[ot] Karlbook [coercion]: Opening Our Minds by Jon Atack

[Undescribed Horrific Abuse, One Victim & Survivor of Many]

opening our minds

avoiding abusive relationships and authoritarian groups

by jon atack



4th Edition
Originally published as _Opening Minds: the secret world of
manipulation, undue influence and brainwashing_

This book is dedicated to the memory of Bobby Yang, who was a daily
source of good cheer throughout his short life.



Praise for this book:


"_Opening Our Minds_ shines a laser beam into every key bit of
research on manipulating the human mind and surgically extracts the
kernel in each. This has created a book of immense breadth and depth
without the lumbering weight of an academic tome. Instead, we have an
almost breathless, short yet comprehensive review of what we know
about manipulating human minds and the educational vaccinations
against these processes. If there were a required reading list for
maintaining one's critical thinking in the over-information age,
_Opening Our Minds_ would be at the top. Parents should make this book
the first present to your children graduating middle-school, high
school or college, and then bring it to your book club to discuss how
to integrate it in your own life. It will be the liveliest discussion
you have all year and very possibly the most worthwhile!"
~ *Ira Chaleff*, author _Courageous Followership,_ and _Intelligent
Disobedience._ Visiting Leadership Scholar, Moller Institute,
Churchill College, Cambridge University. Chairman Emeritus of The
Congressional Management Foundatoin, Washington, DC, and member of the
Board of Directors of the International Leadership Association 2012 -
2017.


"Jon Atack's book _Opening Our Minds_ is exactly what I expected: an
interesting, important and incredibly helpful book. The work perfectly
illustrates Jon's brilliance, learning, wisdom and compassion."
~ *James A. Beverley*, Research Professor, Tyndale University,
Toronto, Ontario. Associate Director, Institute for the Study of
American Religion, Woodway, Texas


"In the years I have sought to undo the abuses of extremist
authoritarian sects and other controlling relationships, I have been
one of many voices asking, "Isn't there anything we can do to prevent
all this harm in the first place?" For a number of reasons, answering
that question always proved harder than asking it. As more years have
passed the techniques of propaganda, destructive manipulation, and
predatory influence, once most often associated with totalist sects,
now have penetrated into all areas of life.

"In this edition of his book _Opening Our Minds_, Jon Atack gives us
clear insights and precision tools for protecting ourselves and our
society from these exploitative techniques. He does this not merely by
describing the current landscape of coercion, control, and harm, but
by exposing the underlying principles by which our minds are
vulnerable. In doing this, Jon also shows us how to equip ourselves to
recognize and resist manipulation in all its disguises.

"This book has been on my "must-read" booklist for members,
ex-members, and their families since it was first published under the
title, _Opening Minds._ This new edition will remain there." ~
*Christian Szurko*, DialogCentre UK

"Opening Minds" by Jon Atack is an excellent guide for those people
who want to understand what cultic mind control is, how it functions,
and how not to become a victim of it. The book is clear, witty and
deep at the same time. The author shows incredible erudition in many
areas and possesses a rare gift of explaining difficult matters in a
very simple and understandable way. I especially want to commend the
language - concise and elegant. Bravo, Jon!" ~ *Professor Alexander
Dvorkin*


"Jon Atack's book is an important wake-up call for us all. I work with
people who have survived authoritarian groups and strongly recommend
it to all survivors of human predators, and to their loved ones and
the counselors who support them.

"Jon not only explains how human predators operate and why they are so
successful, he also shows why we are all vulnerable to persuasion and
trickery. It is important to know that acknowledging this makes us
less vulnerable and increases our ability to help others who have been
victimized.

"Jon is a truly gifted writer and has made this complex subject
accessible to those who need it the most." ~ *Frances Peters*,
counselor and cult expert.


"Jon has written a classic. He uses story-telling effectively to bring
the book to life. _Opening Our Minds_ orients the reader and provides
an understandable framework for how our minds work, and how
intelligent and functional people can become victims of undue
influence.

"It will help you understand unethical influence in a wide variety of
contexts including cults, parental alienation, terrorist recruitment,
and more. Consider buying copies to donate to your local library,
mental health professionals, politicians, and educators.

"Hopefully, this book will be translated in all languages and it will
serve as a foundation to create global awareness about how humans can
be deceived, manipulated, and enslaved so we can protect human rights
everywhere." ~ *Steven Hassan*, PhD, director of Freedom of Mind and
author of _Combating Cult Mind Control_.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

before we begin

introduction by Alan Scheflin

1 the web of influence

2 recruitment and seduction: the way to unhappiness

3  belonging

4 cults in our mist

5 manufacturing fanatics

6 belonging and susceptibility to coercive control

7 groupthink

8 coercive control at work

9 the mind's "I": conscious and identity

10 the imitation game: from copying to compliance

11 life is a pitch (and then you buy)

12 coercive control: the science and the law

13 the evidence for coercive control

14 from child abuse to college hazing

15 the human predator

16 understanding the past to find the way forward

17 bringing the living back to life: from groupthink to courageous followership

appendix A

appendix B

appendic C

afterword

acknowledgements

about the author

references [i will be splitting references and including them at the
bottom of each email.]



