoby, a Purdue University
psychologist, found that of 2,700 people tested, 90 percent
misunderstood even such simple viewing fare as commercials and
"Barnaby Jones." Only minutes after watching, the typical viewer
missed 23 to 36 percent of the questions about what he or she had
seen. Of course they did--they were going in and out of trance! If
you go into a deep trance, you must be instructed to remember--
otherwise you automatically forget.
combine subliminal messages behind the music, subliminal visuals
projected on the screen, hypnotically produced visual effects,
sustained musical beats at a trance-inducing pace . . . you have
extremely effective brainwashing. Every hour that you spend
watching the TV set you become more conditioned. And, in case you
thought there was a law against any of these things, guess again.
There isn't! There are a lot of powerful people who obviously
prefer things exactly the way they are. Maybe they have plans for?
Overcoming Conditioned Pattern, Repetition and Habit
This post explores the nature of psychological
conditioning (or effortful desire) and its dependence
on pattern, and hence repetitive, behaviours.
The post comprises a number of relatively short, contiguous articles which examine, from various perspectives, the results of and the processes involved in patterning and hence conditioning (by repetition) the nervous system and creating habitual psychological and physical behaviours.
Given a fundamental understanding of these processes, an exploration of the possibility of cessation of unnecessary patterns of behaviour (i.e. those arising in arbitrary, cultural conditioning, political and similar indoctrination, transient peer group pressure, socially engineered 'education', etc.) then takes place, partially in tandem as a set of awareness exercises.
Ultimately, the generation of both unconditional interrupt (spontaneous physical negation by direct observation and action), and conditional interrupt (deliberate - based on pattern disruption techniques), depends upon 'doing' which is fostered by investigated by means of observation in the consciousness expansion exercises and interrupt techniques that create doing by negation.
The pattern interruptions presented in the exercises here are designed to be carried out kinesthetically - i.e. by the physical body in direct self awareness - and not as mere word manipulations.
Mere superficial reading, discussion or thinking about pattern or pattern interrupt as an intellectual behaviour merely perpetuates pattern continuity in the form of word: the description is not the described.
Body will interrupt destructive pattern - if allowed the opportunity to observe it directly (kinesthetically) - and intervene directly.
An interrupt will normally work on it's own, (a proper interrupt will temporarily break the continuity of the behavioural loops that comprise an individual's' psychological conditioning or habit). Once the shallow levels of verbally driven continuity become derailed then the underlying default - and benevolent/harmonious/wholistic biological - conditioning will kick in, PROVIDED the circumstances or associations that form part of the original condition (ie the anchors in NLP speak) are also addressed.
If you are serious in overcoming the limitations of habitual and patterned behaviour - breaking habit either in yourself (the place to start) or others - you must understand the indented lines above in depth.
Read them over several times - consciously using repetition to your advantage rather than being its unconscious slave; play with them until you thoroughly understand that:
pattern depends upon repetition
pattern depends upon repetition
pattern depends upon repetition
pattern depends upon repetition
and cannot exist without it.
If you learn only one thing from this page, then learn that.
Understand how it works in individuals, in sense - sight, hearing, speaking, thinking - in groups and organisations, in physical behaviour, in number and in form. Repetition creates habit by patterning the form upon which on/in it repeats. Break pattern and you break habit - break any habit since habit is repeating behaviour. Repetition of pattern, in whatever mode, comprises vibration.
Patterns exist as periodic oscillations, sometimes simple, sometimes complex - but even the most complex of oscillations can be broken into simple component parts (for the mathematically minded consider this as Fourier analysis). Patterns do not exist only in mere 'words' and sounds, but in all manner of things - geometric pattern, colour, physical form, physical movements, rocks and crystals, architecture, science, mathematics, taste, texture, visual image, fluid flow, etc, etc. Some are natural in that they occur spontaneously in Nature, some, the culturally grown varieties, are not & certain species of the latter actually endanger the well-being of all life forms on this planet.
That's all you need to know to begin with - the rest falls in place as you apply it.
Once you become aware of the fundamentals - by daily/moment to moment observation, not by mere intellectual discussion and theorisation - then you should be able to detect patterns in most things & in many cases deal with them as necessary 'on the wing'.
Alternatively, you may use prescribed (usually tried and tested) 'technique' as devised by others. The first method is best in terms of actual in depth understanding; as for the second method, well note that somewhere, sometime, somebody devised that technique originally and perhaps you can improve on such general methods by devising some to suit your own particular circumstances.
He investigated the mechanisms involved in the secretion of various digestive glands. During the course of his work, Pavlov noticed that salivation could be induced by the sight of food, or other stimuli that normally preceded feeding OR in the association of some other stimulus with the feeding process. This led him to the discovery of the �Conditional Reflex�, now regarded as a fundamental aspect of learning and classical conditioning..
In a typical experiment, Pavlov showed that if the presentation of food to a dog was repeatedly accompanied by the sound of a bell, then the dog would come to respond to the bell as if it were food whether the food was presented or not. In other words, a non-natural response could be created by repetition and association of artificial stimulus AND that the effect of the artificial stimulus persisted even when natural stimulus was removed.
Pavlov measured the salivary response to paired presentations of food and bell and then measured salivation in response to presentation of the bell alone. He regarded salivation to the food as an "Unconditional Response," (not strictly true - it is the conditioned unconscious/instinctive behaviour of the biological system) and the subsequent salivation to the bell alone as a "Conditional Response," because it is �conditional� upon prior pairing between food and bell.
He suggested that the cells of the �Central-Nervous-System� changed structurally and chemically during conditioning, (And this notion is not too far removed from the modern view).
Pavlov�s major work translated into English as; "Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation Of The Physiological Activity Of The Cerebral Cortex" (1927)
In his original experiments, Pavlov confined a hungry dog in a harness and presented small portions of food at regular intervals. When he signalled the delivery of food by ringing a bell, the behaviour of the dog towards the stimulus, (the bell), gradually changed. The animal began by orientating to the bell, licking its lips and salivating. When Pavlov recorded the salivation by placing a small tube in the salivary duct and collecting the saliva, he found that the amount of the saliva collected increased as the animal experienced more pairings between the sound of the bell, and food presentation.
[Note the patterning by presence of REPETITION of stimulus and pairing of stimulus in a parallel pattern. Without repetition, the conditioning did not occur.]
The manner in which we speak (and think - when thinking in words) actually vibronically conditions the structure of our nervous systems and physical forms and, accordingly, our perception of the world. It is not 'merely' a psychological process but rather a physical one in which the repetitive patterned sounds (or repeating electro-chemical sound images acting in the structure of the neuronic system in the case of verbalised thinking) actually condition the structure of that system.
The word-form sound patterns we hear in speech (and which manifest internally, in imaging in the hearing sense, during verbalised thinking or internal dialogue) comprise a series of systematic complex grunts which were associated in our nervous systems, by repetition (usually by our parents and siblings), to objective sensory experience in us as young children. We reinforced this by imitation - itself a form of repetition.
All this ocurred when we learned to speak - first in 'noun' (object), then adjective/noun, then verb, adverb and preposition/article/connjunction etc. as we became practiced in the rules of language.
Children typically utter a first word at around ten months. At age one they have a 'vocabulary' (largely imitative) of four or so words, twentyish words at eighteen months and at age two something like two to three hundred. Somewhere between the ages of one and two years, the child actually 'understands', unconsciously but clearly, that language is a symbol system referring and describing the world around, and becomes a 'member' of the conceptual world associated with the particular language system.
What you observe with your sensory apparatus is not the 'actual' or 'out there', but a reality filtered by the conditioning of your nervous system. It is filtered according to the conceptual base of your first learned language. Cultural similarities in the content of conditioning - culture in this context meaning the broad swathe of human activities - biological, behavioural and especially linguistic, will give rise to similar, or consensus, shared realities. The greater the similarity and intensity of conditioning, the greater the consensus.
Our collective conditioned patterns - and their interaction with other patterned forms in the actuality of the unknowable, undifferentiated 'what is' - give rise to our nervous systems' view of the world, our differentiated reality. So long as we persist in those patterns, so long will that view persist.
Shifting our cultural and linguistic patterns - the actual conditioning sounds - will shift our view of the world, which owing to the arrival of acrophonic alphabets, the printed word, standardised dictionaries, mass production, the workings of electronic mass media, the spread of dominant of Western culture, the electronic computer and concordant languages - rapidly converges on a global scale.
Is it possible, in seeing the potential danger of many of these unconscious conditioned states - greed, desire, guilt, fear, jealousy, stupidities and indoctrinations of various kinds, etc. - that the individual can act intelligently from moment to moment in negating them as they arise?
Since 'I' understand directly that excessive heat - in the form of say a hot stove or a pan - can damage my body I immediately withdraw my hand should it come in contact with any such hot object. This (intense) process occurs spontaneously, without any verbalised thinking, in any normally functional human being. Furthermore, apart from the immediate reaction to any direct contact that might occur, I acquire, providing I'm not stupid, an element of (useful) psychological conditioning exist that keeps me wary of hot objects - I have, either by experience or education/instruction by others, a learned caution that such things are dangerous to me and, without any internal debate, repetitive looping in thinking processes or interminable weighing of pros and cons, I keep clear of them.
In this manner, the body 'conditions' the psyche directly - and very few repetitions of intense pain/learning about hot objects are required. Likewise, I don't walk in directly in front of fast moving buses, stand at the edge of high precipices, go out in freezing weather without clothes or swallow lethal poisons; all without effort.
If we can observe the dangers of our psychological conditioning that arises through unnecessary acculturation and unconscious repetition - even in a relatively superficial way - and become aware of it's processes and indications of its presence, can we naturally act and negate, instantly and effortlessly, it in the same manner as we do in not grasping the hot pan?
Can the intelligent and earnest student learn how to do this? Can this learning ultimately become available to anyone in the form of a structured 'education' which liberates - in intelligently avoiding damaging pattern rather than constraining in repetition?
Expanded awareness, such as proposed on this page, will act such that any potentially injurious psychological patterns become seen for what they are - immediately, from moment to moment. In the seeing arises the deep intelligence of the body as a reciprocal movement of reaching for consciousness expansion, and this will have done with any danger to its well-being instantaneously, effortlessly, as in moving away from the hot stove.
[by Lisa Lake http://MyAdBlaster.com]
Repetition will increase your sales.
Repetition will increase your sales.
Repetition will increase your sales.
Have I made my point?
Probably.
You certainly know what this article is about, don't you.
Now let me tell you a little story:
Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Trixy. Trixy was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom. She was so beautiful that Prince John fell madly in love with her beautiful face. But Trixy, who was incredibly beautiful, thought she was too beautiful even for Prince John. So Trixy decided to join a rock band and be a backup dancer.
The End.
Without looking back at the story, can you recall what the prince's name was?
Maybe you can and maybe you can't.
But, without looking back at the story, can you tell me what was so special about Trixy?
You most definitely can. And why can you remember what was so special about Trixy?
Because I repeated it about six times!
This same principle can be applied to your marketing to help people remember your message.
Your advertising should definitely not use as much repetition as my story did.
However, you do need to figure out what is the most important thing to communicate to your potential customers hammer that point home. If you are having a sale, you need to emphasize that you are having a sale...
Don't be afraid that people will find your advertisement annoying. Many people only listen to advertisements with half an ear. Advertising becomes like subliminal messaging. It is always going on in the background, even if no one is paying rapt attention to it. We can all recite certain logos and jingles, even though most of us don't make an effort to memorize them. [See Commentary below.]
Don't just repeat yourself in your ad. When you find your target market, advertise where you think people will hear it and do it over and over again. There is a local jeweller who advertises constantly on every radio station I listen to. I always know when they are having a sale and what will be on sale. I will also remember their exact address until my dying day...
http://www.logo-design-logo-design.com/logos-articles/repetition.htm [Italics are mine.]
Commentary:
The effects of repetition on the public have of course been researched. The principal findings, with respect to advertising are as follows - and for the word 'advertising' below you can substitute: 'education', 'conditioning', 'propaganda', 'sound bite':
Once such images become entrenched and they do so in the manner of habit - they will tend to repeat themselves when any associative stimulus occurs, much in the manner of Pavlov's dogs. Moreover, and this is important, the stimulus does not have to arise in an external sensory source, an internally associated image (e.g. word) is sufficient to energise the implanted conditioning and give rise to streams of associatively linked 'internal dialogue' such that one eventually conditions oneself by internal repetition.
Images implanted into consciousness become implicit in the functioning of that consciousness; the nervous system alters materially to absorb them and they become part of it. One needs to be careful what one allows in there - and one must realise that as children we (every human being) had no awareness of this & hence no choice but to accept the extant culture as did our contemporaries, our parents, and our parents parents before them. In this manner, cultural consciousness and continuity persists in local and planetary form: breaking the habit processes becomes possible once the habits and means of implantation become revealed.
Note the multiple order temporal repetition in:
sptshigsptshigsptshig...
becomes the compound pattern thus:
sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----(etc.)
with repetitions taking place in groups AND over extended time periods (another name for this is mantric oscillation or mantric vibration: plotted on an oscilloscope the constant repetition of any given word set wll appear as a periodic wave form). As an exercise, see if you can notice any patterns around you that do this - especially those that use exact pattern repetition in regular time periods... and then consider what effect they might be having on you.
Each of us came into this world with an essentially 'blank slate' as mind/memory and, since we had no means of resistance or comparison, we innocently accepted everything the extant culture fed to us irrespective of its practicality, relevance or otherwise.
Our minds (the macroscopic structure of our nervous systems) were imprinted and deeply conditioned into our culture which, once implanted, exists implicitly and continuously in our conceptual frames.
Having said that, the continuity of that conditioning depends upon our continuing participation and self-energisation of it - and individual responsibility certainly lies here. If as individuals we can interrupt the conditioning, which means de-energisation of our (mainly unconscious) repetitive behaviours, then they transform.
The first step in this lies in observation. Observation is direct learning that brings these unconscious behaviours into awareness; only the individual can do this - but fortunately, help is at hand in the behaviour of other individuals, which is a bit easier to observe.
To put this into practice, for at least the next week attempt to be aware of the patterned behaviours in yourself and others and of patterns that surround you. In particular, and since as discussed in depth elsewhere on this page, repetition lies at the root of patterning so try to be aware of the REPETITION that goes on in and around you thus:
This is a basic exercise in attention expansion such as to bring normally unconscious (simplex) behaviours into waking awareness. Discussing it and thinking about it doesn't make any difference; the only way you will actually expand your awareness is by doing. You learn by observing, not by thinking or talking, and observing repetition provides a relatively easy initiation.
"No matter what an amount of talent employed in the organization of propaganda, it will have no result if due account is not taken of these fundamental principles. Propaganda must be limited to a few simple themes and these must be represented again and again. Here, as in innumerable other cases, perseverance is the first and most important condition of success."
"It is not the purpose of propaganda to create a series of alterations in sentiment with a view to pleasing these blase gentry. Its chief function is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time in order that they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on the memory of the crowd."
Commentary
Hard words. Cynical and shrewd words.
These are the words of Adolf Hitler who - whatever you might think of him - was a master of the art of conditioning the minds of his followers, and by extension, the majority of 1930's Germany.
That conditioning caused a world war.
Here, he openly reveals that repetition provides the fundamental pattern conditioning mechanism.
Repetition of pattern creates conditioning, and the greater the persistence and the clearer the pattern the deeper the imprinting.
Can we become aware of this? Can we observe processes such as those outlined above around us in our everyday lives?
Do we see how they condition us and then we actually condition ourselves and others by repetition of words and slogans and how such become part of our consciousness?
Can we be aware of this not just intellectually, but as it occurs around us from moment to moment and NEGATE IT immediately as and when it occurs in our thinking processes, speech and behaviours?
The spoken word or song are both effective in this exercise thus:
Don't go back, the moment has gone so don't bother trying to re-evoke it in memory: pay attention and press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to repeating words and word patterns progressively, and universally, improves with practice and that your 'unconscious' mind acts far more rapidly than mere verbalising.
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything with this (except radio channel!), it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness - and in time that heightened awareness will act directly. You will certainly, and very rapidly, notice the repetitive nature of the linguistic patterning that bombards your consciousness from the mass media everyday (especially in the form of emotionally and logically malformed song-pattern repetitions). That alertness, once awakened, will extend far beyond mere mass-media patterning into day to day life.
To be fully effective, you need to do this for several sessions of preferablty not less than 20 minutes duration. Be sure not to repeat the words you observe repeating, rather actually physically CHANGE CHANNEL (remote control is OK, probably best) and then listen attentively for the next repeat.
You will find that your body can act far more rapidly in spontaneously identifying and responding to patterened (sonic in this case) vibration than the (second-hand, inattentive) behaviour of 'mind' in registering/repeating internally of observed words, so don't repeat them!
The purpose of all this is to increase attention - not to get entrained with the language content of any particular channel (which is in fact an act of inattention with regard to immediate surroundings).
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants.
If you don't have steering wheel radio controls, best not do this in a moving vehicle alone; although the exercise actually increases all round alertness, fiddling around trying to switch radio channels may distract you from driving.
One of the fundamental assertion techniques for getting your own way/self programming/self-hypnosis by deploying patterned repetition. (Oh yes, that's the reason that person kept repeating those words.)
'Broken record' involves just that - emulating a record that has got stuck in a groove and goes around and around repeating the same thing irrespective of any objections or queries about what, how or why. It epitomises simple patterned conditioning of the mind of self and any others who might come within hearing range. The �assertion trainers� recommend use of the technique when:
* �I�m not going back to your house�
* �Your price is excessive: reduce it�
* �Smith has a unicorn hidden at the bottom of his garden�
* �Your president is not a crook�
* 'Bullcorp does not pollute the atmosphere'
The supposed power of 'broken record' style lies in is its infuriating uniformity � a uniformity that eventually convinces even the most intransigent opponent (but note, owing to the �self-conditioning� involved in the heavy repetition, it implicitly carries the seeds of self-delusion if the chosen slogan does not relate to reality).
It is also effective over time in that it supposedly develops the �assertiveness� of the user over time. Additionally, if used continuously in relationship with another person it signals to the other that what the user says is not likely to shift irrespective of counter arguments. Both the previous statements are nominally accurate in that repetition fixates and hardens attitudes (�attitudes� actually comprising heavily fixated patterning of neuronic structure).
The reality of the effectiveness of the technique actually lies, as the propagandists and advertisers have discovered, in progressively conditioning the nervous system by repetition.
The broken record technique is very often used by politicians, corporate executives and officials, in 'debate', and in individual and series' of speeches and interviews, wherein they will attempt to repeat a favourable (simplified = generalised & thus information deleting and misleading) slogan - nowadays known as a 'sound bite' - over and over such as to imprint the consciousness of listeners with misleading concepts.
