On resisting social influence

Susan Andersen and Philip Zinibardo

Stanford University

http:// documents.theblackvault.com/documents/mindcontrol/ADA075694.pdf

https:// www.pdf-archive.com/2018/03/15/ada075694-resisting-social-influence/

Abstract (copy/pasta from pdf)

Resisting social influences becomes important when such influences can be appropriately thought of as "mind control." When information is systematically hidden, withheld or distorted it is impossible to make unbiased decisions. Under these circumstances, people may be subtly led to believe they are "freely" choosing to act. It is precisely this kind of decision that persists and most affects our behavior since we come to believe in those attitudes and actions for which we have generated our own justifications. The thesis of this essay is that "mind control" exists not in exotic gimmicks, but rather in the most mundane aspects of experience. Because it does, it is possible to reduce our susceptibility to unwanted coercive control by increasing our vigilance and by learning how to utilize particular basic strategies of analysis. We present a series of troublesome situations followed by strategies of resistance which are broadly applicable to the wide array of mind-manipulation attempts that surround us daily. Our sources have included surveys of relevant social-psychological research, as well as interviews and personal experiences with con men, cultists, super-salesmen and other perpetrators of mind control. Pragmatic advice is blended with a conceptual analysis of the basic issues on wnich vulnerability to persuasion rests–in the hope that individuals who find they must make decisions on the basis of contrived communications will be bettpr abte to transtorm them into thoughtful, meaningful choices.