Statements of 'Rights'
The assertiveness trainers make a big issue of the concept of �rights�, the concepts probably arising in the US cultural background of �Bill of Rights�, civil rights movement and women�s liberation. Typical rights statements, which the trainees are encouraged to repeat and hence implant (thus fixing �attitudes� again), are as follows:
Saying No
Many assertiveness training courses emphasise that their students should learn and develop "The 'Art' of Saying No" and recommend that this is done by practical repetitive conditioning using the following (typical) techniques:
To close, the essence of 'assertiveness' lies in the repetitive fixation of consciousness around the ego. Many people learn to balance this this quite naturally in their childhood environment, but some - those who might have been conditioned to introversion at an early age - do not & are genuine candidates for corrective assertiveness training. Ultimately, excessive 'assertiveness', owing to its fixation and disproportionate emphasis in consciousness on ego, in the form of 'I', 'me', 'mine. and 'my', becomes selfishness and aggression.
Deliberate, as distinct from the more powerful and immediate 'negation' type body interrupts, are dealt with in depth towards the end of this page but as an interim measure, one technique for dealing with the pernicious, conscious 'broken record' behaviour is presented here.
'Broken record' is essentially self-hypnosis into automatic response of incantation of specific formulae in specific circumstances, but it is a self-hypnosis that gets projected, by repetition, into conditioning the nervous system of anyone who happens to come within range of it.
The self-centred world views projected by broken record should not be allowed to pass unchallenged - otherwise, by persistence, they will become predominant. Hence this article here dealing specifically with the problem - a problem which roots in conscious, selfish conditioned behaviour.
Basic Technique
Broken record comprises the repetition of a simple pattern ad nauseum until that pattern becomes entrenched in the neuronic structure of the person using it and, in some circumstances, the people who hear it.
Insofar as pure associative temporal (linearly patterned) conditioning is concerned, it is possible to use ANY pattern - e.g. laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg , etc. BUT broken record uses specific language patterns that attach themselves to the extant patterns in the body. As said before, these are normally associated with the 'i', 'me', 'my', etc. patterns.
The principle used here in breaking up such patterns is to persistently ADD ON TO THE TAIL of the pattern in various ways such that the pattern of (say) 'laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg' becomes modified into 'laghwkvfguw laghwkvfguw laghwkvfguw' which comprises a NEW PATTERN:
Three basic practical means of achieving 'morphing' of broken record statements by adding on to tail end are possible viz:
*Shifting/Reversing Sense
This is achieved by considering the original 'broken record' statement and finding an appropriate word fragment, word, or combination of words that will either shift, reverse or otherwise destroy the meaning of the statement.
First of all, as with all these techniques, you need to LISTEN carefully to the broken record such as to establish the precise word form and meaning. Then you need to invent a word pattern to shift it (walk away and give yourself sufficient time and space to do this if needs be; the effect, once you introduce the shift, will be permanent and worth the consideration). You may phrase the shift in terms of the speaker's viewpoint or alternatively (and better) make it stand as a general consensus view. If you can make it humorous then so much the better.
Once you have the new word element(s) then every time you hear the 'broken record' you must persistently add them to the tail end such as to create a new pattern - make sure the speaker hears it every time. Monotonously imitate their voice and pace delivery to make this really effective.
Doing this will gradually, and repeatedly, re-condition the speaker's consciousness to the new pattern - whilst simultaneously protecting you from the original broken record & conditioning yourself in the new statement. That's why you should choose it carefully & accordingly, either make the word element(s) match an accurate description of practical, consensus reality as much as you possibly can - or design them to make the statement funny.
This works particularly well on 'Statements of Rights' type broken records but can be adapted to work equally well on most forms.
Basically what you do is allow the speaker to make his remark and then add to it the shift that: 'what applies for her/him also applies equally well for the rest of the world': i.e. (s)he is not unique and the broken record statement (s)he makes becomes modified to apply to the general case (thus depotentiating the 'ego' element).
As before, you add the same words/fragments monotonously every time they use the specific broken record pattern, giving as good (better by linguistic Aikido!) than you get.
This is potentially the most powerful form of pattern disruption by 'adding' on to tail ends in that, depending on the nature of the language fragments/patterns used, it will effectively derail the heavily fixated, looping thought processes of the speaker by causing temporal 'blank out' into 'Transderivational search' (that 'at best' can last for tens of seconds or at worst will break the broken record with a 'what?') as they attempt to make meaningful sense of what is happening to them.
In strict terms of pattern conditioning (and disruption) it is possible to additively associate anything with anything. Accordingly the sound pattern that arises in: 'I am a wonderful being' can be morphed severely into: 'I am a wonderful being/banana disgusting watchstrap' which will cause TDS and (if repeated) scrambling & derailing of meaning in any linguistic sense. More mildly (but smoothly and subtly) it can be sonically morphed into: 'I am a wonderful being/"myself is fun".' This interrupts by pivoting around the word 'being' and creates a grammatically ill formed, ambiguous double-statement (that simultaneously creates TDS by confusion, destroys the concrete, fixated form of the original assertion and implants a new one of: 'being myself is fun'. See elsewhere on this site with respect to 'word journeys' for more detail on this technique applies in most circumstances can change machine shop front row and column supporting roof.
The choice is yours: pure disruption by severe interrupt (and it is indeed amusing to see the gaping mouth and blank eyes of the fumbling erstwhile 'asserter') or the more creative subtle, gentle form. [See article below on: 'Practical Interrupts' for more information.]
Generally (for best confusion) you should use not less than a two word 'tail' - the exception being when the broken record pattern being directed against you ends in an ambiguous word or phrase you might be able to apply a single word with great effect.
In applying this technique you proceed as before by adding the same words/fragments monotonously every time they use the specific broken record pattern.
[petition 1. n Asking, supplication, request; formal written supplication...
2. v.t. Make petition to (sovereign, etc. for thing, to do)
3. v.t. Ask humbly (for thing, to be allowed to do, etc.)] See also the breakdown of 'recite' into 're cite'.
This is a short exercise in creative writing that will illustrate the dependency of word or languaged consciousness (the predominant type in Western humanity) upon vocabulary and repetition of word pattern. It relates to 'broken record' in that our normal everyday view of the world is made up of a limited word set which, although we do not formally 'learn' to repeat as in assertiveness training, nevertheless works in/upon us in creating our own form of (subconscious & partly arbitrary) learned and repeated word sets.
To do this, you will need a pen, a sheet of A4 or larger paper and (optionally) a dictionary. Once you have these (and you actuialy have to DO this TO LEARN HANDS ON rather than just think about) then write a short essay on one of the following topics:
Stop reading at the end of this paragraph and actually do this - and thus become aware of how often, in fact, you normally need to repeat and rely on repetition of elements of your existing vocabulary and how it confines you within its limits and within the aural sub-limits of its phonemes. Actually acquire the phonological awareness by doing and real-ise that not only do you write using these repetitive patterns, you also SPEAK and THINK in them and physically condition your being as you do.
Those words and language patterns that you find yourself wanting to repeat in this 'essay' example are the ones that comprise part of your own 'broken record' collection. You might re-write the essay 'free-style' later and find out what they comprise.
Aside:Modern Politics and Repetition
"Likewise, and again rather depressingly, simplistic messages endlessly recycled prevailed over more complex arguments. Bush's stump sloganeering mattered more than Kerry's ascendancy in debate. This is the conclusion reached by one cabinet minister closely involved with Labour's election planning: 'You've got to have a strong message and stick to it.' Tory strategists agree that successful campaigning means repetition, repetition, repetition."
(Andrew Rawnsley: The Observer, Nov 2004. Follow link for full article)
The 'mantra yoga' here depends upon the psychologically effortless, specific, sustained and STRUCTURED vibration of the physical form such as to provide an effective oscillatory interrupt but without creating any further conditioning.
Thus a detached physical vibration is introduced into the body to supplant the extant (and normally predominantly chaotic) state. This at root - behind all the bluster and myth - is how mantra works in 'stilling' the mind process, but it also hypnotizes when used to excess. You will find several similar 'mantric' exercises on this page.
When you perform this exercise you will vibrate your vocal mechanism (and consequently the rest of your physical form) in unfamiliar ways. Oscillating any patterned form in a new way means change - direct, immediate change - and in performing this exercise you will change.
Take a few moments to read and practice pronunciation of the phrase shown below such that you can re-member it and can confidently utter it without hesitation. Once you can do this, simply repeat the phrase out loud (and that bit's important) at least eight times or more until you can remember it perfectly.
Try to vibrate the word form as a continuous sound stream on each repetition & pronounce the whole the same way each time: the unfamiliar words don't mean anything, so don't try to make them into anything:
craaroos uftant cluyeb glufsede
That's it.
Now forget about it until tomorrow and do it again - but at a diferent time and in a different place. Then do it again sometime next week if you like and it cleared your head, but don't stupefy yourself or make a habit or ritual of it (i.e. don't repeat it more than (say) a dozen times at any sitting & don't ever do multiple repetitions at the same place or time again.)
Individual conscious memory is partial, incomplete and inaccurate and generally fades as the time period between experienced events and memorisation of them increases. Memory can be broadly divided into two principal types (although some overlap obviously occurs).
Certain types of memory: how to walk, read, ride a bicycle, talk, swim, drive a car, write, manipulate tools, etc. are learned by the body on a trial and error repetitive basis, often through feedback and imitation of others already able in these areas. These are �physical� memories - things that the physical and nervous system has learned in order to function in the physical world.
On the other hand, there exist memories that exist principally in word and visual image - so called 'psychological� memories - which can be observed to fall essentially into two categories: practical and reminiscence. Practical Memories
These comprise things like knowing one�s name and address, how to find one's way home, how to boil an egg, where to find food, remembering where one put one's shoes, being able to read a map, etc. etc.
Each of us has a vast repertoire of these practical memories which we have usually learned by some process of repetition and imitation.
They are unlike 'body' memories in that no great physical motor skill (kinaesthetic learning) relies on them - although they often depend upon motor skills for their successful execution (e.g. map reading will depend upon the basic motor skills of reading, object manipulation and standing up, changing a fuse on tool use, knowing one's name and address on language.)
Practical and physical memories generally arise on the basis of need or effortless desire.
Reminiscence
These are made up of primarily of visual and word images of the behaviour of the self (and others) in situations that have gone. They depend upon the energisation of the nervous structure, with the form of word and/or visual images - in reaction to (principally) - habitual, repeated word images for their existence. Some typical language patterns predicating the energisation of reminiscence are:
Once a train of thought or conversation (= joint, collaborative expressed thought) has been established by such predicates, the essential character of that train will be maintained by the use of past participles (tenses) of verbs; in most vernacular speech and thinking this means that significant repetition of the following words occurs:
The unnecessary diversion of attention and energy into reminiscence changes nothing - apart from diverting energy, attention and awareness from the present and mesmerising those temporarily involved in such conversation or thinking. [Inattentive thinking in internal dialogue, also known as �down time�, can usually be detected in others as it usually gets accompanied by a) stillness in body - especially neck and head - OR repetitive body motion, and b) eye fixation - often taking the form of looking at nothing in particular or �into space�: the 'doggy bowl dinner' effect.]
Reminiscence is impractical, it doesn't change anything; it is an act of inattention based upon habitual repetition of certain language predicates that create trains of speculative (mainly word) images.
Those images themselves are partial, incomplete, inaccurately remembered and full of omission owing to the manner in which word symbols naturally delete information from that which they attempt to describe.
As the meal is not the menu, neither is the (necessarily incomplete) memory of the menu the menu either. Once you have fished reading this article, go to Exercise Demeter and learn for yourself by observing how this operates in practical situations.
What you have to do is LISTEN to the conversations that around you and notice how the occurrence of the language predicates:
You don�t have to do anything except observe at the moment but, since the ultimate interruption of these habitual behaviours is the purpose of this page, you might choose to begin to not participate in reminiscence - if engaged by others in such dialogue - by issuing a polite: �I don�t do nostalgia� or �the past is but a memory�, etc. and immediately interrupt by changing the subject. Break the pattern, break the habit.
(Derren Brown on Practical Interrupts)
"He was leaving a hotel at three in the morning after attending a magic convention when he was confronted by a large, drunken man displaying a clear appetite for random assault.
'I was wearing a velvet jacket and velvet waistcoat,' recalls Brown. 'It wasn't looking good.'
'What the fuck are you looking at?' the drunk asked as he squared up to Brown's face.
'There's not much you can say to that kind of question,' observes Brown on reflection. 'But what you can do is act completely out of context. So I said: '''The wall outside my house isn't four feet high.''' The drunk's eyes narrowed in confusion.'
'What?' he asked.
Then Brown hit him with another broadside.
'Ah, you see, when I was in Spain, they were about seven foot high. But look at them here - they're tiny.'
The fledgling mind-magician took a deep breath and waited to see if his strategy had worked.
'I was expecting him to get so confused that his mind would become susceptible to some kind of hypnotic suggestion,' Brown explains. 'What happened was he actually shouted out: '''Oh Fuck!''' and burst into tears. I spent the next 10 minutes sitting on the kerb trying to give him advice about his girlfriend.' "
['The Guide': Guardian, April 3 2004]
The process often deploys sophisticated techniques (visual suggestion, unspoken associations with 'brand' and desirability, metaphor, bandwagon, testimony, pseudo-science and artfully vague statements, etc.) but more often than not, this gets delivered in conjunction with the crude 'propagandistic' technique of repetitive exposure of the viewer/listener/reader to some simple slogan or jingle.
Examples of this are 'the real thing', 'go to work on an egg', 'you'll wonder where the yellow went' and so on.
The word repetitions, either spoken, sung or in writing (which gets converted into internal dialogue in the reader) become PARALLEL or COMPOUNDED with visual and non-language aural associations.
Likewise, the use of internal repetitions (in slogans) of music, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration etc. implants tonal associations and repetitions which act as mnemonics for the slogan and/or the product name (see elsewhere on this page).
As examples we have: 'CO cA CO lA' [alliteration, rhyme and rhythmic association; this one is a work of genius - conscious or unconscious? - see later], 'CLunK CLiCK every trIp' [alliteration, rhyme and rhythm: note the 'internal' alliteration of the trailing K/CK] and 'Murray Mints, Murray Mints - too good to hurry mints' [internal repetition, rhyme, rhythm and music].
This exercise relates to observing and negating the use of repetition in slogan and works as follows:
All of these normally bypass consciousness. Your sensitivity, as with all these exercises, will expand rapidly beyond the nominal 'exercise field' into other spheres of your experience.
Don't just do this once or with one medium.
Do this exercise whenever you find yourself subject to advertising and, rather than becoming dulled by it, use it to make yourself increasingly sensitive. The growing sensitivity is ultimately that which will effortlessly have done with non-essential conditioned behaviours.
The majority of the remaining 20% of supposed 'news' mainly concerns celebrity, sport and other forms of entertainment and 'information' originating from corporate sources.
The reasons for this situation are complex - social engineering and spin by government and their agents, uncritical, lazy and compliant journalism, complicit self-censorship, editorial policies, various forms of propaganda and campaigning, the 'need' to keep owners/advertisers/sponsors happy, covering topics taken up by rivals, giving the public 'what they want', etc, etc.
This is a complex area of study in itself and need not overly concern us here.
What does concern us is the use of mass media in disseminating particular viewpoints by means of repetition with the effect that supposed 'news' (most of which is not 'new', novel or contemporaneous) becomes nothing more than propaganda, the content of which is established by the originators, enabled and distributed, often unwittingly and/or uncritically, by print and electronic broadcasters, such as to condition and manipulate public perception.
The 'news' you have appraised might be topical, or more rarely even useful, when attended to once a day, but beyond that, as your data should be demonstrating, it becomes nothing but organised, sophisticated and irrelevant propaganda that dulls the mind.
Knowledge brings action - and you know where the off switch is.
The fact of the matter is that the patterns which get repeated most (and particularly those that get repeated in an organized & regular fashion) become paramount in the conditioning of consciousness in both its collective (cultural) and individual forms; the whole exists as a function of the parts.
'Pattern', in the broad context, means ANY pattern - sonic, visual, kinaesthetic (physical body feeling), olfactory (scent) or gustatory (taste) that repeatedly impinges on and thus affects the human physical sensory/nervous as a whole The term includes internally generated imaging in the form of visualization, non-verbal sound imaging and internal dialogue. Pattern affects consciousness implicitly because consciousness comprises awareness channelling through pattern in creating form.
Language and Consciousness
In the latter stages of the second millennium AD human consciousness became increasingly focussed in language (indeed one might point out that the focus of mankind's consciousnes awareness currently lies trapped predominantly in the 4 modes Ve, Aed, Vi and Aid from the ten available in a five sense external/internal 5tuple). This occurred primarily because of:
Mankind has slowly lost it's former innocence, tranquillity and quietude of the agrarian Middle-Ages. In return for undeniable material wealth (and breaking free of the shackles of organised religion and superstition), the majority of humanity has lost the opportunity for quiet meditation, time to contemplate and freedom from the gross intrusion of the oscillating patterns we recognize as word. All gone, superseded by collective endless noise and chatter that impinge on the individual consciousness (which reciprocates by adding to the chaos in the collective consciousness) from all directions and increase with every day that passes as population grows and the gabbling in the planetary chicken coop intensifies with number and packing density.
Furthermore, once this noise has permeated into the individual mind, (i.e. when one becomes a member of the languaging group as a child and develops the languaged 'I' image of ego), it becomes self perpetuating owing to the associating nature of memory and it's ability to connect the sounds of various vibratory grunt symbols not only with 'real' objects in an 'external' physical world but with the 'internal' store associative symbols and images that comprise language in memory.
The reactive energization of this memory may occur by either external or internal stimulus in any given situation, but once set in motion internal stimulus perpetuates itself in the form of the almost endless and mainly useless noise of internal dialogue that fills the majority of the modern human being's waking hours.
Aldous Huxley, in drawing attention to what he perceived as large scale causes and effects rather than microscopic causes, put it thus:
Meanwhile, within the context of the present article - which has to do with the specific symbol conditioning we call 'language' occurring in speech, writing, and verbalised thought (which all ultimately manifest in the individual in the sense of hearing) - the patterning that concerns us relates to word and how repetition of various word patterns affects consciousness.
A Small Experiment
You need to actually carry this out such as to gather evidence first hand in order to make the understanding your own based on your own observations. Proceed as follows:
In the OBSERVATION part of the exercise watch your reactions - speech or internal dialogue - whenever you get involved in a conversation about X or see/hear a news story about X. Do this for a week or two until you discover what is actually going on inside yourself, how it affects your relationship and attitude with/toward X and others & take a note of how many times you have to explain what a 'bongar' is.
Once you have observed the patterning working, then drop the reinforcement and just watch.
Multiple sources of music, with or without attached words (song) is the essential requirement. Music/song (as in inc(H)antation and enCHANTment) comprises a rich source of pattern - the most complex, organised sources of aural pattern created by humankind. There exist repeating forms in:
As given previously, you will miss quite a few of the repeats in the early stages (and strangely enough realise 'wordlessly' that you�ve missed them) but let them go and just press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to both repeating melodic and word patterns progressively improves with practice. This rapid improvement comes about in consequence of the natural stilling (by negation) of internal dialogue by the act of attention
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything (except sound channel) with this, it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness.
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants. Inside a stationary car is a very good place as you can do it unnoticed.
Accordingly when memory responds (the process which comprises the essence of 'thinking') then it responds preferentially in terms of the patterns that dominate the neurone structure (also referred to as 'islands in consciousness' elsewhere in this article).
Poetic and musical forms use various repetition (= low frequency forced oscillation) techniques to take hold of consciousness. Some of these comprise:
This can also be turned around and put to beneficial use. If no 'emotional' form (or any other meaningful word form) has attachment to a complex word group, then such structured groups can be used as powerful mantric (=vibratory)interrupts.
The following 'poetic' mantra demonstrates a typical rhythmic 'verse' form with compound internal structure.[Note the overall structure & internal repetitions and compare with popular song and poetry].
As before with mantramic form, take a few moments to read and practice pronunciation of the 'poem' shown below such that you can confidently utter it without hesitation. Once you can do this, simply repeat the phrase out loud (that bit's important) at least eight times.
Try to vibrate each line as a continuous sound stream on each repetition & pronounce the whole the same way each time: the unfamiliar words don't mean anything, so don't try to make them into anything:
That's it.
If you wish to use it as a standing interrupt, copy it out and carry it with you for occasional use - but always at a diferent time and in a different place.
Don't stupefy yourself or make a habit or ritual of it (i.e. don't repeat it more than (say) a dozen times at any sitting).
Advertisers use these techniques (think of a particularly annoying jingle), as do religious and political propagandists, corporate and institutional bodies & their agents (some naively), and self-seeking manipulative individuals.
Obvious repetitive conditioning often occurs thus:
Given your now heightened sensitivity to sonic repetition, acquired through the earlier exercises, you should now be able to see through much of this, spot any attempts to condition you virtually immediately and take action against them. You can act, either by:
- immediate interruption or contra-diction
- removing the source (see below)
- moving away from the influence of the source.
You are now aware these processes and no longer have to endure them.
The choice is yours.
Significant exposure to the repetitive (hence oscillatory) inputs to the human nervous system indicated below will create disproportionate and generally harmful patterns of conditioning that in turn desensitise perception and awareness. Additionally, many of these behaviours are 'de-inviduating' (tend to take away individuality and render the subject a member of a crowd or group of various kinds) and are deliberately used by thosde who would seek to manipulate such bodies.
The repetition of stimulli in the classes shown - either in isolation or compound form - inevitably creates preferential islands and 'noise' in consciousness as it forms semi-permanent association patterns in the electro-neurochemistry of the nervous system (as discussed elsewhere on this page). This happens as inevitably as the blacksmiths hammer forges hot metal into shape on his anvil or as Pavlov's bell conditioned the dogs.
In due course, with extended repetition and exposure, the repeated stimuli form themselves into elements that participate in the normal reference state of the nervous system as an implicit part of actual percepual and conceptual currency.
The reader will note that in a modern non-ascetic society it is impossible to entirely avoid the stimulli types indicated, but nevertheless a serious and alert observer will find it relatively easy to significantly reduce exposure either by bringing the activity to a halt or moving away from its source - and in doing so s(he) will reduce radically the internal noise and obscuring agitation that such oscillations impart in the mind pool.
The foundations for this action have already been laid in the various exercises given above: it remains now to apply them in day to day environments. As this takes place, the internal forces that sustain non-essential conditioning become negated and atrophy. In tandem, as this conditioning structure dissolves, then slowly, but certainly, a state of heightened sensitivity and alertness spontaneously arises - the awakening of intelligence.
The barrier to enhanced awareness and the essential nature of ignorance comprise one and the same thing - non-essential electro-neurochemical noise that has developed in parallel with, and in consequence of, mankind's linguistic split consciousness: (see link below on Practical Choiceless awareness with regard to 'essential').
The non-essential noise originates in unconscious, patterned oscillation (repetition) of elemnts of the physical body, oscillation that actually posesses energetic momentum. Once stilled, and the foregoing exercises present numerous direct techniques for this, the deep awareness - which comprises the ground of unconditioned being - naturally manifests.
The spoken word or song are both effective in this exercise, but this time you have to act upon noticing the repetition of sound fragments rather than 'wholes' - and these sound fragments can occur at exceedingly high rates and will demand a high level of silent attention to catch:
Don't go back, the moment has gone so don't bother trying to re-evoke it in memory: pay attention and press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to repeating patterns improves progressively, and universally (not just in sound), improves with practice, and that your 'unconscious' mind acts far more rapidly than mere verbalising. Ultimately, this direct learning will make the body kinesthetically alert (the body, at root, does the 'listening' and the acting kinesthetically), and such awareness will effortlessly protect you from repetitive (vibrational) conditioning. (NLP readers note that '4tuple' represents (part of a 5-sense) MODEL of sensory processes, and that ultimately all apparently differentiated 'senses' depend upon various vibrational sensastions in kinesthetic awareness: this exercise directly redirects attention from Aed through Aea into Ke whilst the rapt attention required implicitly negates the downtime conditioned disturbance/noise of Aid).
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything with this (except radio channel!), it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness - and in time that heightened awareness will act directly. You will certainly, and very rapidly, notice the repetitive nature of the (sonic) linguistic patterning that bombards your consciousness from the mass media everyday (especially in the form of emotionally and logically malformed song-pattern repetitions). That alertness, once awakened, will extend far beyond mere mass-media patterning into day to day life.
To be fully effective, you need to do this for several sessions of preferablty not less than 20 minutes duration. Be sure not to repeat the words you observe repeating, rather actually physically CHANGE CHANNEL (remote control is OK, probably best) and then listen attentively for the next repeat.
You will find that your body can act far more rapidly in spontaneously identifying and responding to patterened (sonic in this case) vibration than the (second-hand, inattentive) behaviour of 'mind' in registering/repeating internally of observed words, so don't repeat them!
The purpose of all this is to increase attention - not to get entrained with the language content of any particular channel (which is in fact an act of inattention with regard to immediate surroundings).
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants.
If you don't have steering wheel radio controls, best not do this in a moving vehicle alone; although the exercise actually increases all round alertness, fiddling around trying to switch radio channels may distract you from driving.
Appendix A:
This exists in all manner of areas that were established in child conditioning and will be addressed by means of example and exercise.
When you were at elementary school, and before and after, you were taught, mainly by rote, certain forms of pattern which conditioned your psyche and serve to this very day as fundamental building blocks in the deep structure of your consciousness.
Examples of these are:
Now, some of these things are entirely useful and some not. Things acquired parrot style at an early age are particularly damaging in that they deeply impress the plastic child brain and fix it in position by mechanically repeating the same patterns ad nauseum. In doing this, they severely limit deep natural intelligence and heavily condition perception - as if repeatedly hitting a perfectly formed metallic mirror with a hammer until it distorts reflections.
These patterns can be disrupted by using some of the techniques explained elsewhere in this document. For purposes of brevity, the disruption exercises alone are presented below.
This is going to take you some time, but persist, like you did when you were a child learning the alphabet and counting, until you master it. Note that the list is not randomly organised and we'll be coming back to it in a future exercise or two. Once you've learnt it both ways, forget about it for the time being.
Throw the list away after three months and forget it.
[Note that although you may find some of these exercises appear rather amusing and trivial at first sight, rest assured that they have powerful transformative effects. This one works on the physical oscillatory mechanisms of the spoken word - which actually condition the entire physical system. For the basis follow link to Arhythmic Atonal Interrupt below.]
white indigo yellow red pink violet blue orange green
Try to repeat it orally, rhythmically with some measure of tune in your voice - using the same rhythm and tones with each of the word. If you find the tone/rhythms gently shifting as you establish the pattern, flow with it until you find a natural, effortless recurrent form and then stay with that until you have it word/rhythm/tone perfect in memory.
With his purple pointed shoe, Iktar the imp poked Oleg hard in the ribs. A loud grunt interrupted the giant's rhythmic snoring. He blinked and opened his eyes.
"Oh dear," he said slowly in his deep, gentle voice, "is it morning already? I was having a wonderful dream. I dreamt I was a king living in golden palace in the clouds. In the palace gardens there were butterflies that sang like angels. Just before you woke me up, one of them was singing a special song for me." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I forget what the song was about now though."
"Never mind all that, never mind," snapped the imp shrilly. He jumped down and dragged a basin almost as big as himself across the stone floor, "here's your breakfast. Eat it up quickly or we'll be late. Quickly now, quickly. Mustn't be late."
Oleg sat up on his gigantic bed, lifted the basin in one hand and, grasping a huge wooden spoon in the other, ponderously ate the wheat-flakes. The imp paced up and down the huge room impatiently, but Oleg, only half-awake, took his time.
"Here's your water," piped the imp rattling a large metal bucket by the bed. "Drink it up quick. Come on now, quick! Chop chop, rush rush, busy busy, quick quick, quick! We've got work to do."
Oleg finished the wheat-flakes, let forth a thunderous belch, and drank the entire bucketful of water in one swift gulp. Iktar scrambled up onto the straw mattress, and from there to the specially made pouch sewn on the back of the giant's heavy leather jerkin. Sitting or standing in the pouch, Iktar's view over Oleg's right shoulder was uninterrupted and he could easily shout instructions into the giant's ear.
"Up," said Iktar. Oleg gradually rose. As he reached his full height, more than twenty times that of the imp, he stretched his arms above his head, yawned and shook himself.
"Forward," commanded the imp, "the door is slightly to your left, and about four paces away. Walk to your left."
As the giant lumbered towards the doorway the discarded basin and bucket rattled with each heavy step.
"Stop!" shrieked the imp. "Handle and bolt are by your left hand, not right, left - right?"
Oleg reached out his hand at shoulder level, found the wall and slid his hand down to the heavy iron fittings. Effortlessly, he swung back the huge oak door.
"Two steps forward, only two, and then right. Right?"
"I've told you before Iktar, I know my way down the corridor," protested the giant, slowly emerging from the room, "I'm not totally blind. I can see my hand in front of my face and detect light and dark. And I've walked down here lots of times. Just tell me when we get to the steps."
The tower clock struck six as Oleg tramped heavily down the long, dim corridor towards the courtyard.
"I told you we'd be late," complained the imp, "I said we would. I told you so. I knew it. Three more paces to the steps, and there are eight steps remember, eight steps."
"Oh I remember alright."
"Well you didn't last week when you tripped up and almost squashed me! Do you remember that?"
"I never forget anything, Iktar, so you've no need to keep rabbiting on. I'm sorry about last week, but that wasn't my fault you know," replied Oleg good-naturedly as he felt his way downwards, "somebody must have spilt something, and I slipped on it."
The imp ignored him. "That's the last step. Two paces forward, two paces. That's far enough. Turn right, we're going to the quarry today!"
"But we only went to the quarry last week. It's cold up there. Can't we stay down here and build walls again?"
"Not today Oleg. We've run out of stone, and we'll have to cut some more. More stone is what we need."
Under Iktar's direction, Oleg stumbled forward through the portcullis and up the dusty trail towards the mountains, turning left into the quarry after a march of about six-hundred paces.
"Halt!" screamed Iktar as they reached the quarry face. "The pick is by your right foot, and the shovel behind it. Pick up the pick and shovel."
The giant reached down, seized the pick and held it up ready to strike.
"Right a little," commanded Iktar, "a little more. Right, right, right. Stop! Yes there, Hit it there, hit it."
The giant grunted as his huge muscles swung the pick, hewing enormous pieces away from the rock wall. The imp watched carefully, directing a blow here a little higher, there lower or slightly to the left or right as the giant attacked the wall.
"There's a big boulder about two leagues above us," called the imp. "It's twice the size of you, twice the size. Put down the pick and get the hammer and spike. They're behind, and slightly to the left, behind ad to the left."
The short-sighted giant placed the pickaxe down within easy reach. His left hand went in search of the huge splitting spike and hammer. Iktar guided him to the correct spot. The giant was busy driving the spike into the rock face with the mighty hammer when the avalanche struck. The boulder came loose suddenly, causing the surrounding rock to collapse and demolish half the quarry face with it. He immediately knew that the stupid, greedy imp had caused him to overreach himself. With his excellent hearing and sensitive body, compensations for his poor sight, Oleg heard and felt the boulder shift and, without waiting for directions from Iktar, instinctively jumped out of the way, only to be knocked unconscious by the corner of a descending slab. His quick reaction saved them both, but Iktar, despite escaping with a few cuts and grazes, was nevertheless annoyed, since his charge had jumped without being told to do so.
---===oooOooo===---
"Oh noooo!" he groaned, putting a hand to the large bruise behind to his right ear, "my brain hurts! Oh my brain hurts so much!" He vaguely remembered that the lunatic, ignorant imp had almost done for them both, cursed angrily and promised himself that he would do something about it.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Oh noooo!" he groaned again, "even worse. Strange colours and lights, the like of which I've never seen before! Oh noooo!" He rolled over and went back to sleep.
Iktar appeared several hours later with a bowl of hot gruel. "Wake up stupid," he demanded, "wake up now. Here's some hot food for you. You need nourishment to aid your recovery, nourishment I say, wake up." He dragged the bowl to the bed, and, feeling ill at the strong smell of the vinegar, left the room through a rectangular hatch in the door base.
Oleg dozed for a while, turned over and opened his eyes. The pain wasn't so bad now. It seemed to vanish altogether when he realised he could see. Without moving his head, he rolled his eyes, looking around the room and marvelled at the beauty, the colour and the sharpness of the images before him. Hardly daring to move, since it might dispell his new found ability, he sat up carefully, ever so carefully, and gingerly surveyed his surroundings. So this was the luxurious giant's accommodation that the imp told him about so many times; this squalid tiny stone room with cobwebs in the corners, a barred window and door. He looked at the dirty water bucket in the corner, and then down at the steaming plate of vomit-like gruel. Swiftly and quietly - for his new found vision overcame his clumsiness - he sprang down and tried the door, only to discover it bolted from the outside. He climbed back onto the rough-hewn, wooden structure and straw cover that comprised his bed, and peered through the window, observing the courtyard with its heavy, iron portcullis and massive walls. Stone walls; walls he had built with his own hands. Oleg's vision was defective no more. The imp had taken advantage of him. This was no worker's luxury accommodation; it was a prison. The veil had lifted from his eyes and transfigured his entire being. By some strange quirk of fortune he could see; the gift of vision opened an entirely new dimension. Sight made him free; unconditionally free. He wondered at the squalor he had lived in, not noticing, for so many years. He thought of revenge against the imp but, despite an immediate emotional reaction of hatred, his inherent good nature forbade it. Had the imp been there at the moment of realisation, Oleg would have torn him limb from limb in anger. But he didn't bear grudges; the imp wasn't there and that was that. The giant leaned back on his bed, secure in his immense natural strength and new found vision, knowing he was a match for any individual imp, giant or imp-giant combination. The first was too small and puny, the second too short-sighted and the third insufficiently co-ordinated to do him any harm.
He heard light footsteps in the corridor and rapidly re-assumed his prostrate position on the bed, pretending to sleep. Iktar scrambled through the doorflap and approached, covering his nose with a handkerchief.
"You haven't eaten your gruel," he complained in his squeaky voice, "we can't afford to waste food you know. You have to eat your gruel. Wake up at once and get it down you. At once I say." The imp dropped the hanky and hauled himself up to pull Oleg's ear, "Come on, food, nice food for you.".
Oleg rolled over, moving deliberately and rubbing his head. For the first time in his life he observed the ugly, sharp features Iktar with unblinkered clarity. He jerked involuntarily upon looking upon the raw face of ignorance, of selfishness and greed, with its hard, tiny, malevolent eyes.
"You look strange," said the imp peering into the giant's face, "very strange indeed. That bump on your thick skull must have done more damage than I thought. Hmmm, more than I thought."
"Oh I'm not too bad," offered Oleg, feigning tiredness, "get down and I'll eat my gruel."
"Good, good. I'll be back later to see how you're getting along. Hopefully, you'll be fit for work tomorrow, fit for work, yes. A bit of a bump on the head is no reason for time off, no reason at all, not at all. I'll be back later." With that, he vanished through the hatch.
The giant laughed and ate the gruel, pretending to be half-asleep on the imp's next two visits. He sat up on the third visit, and declared he would be fit for work the following day.
---===oooOooo===---
"Good morning Iktar. And what shall we do today?"
"More quarry work Oleg I'm afraid, more quarry work. We need more stone to complete the castle extension, yes to complete it. Lean forward so I can get onto your back."
The giant did as asked and, as the imp scuttled up on the mattress, suddenly seized him in his huge hand, holding him at eye level. The imp almost jumped out of his skin, and wriggled wildly trying to break free. Oleg could feel his captive's tiny heart racing.
"Don't play silly games now Oleg," stuttered the imp nervously, "no silly games. Put me on your shoulder like a good chap, and we can get out into the fresh air and cut some stone. Remember how you like fresh air."
"Oh I think not, Iktar. Today I intend to build myself a castle. Over there, on the far side of the river looks like a good place to me. Would you like to help me with the surveying my little friend?"
"You'll never manage to build a castle on your own Oleg. Never manage at all. Besides, there are no materials and you live here with me in luxury, live in real luxury, so why leave?"
"I can see Iktar." Oleg grinned, and drew the struggling imp closer to his face, "I can see!"
"Impossible. Giants were never made to see. Giants were made to follow the orders of their betters - like me - not to see! Put me down at once! Do you hear! Put me down!"
"You aren't listening Iktar. I said I can see, see! Do you understand? I can see you, and I can see what you've been up to all these years, getting me to live in a prison of my own making. I can see the reality of this so-called luxury you have provided for me, whilst you have the rest of the castle for yourself. I could crush you like a gnat right now my little friend. What do you think about that? Have you got anything to say for yourself?"
Iktar struggled and squealed. Several times he tried to speak, but the words were garbled and he stuttered incomprehensibly. Oleg felt the imp's heartbeat getting even faster, and whispered softly down his ear.
"Don't be frightened little imp, I forgive you. I'm a kindly giant, remember, kindly and I like my sleep? I forgive you." Gently, he placed the unfortunate imp on the floor and released him.
Iktar felt terrified. As he looked up at the grinning giant, his hair stood on end, and his tiny, bony knees shook and visibly knocked together making a sound like a woodpecker tapping on a tree. Finally, he turned tail and scampered through the flap.
"I'll show you, you stupid, stupid giant. I'll starve you into submission!" he cried from outside the cell. "Do you hear! Starve you! I'm in charge here. You are nothing but an ignorant, blind labourer. When you are prepared to obey, I'll let you out and not before, never, never, never, never!"
The whole castle shook as Oleg laughed. Deliberately, he strode across the cell and with his bare hands wrenched the door from its hinges, crushed it into match-wood and tossed it into the corner.
"Obey, bowbey, scowby, nobey, nobey. Ha! Not any more my nasty little friend. I'm going to build a castle across the river, Iktar," he roared, his voice echoing around the courtyard. "I forgive you, but even though I forgive you, I intend having the benefit of my toil for myself. You did a little bit of work as well, so I'll repay you, fairly and in full. I'll give you a proper room, not a squalid cell like you gave me." He strolled down the corridor into the courtyard and laughed again. "If you would like somewhere to live when the winter comes, maybe you will help me to survey the new site? It will be a cold winter this year. It will be even colder for you if you don't help, because you won't have anywhere to live. It was I who cut all this stone with my own hands. It was I who sweated and suffered carrying it down from the quarry. It was I who strained and struggled to construct these walls. It's all mine Iktar, rightfully mine, and I intend to have it."
The giant deftly climbed to the top of the castle battlements, ripped a huge block off the wall and hurled it across the river where it landed with a great thump. Then another, and another.
"I forgive you Iktar," he laughed. "I forgive you. If you can forgive yourself, you'd better come out now, before this prison you had me build collapses around your pointy little head, and becomes your tomb!"
Tears ran down his face as he worked, tears of laughter and joy.
"And I'll tell you another thing. Every single thing I do from this day forth, everything, as well as being for me, will be for the benefit of something else that lives on this world. You've taught me a lesson Iktar, one I'll never forget.
I know what bondage is now.
Your gift to me, brought about by your selfishness and ignorance, was slavery. I know what it's like, and knowing so will never, ever use or subjugate another living being, ever; you have taught me compassion.
Now that I'm free, I'm going to build a magnificent bird house in my castle and give the birds food in the winter. They sing for me and bring me seeds, so I'll repay them. Likewise, the plants feed me, and I am in their debt. So I'm going to tend them, help them grow. I'll even put a mirror on my roof to shine back light at the sun. He gives me light, warmth and life and asks nothing in return. I can't do much for him except say thank you, and I will.
Even you, you guided my steps when I was blind Iktar; and taught me about servitude. For that, I am forever in your debt, and I thank you. You can live with me for ever more if you wish, for you and I are brothers, born of the same flesh and of one mind: our rightful inheritance is to live as one in joyful harmony - as it is for all creation, all of which moves cyclically in alternating peroids of activity and blissful rest and recuperation. But first you must mend you ways a little - that's all it takes, just a little, drop some of your silly habits - like jabbering on to yourself and everyone else all the time, like trying to control things instead of letting nature do as it will, and then we will all live happily ever after for I am the ocean on which you and all others exist.
Hear, and hear well, for this lesson is for you;; go to sleep now and wake up refreshed and new.
conditioning (or effortful desire) and its dependence
on pattern, and hence repetitive, behaviours.
The post comprises a number of relatively short, contiguous articles which examine, from various perspectives, the results of and the processes involved in patterning and hence conditioning (by repetition) the nervous system and creating habitual psychological and physical behaviours.
Given a fundamental understanding of these processes, an exploration of the possibility of cessation of unnecessary patterns of behaviour (i.e. those arising in arbitrary, cultural conditioning, political and similar indoctrination, transient peer group pressure, socially engineered 'education', etc.) then takes place, partially in tandem as a set of awareness exercises.
Ultimately, the generation of both unconditional interrupt (spontaneous physical negation by direct observation and action), and conditional interrupt (deliberate - based on pattern disruption techniques), depends upon 'doing' which is fostered by investigated by means of observation in the consciousness expansion exercises and interrupt techniques that create doing by negation.
The pattern interruptions presented in the exercises here are designed to be carried out kinesthetically - i.e. by the physical body in direct self awareness - and not as mere word manipulations.
Mere superficial reading, discussion or thinking about pattern or pattern interrupt as an intellectual behaviour merely perpetuates pattern continuity in the form of word: the description is not the described.
Body will interrupt destructive pattern - if allowed the opportunity to observe it directly (kinesthetically) - and intervene directly.
The Basic Nature of Conditioning
You only need to learn one or two fundamental things with regard to 'conditioning' (which lies at the root of abberant behaviour) and then the rest is down to your ingenuity in devising means of altering that conditioning - mainly by interruption, but sometimes by superseding - and implementing them.An interrupt will normally work on it's own, (a proper interrupt will temporarily break the continuity of the behavioural loops that comprise an individual's' psychological conditioning or habit). Once the shallow levels of verbally driven continuity become derailed then the underlying default - and benevolent/harmonious/wholistic biological - conditioning will kick in, PROVIDED the circumstances or associations that form part of the original condition (ie the anchors in NLP speak) are also addressed.
The fundamentals are:Understand the importance of the previous six lines.
1) conditioning exists in pattern and is created by pattern
2) pattern can only exist in (and take hold by) repetition
hduiejgdfkhj = a random sequence
hduiejgdfkhj hduiejgdfkhj hduiejgdfkhj = a pattern
hduiejgdfkhj uk hduiejgdfkhj uk hduiejgdfkhj uk = a pattern
If you are serious in overcoming the limitations of habitual and patterned behaviour - breaking habit either in yourself (the place to start) or others - you must understand the indented lines above in depth.
Read them over several times - consciously using repetition to your advantage rather than being its unconscious slave; play with them until you thoroughly understand that:
pattern depends upon repetition
pattern depends upon repetition
pattern depends upon repetition
If you learn only one thing from this page, then learn that.
Understand how it works in individuals, in sense - sight, hearing, speaking, thinking - in groups and organisations, in physical behaviour, in number and in form. Repetition creates habit by patterning the form upon which on/in it repeats. Break pattern and you break habit - break any habit since habit is repeating behaviour. Repetition of pattern, in whatever mode, comprises vibration.
Patterns exist as periodic oscillations, sometimes simple, sometimes complex - but even the most complex of oscillations can be broken into simple component parts (for the mathematically minded consider this as Fourier analysis). Patterns do not exist only in mere 'words' and sounds, but in all manner of things - geometric pattern, colour, physical form, physical movements, rocks and crystals, architecture, science, mathematics, taste, texture, visual image, fluid flow, etc, etc. Some are natural in that they occur spontaneously in Nature, some, the culturally grown varieties, are not & certain species of the latter actually endanger the well-being of all life forms on this planet.
That's all you need to know to begin with - the rest falls in place as you apply it.
Once you become aware of the fundamentals - by daily/moment to moment observation, not by mere intellectual discussion and theorisation - then you should be able to detect patterns in most things & in many cases deal with them as necessary 'on the wing'.
Alternatively, you may use prescribed (usually tried and tested) 'technique' as devised by others. The first method is best in terms of actual in depth understanding; as for the second method, well note that somewhere, sometime, somebody devised that technique originally and perhaps you can improve on such general methods by devising some to suit your own particular circumstances.
Patterning Techniques 1: Pavlov and Classical Conditioning by Repetition & Association
In 1879, Pavlov worked on the physiology of digestion, which culminated in his book, "The Work Of The Digestive Glands."He investigated the mechanisms involved in the secretion of various digestive glands. During the course of his work, Pavlov noticed that salivation could be induced by the sight of food, or other stimuli that normally preceded feeding OR in the association of some other stimulus with the feeding process. This led him to the discovery of the �Conditional Reflex�, now regarded as a fundamental aspect of learning and classical conditioning..
In a typical experiment, Pavlov showed that if the presentation of food to a dog was repeatedly accompanied by the sound of a bell, then the dog would come to respond to the bell as if it were food whether the food was presented or not. In other words, a non-natural response could be created by repetition and association of artificial stimulus AND that the effect of the artificial stimulus persisted even when natural stimulus was removed.
Pavlov measured the salivary response to paired presentations of food and bell and then measured salivation in response to presentation of the bell alone. He regarded salivation to the food as an "Unconditional Response," (not strictly true - it is the conditioned unconscious/instinctive behaviour of the biological system) and the subsequent salivation to the bell alone as a "Conditional Response," because it is �conditional� upon prior pairing between food and bell.
He suggested that the cells of the �Central-Nervous-System� changed structurally and chemically during conditioning, (And this notion is not too far removed from the modern view).
Pavlov�s major work translated into English as; "Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation Of The Physiological Activity Of The Cerebral Cortex" (1927)
In his original experiments, Pavlov confined a hungry dog in a harness and presented small portions of food at regular intervals. When he signalled the delivery of food by ringing a bell, the behaviour of the dog towards the stimulus, (the bell), gradually changed. The animal began by orientating to the bell, licking its lips and salivating. When Pavlov recorded the salivation by placing a small tube in the salivary duct and collecting the saliva, he found that the amount of the saliva collected increased as the animal experienced more pairings between the sound of the bell, and food presentation.
[Note the patterning by presence of REPETITION of stimulus and pairing of stimulus in a parallel pattern. Without repetition, the conditioning did not occur.]
Perception, Patterning and Negation
'The question 'How does a thing become conscious?'
could be put more advantageously thus:
'How does a thing become pre-conscious?'
And the answer would be:
'By coming into connection
with the verbal images that correspond to it'.
[Freud: 'The Ego and the Id']
The manner in which we speak (and think - when thinking in words) actually vibronically conditions the structure of our nervous systems and physical forms and, accordingly, our perception of the world. It is not 'merely' a psychological process but rather a physical one in which the repetitive patterned sounds (or repeating electro-chemical sound images acting in the structure of the neuronic system in the case of verbalised thinking) actually condition the structure of that system.
The word-form sound patterns we hear in speech (and which manifest internally, in imaging in the hearing sense, during verbalised thinking or internal dialogue) comprise a series of systematic complex grunts which were associated in our nervous systems, by repetition (usually by our parents and siblings), to objective sensory experience in us as young children. We reinforced this by imitation - itself a form of repetition.
All this ocurred when we learned to speak - first in 'noun' (object), then adjective/noun, then verb, adverb and preposition/article/connjunction etc. as we became practiced in the rules of language.
Children typically utter a first word at around ten months. At age one they have a 'vocabulary' (largely imitative) of four or so words, twentyish words at eighteen months and at age two something like two to three hundred. Somewhere between the ages of one and two years, the child actually 'understands', unconsciously but clearly, that language is a symbol system referring and describing the world around, and becomes a 'member' of the conceptual world associated with the particular language system.
What you observe with your sensory apparatus is not the 'actual' or 'out there', but a reality filtered by the conditioning of your nervous system. It is filtered according to the conceptual base of your first learned language. Cultural similarities in the content of conditioning - culture in this context meaning the broad swathe of human activities - biological, behavioural and especially linguistic, will give rise to similar, or consensus, shared realities. The greater the similarity and intensity of conditioning, the greater the consensus.
Our collective conditioned patterns - and their interaction with other patterned forms in the actuality of the unknowable, undifferentiated 'what is' - give rise to our nervous systems' view of the world, our differentiated reality. So long as we persist in those patterns, so long will that view persist.
Shifting our cultural and linguistic patterns - the actual conditioning sounds - will shift our view of the world, which owing to the arrival of acrophonic alphabets, the printed word, standardised dictionaries, mass production, the workings of electronic mass media, the spread of dominant of Western culture, the electronic computer and concordant languages - rapidly converges on a global scale.
When one is not thinking clearlyThe problems of the individual, and by extension humanity, arise in what is commonly referred to as 'psychological conditioning' (but see above with regard to structural patterning of the nervous system) - the movement of human thinking processes - which occur primarily in language and visually based consciousness systems in the form of words and words describing fleeting pictures (although in the ultimate analysis 'psychological' and 'biological' conditioning merge as protoplasmic, biological, adaptive 'material' form responds to long term persistent behaviour). As the present dominant species on this planet, the behaviour of humankind - which comprise the gross fixated patterned behaviours of individuals - will significantly affect the short-term circumstances of all other life forms that share the planetary ecosphere (but the system is reciprocal).
objectively
rationally
be aware of that
and change it
break it.
That is transformation.
[Krishnamurti]
Is it possible, in seeing the potential danger of many of these unconscious conditioned states - greed, desire, guilt, fear, jealousy, stupidities and indoctrinations of various kinds, etc. - that the individual can act intelligently from moment to moment in negating them as they arise?
Since 'I' understand directly that excessive heat - in the form of say a hot stove or a pan - can damage my body I immediately withdraw my hand should it come in contact with any such hot object. This (intense) process occurs spontaneously, without any verbalised thinking, in any normally functional human being. Furthermore, apart from the immediate reaction to any direct contact that might occur, I acquire, providing I'm not stupid, an element of (useful) psychological conditioning exist that keeps me wary of hot objects - I have, either by experience or education/instruction by others, a learned caution that such things are dangerous to me and, without any internal debate, repetitive looping in thinking processes or interminable weighing of pros and cons, I keep clear of them.
In this manner, the body 'conditions' the psyche directly - and very few repetitions of intense pain/learning about hot objects are required. Likewise, I don't walk in directly in front of fast moving buses, stand at the edge of high precipices, go out in freezing weather without clothes or swallow lethal poisons; all without effort.
If we can observe the dangers of our psychological conditioning that arises through unnecessary acculturation and unconscious repetition - even in a relatively superficial way - and become aware of it's processes and indications of its presence, can we naturally act and negate, instantly and effortlessly, it in the same manner as we do in not grasping the hot pan?
Can the intelligent and earnest student learn how to do this? Can this learning ultimately become available to anyone in the form of a structured 'education' which liberates - in intelligently avoiding damaging pattern rather than constraining in repetition?
Expanded awareness, such as proposed on this page, will act such that any potentially injurious psychological patterns become seen for what they are - immediately, from moment to moment. In the seeing arises the deep intelligence of the body as a reciprocal movement of reaching for consciousness expansion, and this will have done with any danger to its well-being instantaneously, effortlessly, as in moving away from the hot stove.
Patterning Techniques 2: Repetition Pattern Recognition and Sales
Use Repetition to Increase Your Sales[by Lisa Lake http://MyAdBlaster.com]
Repetition will increase your sales.
Repetition will increase your sales.
Probably.
You certainly know what this article is about, don't you.
Now let me tell you a little story:
Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Trixy. Trixy was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom. She was so beautiful that Prince John fell madly in love with her beautiful face. But Trixy, who was incredibly beautiful, thought she was too beautiful even for Prince John. So Trixy decided to join a rock band and be a backup dancer.
The End.
Without looking back at the story, can you recall what the prince's name was?
Maybe you can and maybe you can't.
But, without looking back at the story, can you tell me what was so special about Trixy?
You most definitely can. And why can you remember what was so special about Trixy?
Because I repeated it about six times!
This same principle can be applied to your marketing to help people remember your message.
Your advertising should definitely not use as much repetition as my story did.
However, you do need to figure out what is the most important thing to communicate to your potential customers hammer that point home. If you are having a sale, you need to emphasize that you are having a sale...
Don't be afraid that people will find your advertisement annoying. Many people only listen to advertisements with half an ear. Advertising becomes like subliminal messaging. It is always going on in the background, even if no one is paying rapt attention to it. We can all recite certain logos and jingles, even though most of us don't make an effort to memorize them. [See Commentary below.]
Don't just repeat yourself in your ad. When you find your target market, advertise where you think people will hear it and do it over and over again. There is a local jeweller who advertises constantly on every radio station I listen to. I always know when they are having a sale and what will be on sale. I will also remember their exact address until my dying day...
http://www.logo-design-logo-design.com/logos-articles/repetition.htm [Italics are mine.]
Commentary:
The effects of repetition on the public have of course been researched. The principal findings, with respect to advertising are as follows - and for the word 'advertising' below you can substitute: 'education', 'conditioning', 'propaganda', 'sound bite':
a. Repetition conditions the credibility to your claims in the subject (whether those claims are credible or not) and, if done properly, should create a favourable attitude in the subject. The more exposure a person has, the more favourable his reaction to it becomes: brand recognition sets in. (but a limit to the number of repetitions exists).Not only will patterned repetition 'increase your sales', but it will likewise burn ANY repeated image - sales, political, religious, propaganda, corporate, clich�, poem, word or other symbol - into the structure of your consciousness. Sufficient repetition will modify consciousness irrespective of whether the image happens to have any basis in fact or not, hence it is equally as possible to have memory that 'fairies are real' as it is to have memory of 'two plus two equals four,' even though one has basis in fact and the other is nonsense.
b. Sequencing and frequency of advertising influence the degree and duration of recall. Memory depends upon the cumulative effect of intensity of individual applications of stimulus and number of repetitions. (similar to weight training - weight x number of repetitions = muscle building effect).
c. Repeat advertising increases the chances the reader/listener/viewer will get exposed to it. This is fairly obvious, but there is more; to hit about 90% of the audience in a given 'channel' (TV station, publication, etc.) a repeat of eight times is needed (assuming 30 per cent of audience noticed it when it first appeared).
d. Interrupting ad campaigns brings about decline in the recall; persistence is important. When a message is no longer reinforced, people forget & the pattern is broken.
Once such images become entrenched and they do so in the manner of habit - they will tend to repeat themselves when any associative stimulus occurs, much in the manner of Pavlov's dogs. Moreover, and this is important, the stimulus does not have to arise in an external sensory source, an internally associated image (e.g. word) is sufficient to energise the implanted conditioning and give rise to streams of associatively linked 'internal dialogue' such that one eventually conditions oneself by internal repetition.
Images implanted into consciousness become implicit in the functioning of that consciousness; the nervous system alters materially to absorb them and they become part of it. One needs to be careful what one allows in there - and one must realise that as children we (every human being) had no awareness of this & hence no choice but to accept the extant culture as did our contemporaries, our parents, and our parents parents before them. In this manner, cultural consciousness and continuity persists in local and planetary form: breaking the habit processes becomes possible once the habits and means of implantation become revealed.
Note the multiple order temporal repetition in:
'Don't just repeat yourself IN your ad.In other words the simple short term repeating pattern thus:
When you find your target market,
advertise where you think people will
hear it and do it OVER AND OVER again.'
sptshigsptshigsptshig...
becomes the compound pattern thus:
sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----sptshigsptshigsptshig-----(etc.)
with repetitions taking place in groups AND over extended time periods (another name for this is mantric oscillation or mantric vibration: plotted on an oscilloscope the constant repetition of any given word set wll appear as a periodic wave form). As an exercise, see if you can notice any patterns around you that do this - especially those that use exact pattern repetition in regular time periods... and then consider what effect they might be having on you.
Exercise Athene: Preliminary Observation of Simplex Conditioning
As individuals we were indoctrinated into our conditioning by the dominant culture in which we got born into, (as our parents/teachers/anyone else we meet before us were - ad infinitum), so in a way 'our' conditioning 'originates' back in the mists of time.Each of us came into this world with an essentially 'blank slate' as mind/memory and, since we had no means of resistance or comparison, we innocently accepted everything the extant culture fed to us irrespective of its practicality, relevance or otherwise.
Our minds (the macroscopic structure of our nervous systems) were imprinted and deeply conditioned into our culture which, once implanted, exists implicitly and continuously in our conceptual frames.
Having said that, the continuity of that conditioning depends upon our continuing participation and self-energisation of it - and individual responsibility certainly lies here. If as individuals we can interrupt the conditioning, which means de-energisation of our (mainly unconscious) repetitive behaviours, then they transform.
The first step in this lies in observation. Observation is direct learning that brings these unconscious behaviours into awareness; only the individual can do this - but fortunately, help is at hand in the behaviour of other individuals, which is a bit easier to observe.
To put this into practice, for at least the next week attempt to be aware of the patterned behaviours in yourself and others and of patterns that surround you. In particular, and since as discussed in depth elsewhere on this page, repetition lies at the root of patterning so try to be aware of the REPETITION that goes on in and around you thus:
- in speech, the use of words, tonalities and clich�sIt's often easier to see much of the (physical behaviours) in others - start with them if you wish, but be sure to get around to observing yourself: the real learning by observation kicks in with the awakening of self awareness. try not to criticise, comment (indeed words - spoken or thought - will only get in the way and perpetuae the repetitions) or attempt to change any of these behaviours, just become aware of them that's all.
- mannerism
- dress
- diet
- repeated visual patterns
- time based behaviour (observing doings of self/others at set times)
- repeated sound patterns
- spatial behaviours (doings at set places)
- precision repeated physical shapes (mass produced objects)
- linear sequences of events (how one thing follows another in repeated sequence)
- how certain behaviours bring certain reactions and sequential responses
- if you can, become aware of how your (verbalised) thinking repeatedly kicks in in the same pattern to certain stimuli
This is a basic exercise in attention expansion such as to bring normally unconscious (simplex) behaviours into waking awareness. Discussing it and thinking about it doesn't make any difference; the only way you will actually expand your awareness is by doing. You learn by observing, not by thinking or talking, and observing repetition provides a relatively easy initiation.
Pattern Techniques 3: Political Propaganda
"The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward.""No matter what an amount of talent employed in the organization of propaganda, it will have no result if due account is not taken of these fundamental principles. Propaganda must be limited to a few simple themes and these must be represented again and again. Here, as in innumerable other cases, perseverance is the first and most important condition of success."
"It is not the purpose of propaganda to create a series of alterations in sentiment with a view to pleasing these blase gentry. Its chief function is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time in order that they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on the memory of the crowd."
Commentary
Hard words. Cynical and shrewd words.
These are the words of Adolf Hitler who - whatever you might think of him - was a master of the art of conditioning the minds of his followers, and by extension, the majority of 1930's Germany.
That conditioning caused a world war.
Here, he openly reveals that repetition provides the fundamental pattern conditioning mechanism.
Repetition of pattern creates conditioning, and the greater the persistence and the clearer the pattern the deeper the imprinting.
Can we become aware of this? Can we observe processes such as those outlined above around us in our everyday lives?
Do we see how they condition us and then we actually condition ourselves and others by repetition of words and slogans and how such become part of our consciousness?
Can we be aware of this not just intellectually, but as it occurs around us from moment to moment and NEGATE IT immediately as and when it occurs in our thinking processes, speech and behaviours?
Exercise Orpheus: Expanding Awareness of Word Repetition
This is a simple, but powerful, consciousness expansion exercise that you can carry out at home, in a car bus or train. The essential equipment comprises a multi-stream (at least three) source of continuous audible human language the ideal being a multi-channel radio or television.The spoken word or song are both effective in this exercise thus:
1. turn on the sound source and tune to an appropriate channel (channel �A� say)The simplicity of the exercise belies its effectiveness. You will certainly miss quite a few of the repeats in the early stages (and strangely enough realise you�ve missed them) but don�t let that bother you.
2. listen to the speech/song and immediately you hear a repeated word then switch to another channel (channel �B�, say)
3. listen again to the speech/song and immediately you hear a repeated word then switch to another channel (channel �C�, say)
4. avoid repeating the words you hear repeated (you will not be paying attention if you do); the exercise is to raise your situational awareness and get your body to act directly, not cause the mind to parrot
5. carry on as above, switching to a new channel every time a word repeats
Don't go back, the moment has gone so don't bother trying to re-evoke it in memory: pay attention and press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to repeating words and word patterns progressively, and universally, improves with practice and that your 'unconscious' mind acts far more rapidly than mere verbalising.
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything with this (except radio channel!), it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness - and in time that heightened awareness will act directly. You will certainly, and very rapidly, notice the repetitive nature of the linguistic patterning that bombards your consciousness from the mass media everyday (especially in the form of emotionally and logically malformed song-pattern repetitions). That alertness, once awakened, will extend far beyond mere mass-media patterning into day to day life.
To be fully effective, you need to do this for several sessions of preferablty not less than 20 minutes duration. Be sure not to repeat the words you observe repeating, rather actually physically CHANGE CHANNEL (remote control is OK, probably best) and then listen attentively for the next repeat.
You will find that your body can act far more rapidly in spontaneously identifying and responding to patterened (sonic in this case) vibration than the (second-hand, inattentive) behaviour of 'mind' in registering/repeating internally of observed words, so don't repeat them!
The purpose of all this is to increase attention - not to get entrained with the language content of any particular channel (which is in fact an act of inattention with regard to immediate surroundings).
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants.
If you don't have steering wheel radio controls, best not do this in a moving vehicle alone; although the exercise actually increases all round alertness, fiddling around trying to switch radio channels may distract you from driving.
Pattern Techniques 4: Assertiveness Conditioning
Broken RecordOne of the fundamental assertion techniques for getting your own way/self programming/self-hypnosis by deploying patterned repetition. (Oh yes, that's the reason that person kept repeating those words.)
'Broken record' involves just that - emulating a record that has got stuck in a groove and goes around and around repeating the same thing irrespective of any objections or queries about what, how or why. It epitomises simple patterned conditioning of the mind of self and any others who might come within hearing range. The �assertion trainers� recommend use of the technique when:
a) handling �conflict� situationsIn using this technique, they advise the user to speak as a propagandist, i.e.
b) saying no
c) clarifying questions
d) correcting superiors/those in authority
e) when expressing feeling or opinion
and
f) in situations where (ironically) the �other person� isn�t listening
1) identify the point you want to makeExamples:
2) make a short, clear statement of it (= a slogan)
3) stick to the point with no wavering, no explanation, variation or discussion
and
4) persistently repeat it, over and over again, ignoring any arguments, statements, questions or evidence to the contrarary until you wear down and condition your �audience� (and your self...)
5) use monotony such as to obtain near perfect repetition of the message
[Now just page back and re-read the Hitler quotes...]
* �I�m not going back to your house�
* �Your price is excessive: reduce it�
* �Smith has a unicorn hidden at the bottom of his garden�
* �Your president is not a crook�
* 'Bullcorp does not pollute the atmosphere'
The supposed power of 'broken record' style lies in is its infuriating uniformity � a uniformity that eventually convinces even the most intransigent opponent (but note, owing to the �self-conditioning� involved in the heavy repetition, it implicitly carries the seeds of self-delusion if the chosen slogan does not relate to reality).
It is also effective over time in that it supposedly develops the �assertiveness� of the user over time. Additionally, if used continuously in relationship with another person it signals to the other that what the user says is not likely to shift irrespective of counter arguments. Both the previous statements are nominally accurate in that repetition fixates and hardens attitudes (�attitudes� actually comprising heavily fixated patterning of neuronic structure).
The reality of the effectiveness of the technique actually lies, as the propagandists and advertisers have discovered, in progressively conditioning the nervous system by repetition.
The broken record technique is very often used by politicians, corporate executives and officials, in 'debate', and in individual and series' of speeches and interviews, wherein they will attempt to repeat a favourable (simplified = generalised & thus information deleting and misleading) slogan - nowadays known as a 'sound bite' - over and over such as to imprint the consciousness of listeners with misleading concepts.
Statements of 'Rights'
The assertiveness trainers make a big issue of the concept of �rights�, the concepts probably arising in the US cultural background of �Bill of Rights�, civil rights movement and women�s liberation. Typical rights statements, which the trainees are encouraged to repeat and hence implant (thus fixing �attitudes� again), are as follows:
I have the right to state my wants and set my own priorities.Note the repetitive 'broken record' form associated with each individual statement (within the overall patterning of �rights�) of �I have the right to...� and further note the gross repetition of the words �I� and �my� - which are sounds that neuronically pattern ego-image fixation and self-centred ideation. Likewise the recommended use of 'I' form statements as in: 'I don't like it when you______. I want you to______.' (the student fills in the blanks) in much of this assertiveness training.
I have the right to defend myself.
I have the right to behave independently.
I have the right to express my feelings.
I have the right to a fair reward for my work.
I have the right to be treated with respect as an equal human being.
I have the right to decline responsibility for other�s problems.
I have the right to express my own opinions and values.
I have the right to say 'yes' and 'no' for myself.
I have the right to change my opinion.
I have the right to reject poor service.
etc, etc, (yawn).
Saying No
Many assertiveness training courses emphasise that their students should learn and develop "The 'Art' of Saying No" and recommend that this is done by practical repetitive conditioning using the following (typical) techniques:
* Role play.Again, this comprises an adaptation of of the basic 'broken record' technique of monotonous repetition (of 'no') irrespective of question, person or circumstance.
The student works with a partner or partners in repeatedly and calmly answering 'no' (out loud) to any questions the partner(s) ask, the questions often being prearranged by the course organisers. The idea here is to condition the student - using tens and tens of repetitions - to actually come out with the word 'no' as a semi-automatic response & in doing so overcome any pre-existing inhibition to saying 'no'.
Unfortunately, as with a lot of this training, the questions do not arise from a general 'any type' of question ground but are usually 'I' related - and the recurring 'no' responses serve to fixate ego.
* On The Streets
The student is encouraged to go into various shops, restaurants, bars & public places and ask strangers for various things, examine them and then say: 'No I don't want that' (or some similar mantram) without offering any explanation. If challenged/queried they reply in similar manner - being sure to say 'no' and using 'broken record'. Again the idea is to get used to saying 'no' as a semi-automatic response.
To close, the essence of 'assertiveness' lies in the repetitive fixation of consciousness around the ego. Many people learn to balance this this quite naturally in their childhood environment, but some - those who might have been conditioned to introversion at an early age - do not & are genuine candidates for corrective assertiveness training. Ultimately, excessive 'assertiveness', owing to its fixation and disproportionate emphasis in consciousness on ego, in the form of 'I', 'me', 'mine. and 'my', becomes selfishness and aggression.
Disabling Broken Record
PreambleDeliberate, as distinct from the more powerful and immediate 'negation' type body interrupts, are dealt with in depth towards the end of this page but as an interim measure, one technique for dealing with the pernicious, conscious 'broken record' behaviour is presented here.
'Broken record' is essentially self-hypnosis into automatic response of incantation of specific formulae in specific circumstances, but it is a self-hypnosis that gets projected, by repetition, into conditioning the nervous system of anyone who happens to come within range of it.
The self-centred world views projected by broken record should not be allowed to pass unchallenged - otherwise, by persistence, they will become predominant. Hence this article here dealing specifically with the problem - a problem which roots in conscious, selfish conditioned behaviour.
Basic Technique
Broken record comprises the repetition of a simple pattern ad nauseum until that pattern becomes entrenched in the neuronic structure of the person using it and, in some circumstances, the people who hear it.
Insofar as pure associative temporal (linearly patterned) conditioning is concerned, it is possible to use ANY pattern - e.g. laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg , etc. BUT broken record uses specific language patterns that attach themselves to the extant patterns in the body. As said before, these are normally associated with the 'i', 'me', 'my', etc. patterns.
The principle used here in breaking up such patterns is to persistently ADD ON TO THE TAIL of the pattern in various ways such that the pattern of (say) 'laghwkvfg laghwkvfg laghwkvfg' becomes modified into 'laghwkvfguw laghwkvfguw laghwkvfguw' which comprises a NEW PATTERN:
'laghwkvfg' does not equal 'laghwkvfguw'Practical Technique
in the same way that
1234567 does not equal 123456789
Adding to a pattern (or subtracting or reversing etc.) CREATES A NEW PATTERN. The old pattern becomes subsumed in the new and thus gets 'derailed'.
Three basic practical means of achieving 'morphing' of broken record statements by adding on to tail end are possible viz:
- shifting/reversing sense (grammatical)These are each discussed in turn below with supporting examples.
- generalising/depotentiating (grammatical)
- interrupt
*Shifting/Reversing Sense
This is achieved by considering the original 'broken record' statement and finding an appropriate word fragment, word, or combination of words that will either shift, reverse or otherwise destroy the meaning of the statement.
First of all, as with all these techniques, you need to LISTEN carefully to the broken record such as to establish the precise word form and meaning. Then you need to invent a word pattern to shift it (walk away and give yourself sufficient time and space to do this if needs be; the effect, once you introduce the shift, will be permanent and worth the consideration). You may phrase the shift in terms of the speaker's viewpoint or alternatively (and better) make it stand as a general consensus view. If you can make it humorous then so much the better.
Once you have the new word element(s) then every time you hear the 'broken record' you must persistently add them to the tail end such as to create a new pattern - make sure the speaker hears it every time. Monotonously imitate their voice and pace delivery to make this really effective.
Doing this will gradually, and repeatedly, re-condition the speaker's consciousness to the new pattern - whilst simultaneously protecting you from the original broken record & conditioning yourself in the new statement. That's why you should choose it carefully & accordingly, either make the word element(s) match an accurate description of practical, consensus reality as much as you possibly can - or design them to make the statement funny.
Examples:*Generalising/Depotentiating
- �Your price is excessive: reduce it� "IF YOU AGREE"
- �You have a unicorn hidden at the bottom of your garden' "ER'S PANTS"
- �Your president is not a crook� "HE'S AN INCOMPETENT"
- 'Bullcorp does not pollute the atmosphere' "IN ALASKA"
This works particularly well on 'Statements of Rights' type broken records but can be adapted to work equally well on most forms.
Basically what you do is allow the speaker to make his remark and then add to it the shift that: 'what applies for her/him also applies equally well for the rest of the world': i.e. (s)he is not unique and the broken record statement (s)he makes becomes modified to apply to the general case (thus depotentiating the 'ego' element).
As before, you add the same words/fragments monotonously every time they use the specific broken record pattern, giving as good (better by linguistic Aikido!) than you get.
Examples:*Interrupt
- I�m not going back to your house OR ANYBODY ELSE'S
- I have the right to state my wants and set my own priorities AND SO HAVE YOU
- I have the right to defend myself AS HAS ANYBODY ELSE
- I have the right to behave independently WITHOUT HARMING OTHERS
- I have the right to express my feelings AS HAVE ALL SENTIENT BEINGS
- Your president is not a crook ANY MORE THAN ANY OTHER POLITICIAN
- I don't like it when you ______ BUT I UNDERSTAND YOUR POSITION
The essential process here is to add word fragments/patterns that transform and de-energize the grossly one-sided, selfish point of view.
This is potentially the most powerful form of pattern disruption by 'adding' on to tail ends in that, depending on the nature of the language fragments/patterns used, it will effectively derail the heavily fixated, looping thought processes of the speaker by causing temporal 'blank out' into 'Transderivational search' (that 'at best' can last for tens of seconds or at worst will break the broken record with a 'what?') as they attempt to make meaningful sense of what is happening to them.
In strict terms of pattern conditioning (and disruption) it is possible to additively associate anything with anything. Accordingly the sound pattern that arises in: 'I am a wonderful being' can be morphed severely into: 'I am a wonderful being/banana disgusting watchstrap' which will cause TDS and (if repeated) scrambling & derailing of meaning in any linguistic sense. More mildly (but smoothly and subtly) it can be sonically morphed into: 'I am a wonderful being/"myself is fun".' This interrupts by pivoting around the word 'being' and creates a grammatically ill formed, ambiguous double-statement (that simultaneously creates TDS by confusion, destroys the concrete, fixated form of the original assertion and implants a new one of: 'being myself is fun'. See elsewhere on this site with respect to 'word journeys' for more detail on this technique applies in most circumstances can change machine shop front row and column supporting roof
The choice is yours: pure disruption by severe interrupt (and it is indeed amusing to see the gaping mouth and blank eyes of the fumbling erstwhile 'asserter') or the more creative subtle, gentle form. [See article below on: 'Practical Interrupts' for more information.]
Generally (for best confusion) you should use not less than a two word 'tail' - the exception being when the broken record pattern being directed against you ends in an ambiguous word or phrase you might be able to apply a single word with great effect.
In applying this technique you proceed as before by adding the same words/fragments monotonously every time they use the specific broken record pattern.
Examples:
- Your price is excessive: reduce it sky bingo dream
- I have the right to express my own opinions and values that of others as well
- I have the right to say 'yes' and 'no' for myself and I don't know yes no why not
- I have the right to change my opinion polls are often wrong footed
- I have the right to reject poor service charge me half
- You have a unicorn hidden at the bottom of your garden television is rubbish last tomorrow
- Your president is not a crooked house music water
- Bullcorp does not pollute the atmosphere window giraffe (pause 2,3) forget repeating
Exercise Hera: Re Petition in Language
2. v.t. Make petition to (sovereign, etc. for thing, to do)
3. v.t. Ask humbly (for thing, to be allowed to do, etc.)] See also the breakdown of 'recite' into 're cite'.
This is a short exercise in creative writing that will illustrate the dependency of word or languaged consciousness (the predominant type in Western humanity) upon vocabulary and repetition of word pattern. It relates to 'broken record' in that our normal everyday view of the world is made up of a limited word set which, although we do not formally 'learn' to repeat as in assertiveness training, nevertheless works in/upon us in creating our own form of (subconscious & partly arbitrary) learned and repeated word sets.
To do this, you will need a pen, a sheet of A4 or larger paper and (optionally) a dictionary. Once you have these (and you actuialy have to DO this TO LEARN HANDS ON rather than just think about) then write a short essay on one of the following topics:
- today's newsThe catch here is that you must not use any word more than once (which is why you might find the dictionary handy).
- a film you have seen
- a favourite song
- how to drive a car
- how to prepare ground for planting
or
- how to cook a soft boiled egg
Stop reading at the end of this paragraph and actually do this - and thus become aware of how often, in fact, you normally need to repeat and rely on repetition of elements of your existing vocabulary and how it confines you within its limits and within the aural sub-limits of its phonemes. Actually acquire the phonological awareness by doing and real-ise that not only do you write using these repetitive patterns, you also SPEAK and THINK in them and physically condition your being as you do.
Those words and language patterns that you find yourself wanting to repeat in this 'essay' example are the ones that comprise part of your own 'broken record' collection. You might re-write the essay 'free-style' later and find out what they comprise.
[Footnote: As a corollory of this exercise, note that the more extensive a person's vocabulary then the less inclined is that person to repeat (=fixate) themselves in word or thought. One can easily extend vocabulary - for example by opening a dictionary at random, finding a word one does not know & then using that word (say) at least three times in a day. Usage - our old friend repetition - makes it stick.]
Aside:Modern Politics and Repetition
'The fearful lesson from America'
"Likewise, and again rather depressingly, simplistic messages endlessly recycled prevailed over more complex arguments. Bush's stump sloganeering mattered more than Kerry's ascendancy in debate. This is the conclusion reached by one cabinet minister closely involved with Labour's election planning: 'You've got to have a strong message and stick to it.' Tory strategists agree that successful campaigning means repetition, repetition, repetition."(Andrew Rawnsley: The Observer, Nov 2004. Follow link for full article)
Exercise Lazarus: Rebirth in Pattern Breaking
The following comprises a brief exercise in Mantra Yoga, but with the 'believing' and supposed spiritual elements of 'religion' thrown out in favour of the scientific base of vibratory physics.The 'mantra yoga' here depends upon the psychologically effortless, specific, sustained and STRUCTURED vibration of the physical form such as to provide an effective oscillatory interrupt but without creating any further conditioning.
Thus a detached physical vibration is introduced into the body to supplant the extant (and normally predominantly chaotic) state. This at root - behind all the bluster and myth - is how mantra works in 'stilling' the mind process, but it also hypnotizes when used to excess. You will find several similar 'mantric' exercises on this page.
When you perform this exercise you will vibrate your vocal mechanism (and consequently the rest of your physical form) in unfamiliar ways. Oscillating any patterned form in a new way means change - direct, immediate change - and in performing this exercise you will change.
Take a few moments to read and practice pronunciation of the phrase shown below such that you can re-member it and can confidently utter it without hesitation. Once you can do this, simply repeat the phrase out loud (and that bit's important) at least eight times or more until you can remember it perfectly.
Try to vibrate the word form as a continuous sound stream on each repetition & pronounce the whole the same way each time: the unfamiliar words don't mean anything, so don't try to make them into anything:
That's it.
Now forget about it until tomorrow and do it again - but at a diferent time and in a different place. Then do it again sometime next week if you like and it cleared your head, but don't stupefy yourself or make a habit or ritual of it (i.e. don't repeat it more than (say) a dozen times at any sitting & don't ever do multiple repetitions at the same place or time again.)
The Past as Memory
The 'past' does not exist except in the memory of individuals, in stored images of various kinds - visual, sound, taste, feeling, scent - in the cortex. Memory is usually accessed by energisation of the various stored image by word symbol, either spoken or generated in the mind as thinking which manifests as 'internal dialogue' in the sense of hearing.Individual conscious memory is partial, incomplete and inaccurate and generally fades as the time period between experienced events and memorisation of them increases. Memory can be broadly divided into two principal types (although some overlap obviously occurs).
Certain types of memory: how to walk, read, ride a bicycle, talk, swim, drive a car, write, manipulate tools, etc. are learned by the body on a trial and error repetitive basis, often through feedback and imitation of others already able in these areas. These are �physical� memories - things that the physical and nervous system has learned in order to function in the physical world.
On the other hand, there exist memories that exist principally in word and visual image - so called 'psychological� memories - which can be observed to fall essentially into two categories: practical and reminiscence. Practical Memories
These comprise things like knowing one�s name and address, how to find one's way home, how to boil an egg, where to find food, remembering where one put one's shoes, being able to read a map, etc. etc.
Each of us has a vast repertoire of these practical memories which we have usually learned by some process of repetition and imitation.
They are unlike 'body' memories in that no great physical motor skill (kinaesthetic learning) relies on them - although they often depend upon motor skills for their successful execution (e.g. map reading will depend upon the basic motor skills of reading, object manipulation and standing up, changing a fuse on tool use, knowing one's name and address on language.)
Practical and physical memories generally arise on the basis of need or effortless desire.
Reminiscence
These are made up of primarily of visual and word images of the behaviour of the self (and others) in situations that have gone. They depend upon the energisation of the nervous structure, with the form of word and/or visual images - in reaction to (principally) - habitual, repeated word images for their existence. Some typical language patterns predicating the energisation of reminiscence are:
- what if...The predicates are followed by word patterns that relate to events that happened in the past, a past that only exists in memory, in imagination. This exists as fact: the past is imagination. It does not exist anywhere else, and events that have gone cannot be changed by any amount of speculation, words (thought or spoken), worry, repetition or conjuring of visual images.
- can/do you remember...
- I remember...
- I/we used to...
- X used to...
- if only
- I should/shouldn't have...
- I could/couldn't have...
and similar
Once a train of thought or conversation (= joint, collaborative expressed thought) has been established by such predicates, the essential character of that train will be maintained by the use of past participles (tenses) of verbs; in most vernacular speech and thinking this means that significant repetition of the following words occurs:
- was
- were
- said
- went
- had
- did
- remember
- recall
The unnecessary diversion of attention and energy into reminiscence changes nothing - apart from diverting energy, attention and awareness from the present and mesmerising those temporarily involved in such conversation or thinking. [Inattentive thinking in internal dialogue, also known as �down time�, can usually be detected in others as it usually gets accompanied by a) stillness in body - especially neck and head - OR repetitive body motion, and b) eye fixation - often taking the form of looking at nothing in particular or �into space�: the 'doggy bowl dinner' effect.]
Reminiscence is impractical, it doesn't change anything; it is an act of inattention based upon habitual repetition of certain language predicates that create trains of speculative (mainly word) images.
Those images themselves are partial, incomplete, inaccurately remembered and full of omission owing to the manner in which word symbols naturally delete information from that which they attempt to describe.
As the meal is not the menu, neither is the (necessarily incomplete) memory of the menu the menu either. Once you have fished reading this article, go to Exercise Demeter and learn for yourself by observing how this operates in practical situations.
Exercise Demeter: Re Cognizing Reminiscence
The requirement is a public place, or general social gathering, with a number of people present, where you can observe conversation unobtrusively and perhaps circulate and join in without getting particularly committed or distracted.What you have to do is LISTEN to the conversations that around you and notice how the occurrence of the language predicates:
- what if...create the onset of impractical (of the nobody can change it kind) nostalgia and reminiscences and how those reminiscences sustain continuity by the repetition of the past tenses of verbs - in particular:
- can/do you remember...
- I remember...
- If only
- I/we used to...
- X used to...
- I should/shouldn't have...
- I could/couldn't have...
and similar
- wasThe processes of reminiscence are learned, they are contagious and they can become habitual - indeed some people seem to be more addicted to energising the imaginary state that comprises the past than they are to other vices such as smoking, etc.
- were
- remember
- recall
- said
- went
- had
- did
You don�t have to do anything except observe at the moment but, since the ultimate interruption of these habitual behaviours is the purpose of this page, you might choose to begin to not participate in reminiscence - if engaged by others in such dialogue - by issuing a polite: �I don�t do nostalgia� or �the past is but a memory�, etc. and immediately interrupt by changing the subject. Break the pattern, break the habit.
An Example of Severe Pattern Interrupt
And For my Next Trick(Derren Brown on Practical Interrupts)
"He was leaving a hotel at three in the morning after attending a magic convention when he was confronted by a large, drunken man displaying a clear appetite for random assault.
'I was wearing a velvet jacket and velvet waistcoat,' recalls Brown. 'It wasn't looking good.'
'What the fuck are you looking at?' the drunk asked as he squared up to Brown's face.
'There's not much you can say to that kind of question,' observes Brown on reflection. 'But what you can do is act completely out of context. So I said: '''The wall outside my house isn't four feet high.''' The drunk's eyes narrowed in confusion.'
'What?' he asked.
Then Brown hit him with another broadside.
'Ah, you see, when I was in Spain, they were about seven foot high. But look at them here - they're tiny.'
The fledgling mind-magician took a deep breath and waited to see if his strategy had worked.
'I was expecting him to get so confused that his mind would become susceptible to some kind of hypnotic suggestion,' Brown explains. 'What happened was he actually shouted out: '''Oh Fuck!''' and burst into tears. I spent the next 10 minutes sitting on the kerb trying to give him advice about his girlfriend.' "
['The Guide': Guardian, April 3 2004]
Exercise Apollo: Awareness of Repetition in Advertising
As given, advertisers use patterned repetition to condition the consciousness of potential buyers in favour of the advertiser's message.The process often deploys sophisticated techniques (visual suggestion, unspoken associations with 'brand' and desirability, metaphor, bandwagon, testimony, pseudo-science and artfully vague statements, etc.) but more often than not, this gets delivered in conjunction with the crude 'propagandistic' technique of repetitive exposure of the viewer/listener/reader to some simple slogan or jingle.
Examples of this are 'the real thing', 'go to work on an egg', 'you'll wonder where the yellow went' and so on.
The word repetitions, either spoken, sung or in writing (which gets converted into internal dialogue in the reader) become PARALLEL or COMPOUNDED with visual and non-language aural associations.
Likewise, the use of internal repetitions (in slogans) of music, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration etc. implants tonal associations and repetitions which act as mnemonics for the slogan and/or the product name (see elsewhere on this page).
As examples we have: 'CO cA CO lA' [alliteration, rhyme and rhythmic association; this one is a work of genius - conscious or unconscious? - see later], 'CLunK CLiCK every trIp' [alliteration, rhyme and rhythm: note the 'internal' alliteration of the trailing K/CK] and 'Murray Mints, Murray Mints - too good to hurry mints' [internal repetition, rhyme, rhythm and music].
This exercise relates to observing and negating the use of repetition in slogan and works as follows:
a) for each session choose a medium that is used as a vehicle for advertising (TV, radio or print)Using this exercise will significantly (and rapidly) increase your sensitivity to mind dulling repetition - particularly when you find yourself quite spontaneously spotting and responding to rhythm pattern and rhyme and alliteration pattern (both of the latter comprise low level phonemic repetition).
b) when you come across an advertisement, listen/watch/read until the first repetition of:- wordWhen you notice such a repetition then CHANGE CHANNEL (on TV or radio) or TURN THE PAGE (printed medium). Avoid repeating the pattern you have noticed, rather count to twenty on the new channel (TV/radio) then flick back to the ads and begin observing again or look for the next ad (printed medium) and spot the next pattern.
- musical phrase (melody, harmony or accompaniment)
- rhythmic (word) pattern
- rhyme
- alliteration
occurs.
It is important that you:
a) PHYSICALLY ACT in negation/interrupt and that
b) you don't repeat, outwardly or mentally, the pattern you observe - since to do so will perpetuate rather than interrupt it.
All of these normally bypass consciousness. Your sensitivity, as with all these exercises, will expand rapidly beyond the nominal 'exercise field' into other spheres of your experience.
Don't just do this once or with one medium.
Do this exercise whenever you find yourself subject to advertising and, rather than becoming dulled by it, use it to make yourself increasingly sensitive. The growing sensitivity is ultimately that which will effortlessly have done with non-essential conditioned behaviours.
Repetition, Perceptual Conditioning and 'News'
It can be shown that something like 80% of the information that gets presented to the general public by the mass media as 'news' in fact originates from what might be broadly called 'authority' - central and local government, political parties, government departments, police, courts, medical, scientific and religious bodies and so on - across the broad swathe of media which includes National and local TV, radio and press. [This figure is established for democratic countries; in nations with more authoritarian forms of government it is higher.]The majority of the remaining 20% of supposed 'news' mainly concerns celebrity, sport and other forms of entertainment and 'information' originating from corporate sources.
The reasons for this situation are complex - social engineering and spin by government and their agents, uncritical, lazy and compliant journalism, complicit self-censorship, editorial policies, various forms of propaganda and campaigning, the 'need' to keep owners/advertisers/sponsors happy, covering topics taken up by rivals, giving the public 'what they want', etc, etc.
This is a complex area of study in itself and need not overly concern us here.
What does concern us is the use of mass media in disseminating particular viewpoints by means of repetition with the effect that supposed 'news' (most of which is not 'new', novel or contemporaneous) becomes nothing more than propaganda, the content of which is established by the originators, enabled and distributed, often unwittingly and/or uncritically, by print and electronic broadcasters, such as to condition and manipulate public perception.
Interlude: Exercise Mercury
You aren't expected to 'believe'; anything you read on this site (and by inference anywhere else), but to assess, think through and find evidence to prove things for yourself. This exercise deals with 'news' analysis & you are advised to do it exactly as prescribed such as to make the information you gather as unshakeably 'real' and practical to your knowledge system as anything else you might have practical knowledge of. If you do it properly it will take you several hours of work - but you should find it rewarding since done properly, the insight brought about will be yours for the rest of your days.
Proceed as follows:a) turn on your radio and observe the content of the next news program that appears. Make a verbatim note of the headline of each story. Below it, make a brief note of the content and a verbatim note of one or two of the phrases used in each storyNow, and this is the ultimate test in terms of validity, consider what practical use the information might be to you, and further, if it is actually 'news' (in terms of being valuable, informative and up to date) or whether it has degenerated into something else.
b) turn on your TV and do the same with the next TV news
c) change channel on the radio and TV and repeat a) and b) above when the next news comes on
d) head for the streets and purchase three heavyweight 'serious' newspapers and three downmarket tabloids
e) back home, re-tune radio and TV to original channels and repeat steps a) and b)
Now, to analyse the results, get three coloured markers (say blue, green and red) and proceed as follows.i) bearing in mind the opening paragraphs of this article, identify the probable source/type of each of the stories in your radio and TV notes and in the newspapers and write it across them in redNow look at your handiwork and assess the relative proportion of the sources that underlie them, the amount of repetition of common word groups ('the message'), irrespective of the various media forms, and the number of times that those word forms would likely to be repeated to you on electrical media in (say) twelve hours were you to stay tuned into every radio or TV bulletin.
ii) for stories that deal with the same subject, number them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. in blue, irrespective of whether they came from radio/TV or press. [e.g. a story about say a flu epidemic would be numbered 1, on every document, a train crash 2, one about a particular bank robbery 3 and so on...]
iii) for each of the stories, and each repeat of the stories, underline in green any words or groups of words that have been repeated
Do the same word forms appear in 'headlines', the story body and any 'reminders' of the headlines that are issued in one bulletin/across bulletins (why do we need 'reminders'; why are precisely the same word patterns used - even in supposedly separate and independent bulletins?)
What about slanting and clich�?
Do you detect evidence of slanting of fact by means of adverb/adjective, stereotype and clich�? Are there any 'EVIL dictators' in there, 'drug BARONS', 'RAMPAGING lunatics', 'MAD axe men', 'CHEATING celebrities' 'ABSOLUTE certainties' and the like?
What about the political news?
Is the man with a gun 'an insurgent', 'a freedom fighter', 'an invader', 'a member of the coalition forces' or 'one of our brave boys'? What are the implied perceptual structures presented in the 'news' relating to objects, characters and events in the stories? Are they fair and genuine, or can you detect spin and prejudice?
And so...
The fact is that repetition conditions perception.The 'news' you have appraised might be topical, or more rarely even useful, when attended to once a day, but beyond that, as your data should be demonstrating, it becomes nothing but organised, sophisticated and irrelevant propaganda that dulls the mind.
Knowledge brings action - and you know where the off switch is.
Clich�, Slogan and Sound Bite
"In all fields of endeavour, repetition is one of the more powerful ways in which a community establishes its 'facts', but the facts thus established are often unsound. The scientific community is not immune."How Pattern Implicitly Affects Consciousness
[Ross Hesketh]
The fact of the matter is that the patterns which get repeated most (and particularly those that get repeated in an organized & regular fashion) become paramount in the conditioning of consciousness in both its collective (cultural) and individual forms; the whole exists as a function of the parts.
'Pattern', in the broad context, means ANY pattern - sonic, visual, kinaesthetic (physical body feeling), olfactory (scent) or gustatory (taste) that repeatedly impinges on and thus affects the human physical sensory/nervous as a whole The term includes internally generated imaging in the form of visualization, non-verbal sound imaging and internal dialogue. Pattern affects consciousness implicitly because consciousness comprises awareness channelling through pattern in creating form.
Language and Consciousness
In the latter stages of the second millennium AD human consciousness became increasingly focussed in language (indeed one might point out that the focus of mankind's consciousnes awareness currently lies trapped predominantly in the 4 modes Ve, Aed, Vi and Aid from the ten available in a five sense external/internal 5tuple). This occurred primarily because of:
- the advent of the printing press in Europe in the 15th centuryAs a result of these changes - occurring first of all in Western Europe but spreading ever more rapidly and cascading into other geographical areas and other cultures - an almost universal literacy has come about and with it an ever increasing dependency on, and focussing of attention in, LANGUAGED thinking (in Aid mode arisng from both visual and spoken word input, and general commonality/consensus in that thinking by virtue of restricted vibratory symbol sets), and hence a restless, chattering, linguistically driven perception largely restricted within the confines of the particular language symbols.
- the Industrial Revolution which brought the widespread introduction of low cost mass-production and power printing
- the parallel improvements in general wealth, health, standards of living, social and educational standards
- political changes
- telephony and telegraphy
- commercialism and advertising
- rudimentary understanding of psychology and use of propaganda
- the unprecedented rise of mass media in the form of printed works and wireless audio and visual broadcast
and in the past thirty years:
- mobile telephony
- computer and computer networking
Mankind has slowly lost it's former innocence, tranquillity and quietude of the agrarian Middle-Ages. In return for undeniable material wealth (and breaking free of the shackles of organised religion and superstition), the majority of humanity has lost the opportunity for quiet meditation, time to contemplate and freedom from the gross intrusion of the oscillating patterns we recognize as word. All gone, superseded by collective endless noise and chatter that impinge on the individual consciousness (which reciprocates by adding to the chaos in the collective consciousness) from all directions and increase with every day that passes as population grows and the gabbling in the planetary chicken coop intensifies with number and packing density.
Furthermore, once this noise has permeated into the individual mind, (i.e. when one becomes a member of the languaging group as a child and develops the languaged 'I' image of ego), it becomes self perpetuating owing to the associating nature of memory and it's ability to connect the sounds of various vibratory grunt symbols not only with 'real' objects in an 'external' physical world but with the 'internal' store associative symbols and images that comprise language in memory.
The reactive energization of this memory may occur by either external or internal stimulus in any given situation, but once set in motion internal stimulus perpetuates itself in the form of the almost endless and mainly useless noise of internal dialogue that fills the majority of the modern human being's waking hours.
Aldous Huxley, in drawing attention to what he perceived as large scale causes and effects rather than microscopic causes, put it thus:
'The twentieth century is, among other things, the Age of Noise. Physical noise, mental noise and noise of desire - we hold history's record for all of them. And no wonder; for all the resources of our almost miraculous technology have been thrown into the current assault against silence.We shall investigate the processes of 'desire' later on this page.
That most popular and influential of all recent inventions, the radio [and nowadays TV] is nothing but a conduit through which pre-fabricated din can flow into our homes. And this din goes far deeper, of course, than the eardrums. It penetrates the mind, filling it with a Babel of distractions, blasts of corybantic or sentimental music, continually repeated doses of drama that bring no catharsis, but usually create a craving for daily or even hourly emotional enemas.
And where, as in most countries, the broadcasting stations support themselves by selling time to advertisers, the noise is carried from the ear, through the realms of phantasy, knowledge and feeling to the ego's core of wish and desire.
Spoken or printed, broadcast over the ether or on wood-pulp, all advertising copy has but one purpose - to prevent the will from ever achieving silence.
Desirelessness is the condition of deliverance and illumination. The condition of an expanding and technologically progressive system of mass production is universal craving. Advertising is the organized effort to extend and intensify the workings of that force, which (as all the saints and teachers of all the higher religions have always taught) is the principal cause of suffering and wrong-doing and the greatest obstacle between the human soul and its Divine Ground.'
Meanwhile, within the context of the present article - which has to do with the specific symbol conditioning we call 'language' occurring in speech, writing, and verbalised thought (which all ultimately manifest in the individual in the sense of hearing) - the patterning that concerns us relates to word and how repetition of various word patterns affects consciousness.
A Small Experiment
You need to actually carry this out such as to gather evidence first hand in order to make the understanding your own based on your own observations. Proceed as follows:
1) choose a prominent person (X) who appears regularly in the news who you actually dislike - politician, celebrity, or sports personThe purpose of the exercise is to condition yourself with the particular (and uncommon) language pattern - the conditioning (at 189 repetitions total) is relatively minor with respect to any typical language pattern conditioning, but it is organised and deliberate - and then observe how such conditioning works in your consciousness. Once you have this pattern established, reinforce it by repeating steps 4) through 7) (say) once a week just to refresh it. Work at this, take it seriously - for it is. You are actually in process of discovering some remarkable things about yourself and it's well worth the minimal effort.
2) note that the word 'bongar' describes a poisonous Indian snake
3) write down the sentence 'X is a bungling bongar' on a small card, substituting the name of your chosen prominent person for 'X'.
4) read the sentence out loud NINE TIMES at the same speed, in the same voice tones and with the same short gap between each repetition. Use emphatic tones or monotones, fast or slow speech as you wish - but once you have chosen a form then stick to it
5) pause for fifteen seconds
6) repeat steps 4) and 5)
7) repeat steps 4) and 5)
8) put the card away in a pocket or purse
9) repeat steps 4) to 7) inclusive on the following day - again using same tones, speech rates and pauses. Read from the card to make sure you are word perfect.
10) do this every day for a week
In the OBSERVATION part of the exercise watch your reactions - speech or internal dialogue - whenever you get involved in a conversation about X or see/hear a news story about X. Do this for a week or two until you discover what is actually going on inside yourself, how it affects your relationship and attitude with/toward X and others & take a note of how many times you have to explain what a 'bongar' is.
Once you have observed the patterning working, then drop the reinforcement and just watch.
Exercise Morpheus: Awareness of Pattern in Song and Music
Carry out this awareness exercise at home or in a car (stationary or as a passenger). The essential equipment comprises a multi-stream (at least three) source of continuous audible music channels - the ideal being a multi-channel radio or television with remote control. The exercise is again based upon interruption of continuity by detecting repetition - but is more complex than those given previously.Multiple sources of music, with or without attached words (song) is the essential requirement. Music/song (as in inc(H)antation and enCHANTment) comprises a rich source of pattern - the most complex, organised sources of aural pattern created by humankind. There exist repeating forms in:
- rhythm (absolute and relative)Because huge variations of combinations of these can occur, the detection of repeats in music can be an order of magnitude more difficult than detection in the spoken word. Additionally, and since the rates of repetition in music can be exceedingly high and often monotonous (e.g. drumbeats, rhythm pulses in bass/percussion - indeed much music, especially song form, is effectively musical mantra), if one were to detect 'any' repetition then the exercise would become trivial in terms of interrupting on every fraction of every beat & exercises exploring interruption of trance inducing rhythms and tones will come later once you are a little more practiced and alert. Accordingly, for now, use a middle-way approach thus:
- pitch (absolute and relative)
- combined rhythm and pitch sequence (phrase and melody)
- timbre/instrument and combinations thereof
- harmony
- lyric - repeating words, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, phoneme (in the case of song)
1. turn on the sound source and tune to an appropriate channel (channel �A� say)To carry out this exercise effectively demands extreme alertness, an alertness that improves rapidly with practice. The apparent simplicity here belies effectiveness - and you should find yourself shifting channel up to ten times faster than you were in the pure speech exercise - and do be sure to physically change channel such as to ACTUALLY interrupt the continuity of the sound sequences.
2. listen to the music/song and immediately you hear a repeated WORD, or distinct MUSICAL PHRASE (on any instrument or voice - including non-momotonous bass and drum patterns) then switch to another channel (channel �B�, say)
3. listen again to the music/song and immediately you hear a repeat, as in 2 above, then switch to another channel (channel �C�, say)
4. carry on as in steps 2 and 3, switching to a new channel every time any word or phrase gets repeated
5. if you come across a speech stream onm a channel change (e.g. an advertisement) then just change chamnnel when you hear a word repeat
As given previously, you will miss quite a few of the repeats in the early stages (and strangely enough realise 'wordlessly' that you�ve missed them) but let them go and just press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to both repeating melodic and word patterns progressively improves with practice. This rapid improvement comes about in consequence of the natural stilling (by negation) of internal dialogue by the act of attention
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything (except sound channel) with this, it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness.
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants. Inside a stationary car is a very good place as you can do it unnoticed.
Exercise Kronos: Compound Mantric Form in Verse
As well as cliche, chant, slogan, jingle and 'motto', poetry and music contain repetitive figurative vibratory elements that enable them to modify the consciousness of the listener by persistent excitation of neurone groups. The more a neurone group gets triggered by a particular signal, the more that signal modifies the group in its own image and thus obtains priority in memory.Accordingly when memory responds (the process which comprises the essence of 'thinking') then it responds preferentially in terms of the patterns that dominate the neurone structure (also referred to as 'islands in consciousness' elsewhere in this article).
Poetic and musical forms use various repetition (= low frequency forced oscillation) techniques to take hold of consciousness. Some of these comprise:
- direct repetition of complete sound forms (individual words, phrases, sentences)In certain forms - especially in songs that evoke strong emotional feelings ('I will need you for ever' etc.) - the implicit asociative mantric repetition can actually condition powerful negative depressive states, 'song' being probably the most powerful mnemonic form known to mankind. Once conditioned, re-association (by the song, music or word) will re-evoke these states in the manner of NLP 'anchor triggering',
- repetition of syllable and morpheme (through alliteration and rhyme)
- repetition of pitch
- timbral repetition
- rhythm
This can also be turned around and put to beneficial use. If no 'emotional' form (or any other meaningful word form) has attachment to a complex word group, then such structured groups can be used as powerful mantric (=vibratory)interrupts.
The following 'poetic' mantra demonstrates a typical rhythmic 'verse' form with compound internal structure.[Note the overall structure & internal repetitions and compare with popular song and poetry].
As before with mantramic form, take a few moments to read and practice pronunciation of the 'poem' shown below such that you can confidently utter it without hesitation. Once you can do this, simply repeat the phrase out loud (that bit's important) at least eight times.
Try to vibrate each line as a continuous sound stream on each repetition & pronounce the whole the same way each time: the unfamiliar words don't mean anything, so don't try to make them into anything:
kah kah prela
spustle spustle chank sul
eeb plits sleple
eeb plits sleple
kah kah prela
spustle spustle chank sul
jux jux rokey mip
spustle prela rokey mip
That's it.
If you wish to use it as a standing interrupt, copy it out and carry it with you for occasional use - but always at a diferent time and in a different place.
Don't stupefy yourself or make a habit or ritual of it (i.e. don't repeat it more than (say) a dozen times at any sitting).
Negation of Incoming External Conditioning
By now, if you have persisted with the exercises and read the text commentaries given previously, you should have awareness that:a) conditioning of the upper reaches of the nervous system occurs principally through repetitionThe objectives of those who might wish to condition you with their points of view are likely to be as diverse as those very points of view, but one thing is for sure and that is when you come across sonic repetition in speech - especially when it includes rhyme, alliteration and slogan/clich� - then the originator of such is attempting to condition your thinking processes and selectively program your memory.
b) you are surrounded by repetition in all manner of patterned forms
c) words are a particular form of sonic form and that the repetition of words - individual, in phrases and particularly in rhythmic alliterative and rhyme form (i.e. slogans, jingles and mottos) is used by those who wish to confine and direct attention in particular directions of their choosing
Advertisers use these techniques (think of a particularly annoying jingle), as do religious and political propagandists, corporate and institutional bodies & their agents (some naively), and self-seeking manipulative individuals.
Obvious repetitive conditioning often occurs thus:
a) in direct time sequence (repeating single words or syllables e.g. 'SEQUENTIAL, SEQUENTIAL, etc.).A blatant example of this is the meaningless: 'Education, Education, Education' rant used in the UK 2001 election.The foregoing examples illustrate some of the more obvious ways that repetition is used to manipulate human consciousness; there are other, far more subtle ways which you should be on the lookout for (for example the componding of sonic and visual images) - but they will inevitably rely upon some form of repetition.
b) contiguously - in fragments - by the continual, but more subtle non-continuous, repetition of particular words and phrases (as in 'Let's talk about ZEUS. ZEUS knows EVERYTHING YOU do, absolutely EVERYTHING, and he keeps WRITten RECORDS. YOU can be sure that ZEUS WRITes EVERYTHING about YOU down in his book of RECORDS...') It's more often than not that blatant and simplistic - but the effect of this kind of repetition is powerful and hypnotic in that it overloads and distorts the listener's perceptual processes by repeatedly, and deliberately, placing undue emphasis on specific words/concepts and directing attention towards them. (When senses are stimulated then that very motion in the sensory apparatus creates the experience we name 'attention': repetitive stimulation narrows attention on itself.)
c) by repetition of identical, word (and often time and tone) perfect messages/slogans/instructions periodically over extended time scales. E.g. Word perfect, 'news' bulletins, official announcements and jingles in commercial breaks that appear periodically (and not necessarily regularly - see previous section with respect to effective advertising) throughout a given time period.
d) in the repetition of clich�, slogan and motto occurs. These 'mantras' supposedly contain kernels of wisdom related to the topic being propagated but on closer inspection such 'wisdom' turns out to be meaningless drivel BUT a form of drivel that is very carefully structured rhythmically and tonally so that it is easy to remember, chant and roll easily of the tongue. Such repeating mantramic form overwhelms and dulls the senses of the listener and speaker alike & ultimately causes the neurochemical patterning of the listener to resonate with that of the speaker such that the former absorbs the point of view. In extremis, this process (of narrowed repeating attention) resembles a hypnotic state.
Examples of this type of mantric form are: 'Think Drink Pink Gin' (rhyme and rhythm), 'Eine Volk, Eine Reich, Eine Fuhrer' (word repetition and rhythm) and 'Buy Big BiLL's BuLLburgers' (external and internal alliteration).
e) in emotionally ill-formed song lyrics, the extreme multilple repetitions of which vastly exceed the normal constraints of everyday prose speech by means of presentation as 'song' (would you permit someone to come up to you in the street and whine: 'I can't live without her/him anymoOOoore...' at you twenty times? Such structures are common in 'song' (and song is arguably one of the most powerful mnemonics available to humans) and they perniciously invade and distort consciousness - particularly that of vulnerable teenagers - with emotional negativity since their thought processes eventually become entrained with these words.
f) By participation - and this is possibly the worst form. In the more pernicious forms of conditioning you will be invited to 'join in' the process by repetition of (speaker given) word forms and associated rituals of physical behaviour (which further reinforce the patterning). Think company song, parrot style 'learning', political slogan, hymn, prayer and religious ritual, football and protest chants, etc.
Given your now heightened sensitivity to sonic repetition, acquired through the earlier exercises, you should now be able to see through much of this, spot any attempts to condition you virtually immediately and take action against them. You can act, either by:
- immediate interruption or contra-diction
- removing the source (see below)
- moving away from the influence of the source.
You are now aware these processes and no longer have to endure them.
The choice is yours.
Conditioning Influences
'Open the window
and the breeze might blow in.'
[Krishnamurti]
Significant exposure to the repetitive (hence oscillatory) inputs to the human nervous system indicated below will create disproportionate and generally harmful patterns of conditioning that in turn desensitise perception and awareness. Additionally, many of these behaviours are 'de-inviduating' (tend to take away individuality and render the subject a member of a crowd or group of various kinds) and are deliberately used by thosde who would seek to manipulate such bodies.
The repetition of stimulli in the classes shown - either in isolation or compound form - inevitably creates preferential islands and 'noise' in consciousness as it forms semi-permanent association patterns in the electro-neurochemistry of the nervous system (as discussed elsewhere on this page). This happens as inevitably as the blacksmiths hammer forges hot metal into shape on his anvil or as Pavlov's bell conditioned the dogs.
In due course, with extended repetition and exposure, the repeated stimuli form themselves into elements that participate in the normal reference state of the nervous system as an implicit part of actual percepual and conceptual currency.
The reader will note that in a modern non-ascetic society it is impossible to entirely avoid the stimulli types indicated, but nevertheless a serious and alert observer will find it relatively easy to significantly reduce exposure either by bringing the activity to a halt or moving away from its source - and in doing so s(he) will reduce radically the internal noise and obscuring agitation that such oscillations impart in the mind pool.
The foundations for this action have already been laid in the various exercises given above: it remains now to apply them in day to day environments. As this takes place, the internal forces that sustain non-essential conditioning become negated and atrophy. In tandem, as this conditioning structure dissolves, then slowly, but certainly, a state of heightened sensitivity and alertness spontaneously arises - the awakening of intelligence.
The barrier to enhanced awareness and the essential nature of ignorance comprise one and the same thing - non-essential electro-neurochemical noise that has developed in parallel with, and in consequence of, mankind's linguistic split consciousness: (see link below on Practical Choiceless awareness with regard to 'essential').
The non-essential noise originates in unconscious, patterned oscillation (repetition) of elemnts of the physical body, oscillation that actually posesses energetic momentum. Once stilled, and the foregoing exercises present numerous direct techniques for this, the deep awareness - which comprises the ground of unconditioned being - naturally manifests.
Raising Awareness: Some Behaviors it is Best to Avoid Exposure to, or Involvement in
You can avoid repetitive, external forced oscillation of your body and nervous system and subsequent vibronic entrainment by:a) moving away from the vibrating sourceBe aware that forcing repetitive oscillations come in all sensory modes (visual, aural, kinesthetic, taste and scent and combinations thereof), multiple forms, shapes, sizes and can comprise simple and compound FREQUENCIES ranging from UHF to ULF. Note that in the manner of Newton's first law of motion, once a body (and that includes a human body) has been set in a state of periodic motion then it will persist in that state until compelled by an external oscillation to do otherwise.
b) interrupting the source
c) modifying the impacting pattern of the source
d) non-participation with the forcing oscillation
In layman's terms, once you have acquired a habit (=a state of conditioning) then it will stick until something occurs that unsticks it. Break pattern, break habit.
Non-essential exposure to the following sources can (and most likely will) create unnecessary conditioning. You can best kick a habit by not acquring it in the first place:[The list is incomplete and in no particular order... (see 305/405 downloads for text: cross refer to immediate choiceless awareness page wrt essential & non-essential (check wording) behaviours))]
Exercise Rephous: Further Expansion of Awareness: Sonic Repetition
This more powerful consciousness expansion exercise emulates Exercise Orpheus given earlier BUT DRIVES DEEPER IN REVEALING THE MECHANISMS BY WHICH WE ACTUALLY RE-COGNIZE SONIC VIBRATION and ultimately convert it into meaning: this normally occurs as an unconscious process. Proceed as with Execise Orpheus - the essential equipment, as previously, comprises a multi-stream (at least three) source of continuous audible human language the ideal being a multi-channel radio or television.The spoken word or song are both effective in this exercise, but this time you have to act upon noticing the repetition of sound fragments rather than 'wholes' - and these sound fragments can occur at exceedingly high rates and will demand a high level of silent attention to catch:
1. turn on the sound source and tune to an appropriate channel (channel �A� say)As with 'Orpheus', the simplicity of the exercise belies its effectiveness. You will certainly miss quite a few of the repeats in the early stages (and strangely enough realise you�ve missed them) but don�t let that bother you.
2. listen to the speech/song and immediately you hear a repeated sound fragnment or PHONEME (i.e. syllable) then switch to another channel (channel �B�, say)
3. listen again to the speech/song and immediately you hear a repeated phoneme then switch to another channel (channel �C�, say)
4. avoid repeating the sound fragments you hear repeated (you will cannot pay attention to the incoming sound stream if you do); the exercise is to raise your situational awareness and get your body to act directly, not cause the mind to parrot
5. carry on as above, switching to a new channel every time a word repeats
Don't go back, the moment has gone so don't bother trying to re-evoke it in memory: pay attention and press ahead until the next repeat and switch. You will observe, by doing, that your sensitivity to repeating patterns improves progressively, and universally (not just in sound), improves with practice, and that your 'unconscious' mind acts far more rapidly than mere verbalising. Ultimately, this direct learning will make the body kinesthetically alert (the body, at root, does the 'listening' and the acting kinesthetically), and such awareness will effortlessly protect you from repetitive (vibrational) conditioning. (NLP readers note that '4tuple' represents (part of a 5-sense) MODEL of sensory processes, and that ultimately all apparently differentiated 'senses' depend upon various vibrational sensastions in kinesthetic awareness: this exercise directly redirects attention from Aed through Aea into Ke whilst the rapt attention required implicitly negates the downtime conditioned disturbance/noise of Aid).
Again, you don�t deliberately try to change anything with this (except radio channel!), it is a consciousness expansion exercise which heightens your awareness - and in time that heightened awareness will act directly. You will certainly, and very rapidly, notice the repetitive nature of the (sonic) linguistic patterning that bombards your consciousness from the mass media everyday (especially in the form of emotionally and logically malformed song-pattern repetitions). That alertness, once awakened, will extend far beyond mere mass-media patterning into day to day life.
To be fully effective, you need to do this for several sessions of preferablty not less than 20 minutes duration. Be sure not to repeat the words you observe repeating, rather actually physically CHANGE CHANNEL (remote control is OK, probably best) and then listen attentively for the next repeat.
You will find that your body can act far more rapidly in spontaneously identifying and responding to patterened (sonic in this case) vibration than the (second-hand, inattentive) behaviour of 'mind' in registering/repeating internally of observed words, so don't repeat them!
The purpose of all this is to increase attention - not to get entrained with the language content of any particular channel (which is in fact an act of inattention with regard to immediate surroundings).
This exercise can be performed alone (probably best not doing it if your partner is watching TV!), or it can be played as a very entertaining (and cooperative) game with two or more participants.
If you don't have steering wheel radio controls, best not do this in a moving vehicle alone; although the exercise actually increases all round alertness, fiddling around trying to switch radio channels may distract you from driving.
Appendix A:
Dealing With Repetitive Form in Established Pattern
This exists in all manner of areas that were established in child conditioning and will be addressed by means of example and exercise.When you were at elementary school, and before and after, you were taught, mainly by rote, certain forms of pattern which conditioned your psyche and serve to this very day as fundamental building blocks in the deep structure of your consciousness.
Examples of these are:
* learning the alphabet (wow, I'll never ever manage to learn that long list)The list is incomplete - indeed you would do well to add to it from your own experience such as to establish consciously your own tendencies.
* counting
* learning to read and write (do you remember how difficult it was to differentiate between b and p and that one has his tail above the line and one below, and how hard it was to form those letters at first no matter how you tried?)
* certain associative acronyms and abbreviations, indeed the very essence of the abstract process of abbreviation that Every Good Boy Deser...
* fixed patterns of various numbers and word groups... '3.1**', 'as thick as a *****'?????'
* association of sound pattern to object and action (language)
Now, some of these things are entirely useful and some not. Things acquired parrot style at an early age are particularly damaging in that they deeply impress the plastic child brain and fix it in position by mechanically repeating the same patterns ad nauseum. In doing this, they severely limit deep natural intelligence and heavily condition perception - as if repeatedly hitting a perfectly formed metallic mirror with a hammer until it distorts reflections.
These patterns can be disrupted by using some of the techniques explained elsewhere in this document. For purposes of brevity, the disruption exercises alone are presented below.
Exercise Neptune
a) Repeat the following list of numbers and letters out loud. (Yes, repeat! You are in process of breaking the grip of a deep established form and, in the absence of very acute awareness, general randomness/chaos - which you can't access directly anyway since your behaviour is already structurally fixated by years of past conditioning - is insufficient). Do so until you can enter the list at any point and re cite the subsequent sequence from memory without any hesitation or any error.7025b) now go back to step a) and repeat the list backwards (RLWQR 473806, etc.) until you have it off by heart.
TL
9641
OAY
53728
KVMH
608374
UQWLR
This is going to take you some time, but persist, like you did when you were a child learning the alphabet and counting, until you master it. Note that the list is not randomly organised and we'll be coming back to it in a future exercise or two. Once you've learnt it both ways, forget about it for the time being.
Exercise Mibreephtyu
Print off and repeat each word group in the following word set twice and out loud (yes, do it in private!). Do the whole list (twice per group) ten times, four times a day for a two weeks. Be sure to extend the sounding of the double letter groups e.g. pronounce 'oo' as 'ooooo' in 'Moo' etc:dovikpel unooCarry the list with you. When the two weeks are up, repeat each word group ten times every time you hear a piece of 'techno' or 'rap' music playing.
ospenthalt iptor
wisroojaf doa
maashuaniz ap ak
owdruf trej
amgrik yeelosh
im dref taa
mil wah shooy
im dref trej
wisroo maashuan
Throw the list away after three months and forget it.
[Note that although you may find some of these exercises appear rather amusing and trivial at first sight, rest assured that they have powerful transformative effects. This one works on the physical oscillatory mechanisms of the spoken word - which actually condition the entire physical system. For the basis follow link to Arhythmic Atonal Interrupt below.]
Exercise Pluto
Repeat the following list of colours in the order given. Do it out loud until you can enter the list at any point and re cite the sequence from memory without error.white indigo yellow red pink violet blue orange green
Exercise Minerva
Repeat the following numerical tone poem out loud as given. Do it as rhythmically as you can until you know it by heart.seven two
five
nine one
four eight three
six
Exercise Brahma
The following word set comprises a powerful mantra (and if you have read this far it should be dawning on you)Try to repeat it orally, rhythmically with some measure of tune in your voice - using the same rhythm and tones with each of the word. If you find the tone/rhythms gently shifting as you establish the pattern, flow with it until you find a natural, effortless recurrent form and then stay with that until you have it word/rhythm/tone perfect in memory.
when tau gree
roar wife
nix nevn
oyt kine
zen gra
nux din
Appendix B: A Fable
"Wake up lazybones, wake up. Time to go to work! Work, you hear me, work!"With his purple pointed shoe, Iktar the imp poked Oleg hard in the ribs. A loud grunt interrupted the giant's rhythmic snoring. He blinked and opened his eyes.
"Oh dear," he said slowly in his deep, gentle voice, "is it morning already? I was having a wonderful dream. I dreamt I was a king living in golden palace in the clouds. In the palace gardens there were butterflies that sang like angels. Just before you woke me up, one of them was singing a special song for me." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I forget what the song was about now though."
"Never mind all that, never mind," snapped the imp shrilly. He jumped down and dragged a basin almost as big as himself across the stone floor, "here's your breakfast. Eat it up quickly or we'll be late. Quickly now, quickly. Mustn't be late."
Oleg sat up on his gigantic bed, lifted the basin in one hand and, grasping a huge wooden spoon in the other, ponderously ate the wheat-flakes. The imp paced up and down the huge room impatiently, but Oleg, only half-awake, took his time.
"Here's your water," piped the imp rattling a large metal bucket by the bed. "Drink it up quick. Come on now, quick! Chop chop, rush rush, busy busy, quick quick, quick! We've got work to do."
Oleg finished the wheat-flakes, let forth a thunderous belch, and drank the entire bucketful of water in one swift gulp. Iktar scrambled up onto the straw mattress, and from there to the specially made pouch sewn on the back of the giant's heavy leather jerkin. Sitting or standing in the pouch, Iktar's view over Oleg's right shoulder was uninterrupted and he could easily shout instructions into the giant's ear.
"Up," said Iktar. Oleg gradually rose. As he reached his full height, more than twenty times that of the imp, he stretched his arms above his head, yawned and shook himself.
"Forward," commanded the imp, "the door is slightly to your left, and about four paces away. Walk to your left."
As the giant lumbered towards the doorway the discarded basin and bucket rattled with each heavy step.
"Stop!" shrieked the imp. "Handle and bolt are by your left hand, not right, left - right?"
Oleg reached out his hand at shoulder level, found the wall and slid his hand down to the heavy iron fittings. Effortlessly, he swung back the huge oak door.
"Two steps forward, only two, and then right. Right?"
"I've told you before Iktar, I know my way down the corridor," protested the giant, slowly emerging from the room, "I'm not totally blind. I can see my hand in front of my face and detect light and dark. And I've walked down here lots of times. Just tell me when we get to the steps."
The tower clock struck six as Oleg tramped heavily down the long, dim corridor towards the courtyard.
"I told you we'd be late," complained the imp, "I said we would. I told you so. I knew it. Three more paces to the steps, and there are eight steps remember, eight steps."
"Oh I remember alright."
"Well you didn't last week when you tripped up and almost squashed me! Do you remember that?"
"I never forget anything, Iktar, so you've no need to keep rabbiting on. I'm sorry about last week, but that wasn't my fault you know," replied Oleg good-naturedly as he felt his way downwards, "somebody must have spilt something, and I slipped on it."
The imp ignored him. "That's the last step. Two paces forward, two paces. That's far enough. Turn right, we're going to the quarry today!"
"But we only went to the quarry last week. It's cold up there. Can't we stay down here and build walls again?"
"Not today Oleg. We've run out of stone, and we'll have to cut some more. More stone is what we need."
Under Iktar's direction, Oleg stumbled forward through the portcullis and up the dusty trail towards the mountains, turning left into the quarry after a march of about six-hundred paces.
"Halt!" screamed Iktar as they reached the quarry face. "The pick is by your right foot, and the shovel behind it. Pick up the pick and shovel."
The giant reached down, seized the pick and held it up ready to strike.
"Right a little," commanded Iktar, "a little more. Right, right, right. Stop! Yes there, Hit it there, hit it."
The giant grunted as his huge muscles swung the pick, hewing enormous pieces away from the rock wall. The imp watched carefully, directing a blow here a little higher, there lower or slightly to the left or right as the giant attacked the wall.
"There's a big boulder about two leagues above us," called the imp. "It's twice the size of you, twice the size. Put down the pick and get the hammer and spike. They're behind, and slightly to the left, behind ad to the left."
The short-sighted giant placed the pickaxe down within easy reach. His left hand went in search of the huge splitting spike and hammer. Iktar guided him to the correct spot. The giant was busy driving the spike into the rock face with the mighty hammer when the avalanche struck. The boulder came loose suddenly, causing the surrounding rock to collapse and demolish half the quarry face with it. He immediately knew that the stupid, greedy imp had caused him to overreach himself. With his excellent hearing and sensitive body, compensations for his poor sight, Oleg heard and felt the boulder shift and, without waiting for directions from Iktar, instinctively jumped out of the way, only to be knocked unconscious by the corner of a descending slab. His quick reaction saved them both, but Iktar, despite escaping with a few cuts and grazes, was nevertheless annoyed, since his charge had jumped without being told to do so.
---===oooOooo===---
"Oh noooo!" he groaned, putting a hand to the large bruise behind to his right ear, "my brain hurts! Oh my brain hurts so much!" He vaguely remembered that the lunatic, ignorant imp had almost done for them both, cursed angrily and promised himself that he would do something about it.
Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Oh noooo!" he groaned again, "even worse. Strange colours and lights, the like of which I've never seen before! Oh noooo!" He rolled over and went back to sleep.
Iktar appeared several hours later with a bowl of hot gruel. "Wake up stupid," he demanded, "wake up now. Here's some hot food for you. You need nourishment to aid your recovery, nourishment I say, wake up." He dragged the bowl to the bed, and, feeling ill at the strong smell of the vinegar, left the room through a rectangular hatch in the door base.
Oleg dozed for a while, turned over and opened his eyes. The pain wasn't so bad now. It seemed to vanish altogether when he realised he could see. Without moving his head, he rolled his eyes, looking around the room and marvelled at the beauty, the colour and the sharpness of the images before him. Hardly daring to move, since it might dispell his new found ability, he sat up carefully, ever so carefully, and gingerly surveyed his surroundings. So this was the luxurious giant's accommodation that the imp told him about so many times; this squalid tiny stone room with cobwebs in the corners, a barred window and door. He looked at the dirty water bucket in the corner, and then down at the steaming plate of vomit-like gruel. Swiftly and quietly - for his new found vision overcame his clumsiness - he sprang down and tried the door, only to discover it bolted from the outside. He climbed back onto the rough-hewn, wooden structure and straw cover that comprised his bed, and peered through the window, observing the courtyard with its heavy, iron portcullis and massive walls. Stone walls; walls he had built with his own hands. Oleg's vision was defective no more. The imp had taken advantage of him. This was no worker's luxury accommodation; it was a prison. The veil had lifted from his eyes and transfigured his entire being. By some strange quirk of fortune he could see; the gift of vision opened an entirely new dimension. Sight made him free; unconditionally free. He wondered at the squalor he had lived in, not noticing, for so many years. He thought of revenge against the imp but, despite an immediate emotional reaction of hatred, his inherent good nature forbade it. Had the imp been there at the moment of realisation, Oleg would have torn him limb from limb in anger. But he didn't bear grudges; the imp wasn't there and that was that. The giant leaned back on his bed, secure in his immense natural strength and new found vision, knowing he was a match for any individual imp, giant or imp-giant combination. The first was too small and puny, the second too short-sighted and the third insufficiently co-ordinated to do him any harm.
He heard light footsteps in the corridor and rapidly re-assumed his prostrate position on the bed, pretending to sleep. Iktar scrambled through the doorflap and approached, covering his nose with a handkerchief.
"You haven't eaten your gruel," he complained in his squeaky voice, "we can't afford to waste food you know. You have to eat your gruel. Wake up at once and get it down you. At once I say." The imp dropped the hanky and hauled himself up to pull Oleg's ear, "Come on, food, nice food for you.".
Oleg rolled over, moving deliberately and rubbing his head. For the first time in his life he observed the ugly, sharp features Iktar with unblinkered clarity. He jerked involuntarily upon looking upon the raw face of ignorance, of selfishness and greed, with its hard, tiny, malevolent eyes.
"You look strange," said the imp peering into the giant's face, "very strange indeed. That bump on your thick skull must have done more damage than I thought. Hmmm, more than I thought."
"Oh I'm not too bad," offered Oleg, feigning tiredness, "get down and I'll eat my gruel."
"Good, good. I'll be back later to see how you're getting along. Hopefully, you'll be fit for work tomorrow, fit for work, yes. A bit of a bump on the head is no reason for time off, no reason at all, not at all. I'll be back later." With that, he vanished through the hatch.
The giant laughed and ate the gruel, pretending to be half-asleep on the imp's next two visits. He sat up on the third visit, and declared he would be fit for work the following day.
---===oooOooo===---
"Good morning Iktar. And what shall we do today?"
"More quarry work Oleg I'm afraid, more quarry work. We need more stone to complete the castle extension, yes to complete it. Lean forward so I can get onto your back."
The giant did as asked and, as the imp scuttled up on the mattress, suddenly seized him in his huge hand, holding him at eye level. The imp almost jumped out of his skin, and wriggled wildly trying to break free. Oleg could feel his captive's tiny heart racing.
"Don't play silly games now Oleg," stuttered the imp nervously, "no silly games. Put me on your shoulder like a good chap, and we can get out into the fresh air and cut some stone. Remember how you like fresh air."
"Oh I think not, Iktar. Today I intend to build myself a castle. Over there, on the far side of the river looks like a good place to me. Would you like to help me with the surveying my little friend?"
"You'll never manage to build a castle on your own Oleg. Never manage at all. Besides, there are no materials and you live here with me in luxury, live in real luxury, so why leave?"
"I can see Iktar." Oleg grinned, and drew the struggling imp closer to his face, "I can see!"
"Impossible. Giants were never made to see. Giants were made to follow the orders of their betters - like me - not to see! Put me down at once! Do you hear! Put me down!"
"You aren't listening Iktar. I said I can see, see! Do you understand? I can see you, and I can see what you've been up to all these years, getting me to live in a prison of my own making. I can see the reality of this so-called luxury you have provided for me, whilst you have the rest of the castle for yourself. I could crush you like a gnat right now my little friend. What do you think about that? Have you got anything to say for yourself?"
Iktar struggled and squealed. Several times he tried to speak, but the words were garbled and he stuttered incomprehensibly. Oleg felt the imp's heartbeat getting even faster, and whispered softly down his ear.
"Don't be frightened little imp, I forgive you. I'm a kindly giant, remember, kindly and I like my sleep? I forgive you." Gently, he placed the unfortunate imp on the floor and released him.
Iktar felt terrified. As he looked up at the grinning giant, his hair stood on end, and his tiny, bony knees shook and visibly knocked together making a sound like a woodpecker tapping on a tree. Finally, he turned tail and scampered through the flap.
"I'll show you, you stupid, stupid giant. I'll starve you into submission!" he cried from outside the cell. "Do you hear! Starve you! I'm in charge here. You are nothing but an ignorant, blind labourer. When you are prepared to obey, I'll let you out and not before, never, never, never, never!"
The whole castle shook as Oleg laughed. Deliberately, he strode across the cell and with his bare hands wrenched the door from its hinges, crushed it into match-wood and tossed it into the corner.
"Obey, bowbey, scowby, nobey, nobey. Ha! Not any more my nasty little friend. I'm going to build a castle across the river, Iktar," he roared, his voice echoing around the courtyard. "I forgive you, but even though I forgive you, I intend having the benefit of my toil for myself. You did a little bit of work as well, so I'll repay you, fairly and in full. I'll give you a proper room, not a squalid cell like you gave me." He strolled down the corridor into the courtyard and laughed again. "If you would like somewhere to live when the winter comes, maybe you will help me to survey the new site? It will be a cold winter this year. It will be even colder for you if you don't help, because you won't have anywhere to live. It was I who cut all this stone with my own hands. It was I who sweated and suffered carrying it down from the quarry. It was I who strained and struggled to construct these walls. It's all mine Iktar, rightfully mine, and I intend to have it."
The giant deftly climbed to the top of the castle battlements, ripped a huge block off the wall and hurled it across the river where it landed with a great thump. Then another, and another.
"I forgive you Iktar," he laughed. "I forgive you. If you can forgive yourself, you'd better come out now, before this prison you had me build collapses around your pointy little head, and becomes your tomb!"
Tears ran down his face as he worked, tears of laughter and joy.
"And I'll tell you another thing. Every single thing I do from this day forth, everything, as well as being for me, will be for the benefit of something else that lives on this world. You've taught me a lesson Iktar, one I'll never forget.
I know what bondage is now.
Your gift to me, brought about by your selfishness and ignorance, was slavery. I know what it's like, and knowing so will never, ever use or subjugate another living being, ever; you have taught me compassion.
Now that I'm free, I'm going to build a magnificent bird house in my castle and give the birds food in the winter. They sing for me and bring me seeds, so I'll repay them. Likewise, the plants feed me, and I am in their debt. So I'm going to tend them, help them grow. I'll even put a mirror on my roof to shine back light at the sun. He gives me light, warmth and life and asks nothing in return. I can't do much for him except say thank you, and I will.
Even you, you guided my steps when I was blind Iktar; and taught me about servitude. For that, I am forever in your debt, and I thank you. You can live with me for ever more if you wish, for you and I are brothers, born of the same flesh and of one mind: our rightful inheritance is to live as one in joyful harmony - as it is for all creation, all of which moves cyclically in alternating peroids of activity and blissful rest and recuperation. But first you must mend you ways a little - that's all it takes, just a little, drop some of your silly habits - like jabbering on to yourself and everyone else all the time, like trying to control things instead of letting nature do as it will, and then we will all live happily ever after for I am the ocean on which you and all others exist.
Hear, and hear well, for this lesson is for you;; go to sleep now and wake up refreshed and new.
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