# before we begin


Human predators roam among us. Although there aren't many of them,
they have a tremendous influence. To them, the rest of us are prey.
Predators manipulate their prey using well-tried tricks. Once you know
these tricks, it is much easier to avoid them or to stop them in their
tracks.

Every bad relationship, every destructive group, every dangerous
government has a human predator at its heart.

Predators rely upon persuasion. In honest persuasion, we have access
to all of the facts - and different opinions about those facts - and
enough time and privacy to consider these facts and opinions.

But then there is the type of persuasion used by predators, which is
simply manipulation. To manipulate means to manage or influence
skillfully, especially in an unfair manner.[1] Facts are hidden or
distorted, and we are rushed into decisions that take away our own
authority and harm our interests.

Predators cause upset, conflict, corruption and devastation. By seeing
through their methods, we can take power away from human predators and
have a much greater chance to overcome the problems they cause in our
personal and group relationships.

Here is a quick description of the human predator:

Human predators:
- are mean.
- are utterly selfish.
- pretend friendship and love but feel absolutely nothing for others.
- are charming and good at flattery, but don't mean a single word of it.
- brag and boast and make up outrageous lies. When challenged, they
blame others.
- don't feel anxiety or fear - or are deeply anxious and cowardly.
- are impulsive and easily bored. They demand thrills and take
dangerous risks. They enjoy pushing others into taking dangerous
risks, too.
- are bullies with explosive tempers.
- are cunning and manipulative.
- enjoy humiliating people.
- weaken people with insults and putdowns.
- hate it if anyone else has power or is praised. For the predator,
life is a competition and they want to WIN.
- lie easily and think nothing of breaking a promise.
- are without conscience: they do not feel remorse or guilt.
- often boast about the harm they've done other people.
- are parasites and lazy, living off others, giving as little as
possible in return.
- are control freaks, stopping others from taking control of anything
if they can.
- force petty rules on others - rules that are impossible to follow.
- boast about tricking other people and breaking the law.

This book will show you how to deal with predators and how to make
society safe from their tricks and traps.



# introduction


The most precious and personal part of every person is her or her own
mind. No one else ever sees it, or knows exactly what it is thinking
or feeling. It is our most sacred possession because it houses our
innermost identity. It defines for us precisely who we are, and who we
are not. We can hide the truth from others, but not from ourselves. Or
so we think.

But our mind, like our body, needs nourishment. Other people feed our
mind with thoughts, suggestions, comments and ideas. We choose which
ones to accept and which ones to reject. And we feel confident that we
are good at doing so. But are we?

To be good at protecting our minds we must be familiar with the
tactics and strategies that may be used by others to outmaneuver our
natural protections and defenses. You can see a punch coming, but not
a carefully crafted lie or a manipulation strategy, unless you are
trained to look.

The greatest threat to the autonomy of our mind is from people who
seek to influence it for their own best interests, but present
themselves as our friends and helpers. Every one of us has great
confidence in our ability to protect ourselves from other people
acting in ways that would harm our own best interests. We have faith
that we have a strong mind, have good "crap detectors" and are not
easily influenced. I call this "The Myth of the Unmalleable Mind." As
kids are fond of saying, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but
words can never hurt me." But they can.

For the last 60 years I have studied how people can be fooled,
seduced, altered and injured by con artists with exquisite expertise
in mental manipulation. I have journeyed through Soviet, Chinese,
Korean and American government programs to mentally enslave citizens
and enemies, and private cultic groups around the world that have
millions of devout follows. I have studied the tactics of advertisers
and marketing specialists, the techniques of police interrogators, the
dark literature of the antisocial uses of hypnosis, and the exquisite
artistry of rhetoric and persuasion.

During this journey I encoutered Jon Atack and found a fellow
traveler, and a friend. My journey has been as a research scholar;
Jon's journey began by being a victim. After he freed himself from the
clutches of a cultic group, he chose to make saving others his life's
work. There are very few "warriors of the mind." Jon is one of the
best.

In this book, Jon has written a handbook for mental integrity. A
botanist studies what insects and pests can harm plants and flowers.
Jon has provided us with a handbook for protecting the mind from often
invisible forces seeking surreptitiously to undermine freedom of
thought.

One of the fastest growing areas of law is the expansion of protection
for victims of mental assault. British and American law for over 500
years has recognized that it is a violation to act towards another
person with undue influence. The cases, however, usually involved
older people conned out of their life savings by dishonest caretakers.
These cases involve _financial_ harm. Within the last twenty years,
however, courts and legislatures have recognized that undue influence
can also include _mental_ harm. New laws now widen the protections
available for people injured by mind manipulators. The need for such
laws demonstrates how serious the problem has become.

Lord Thomas Robert Dewar once observed that "minds are like
parachutes; they only function when open." This book is a manual for
keeping your mind open. If you want to make your body strong, go to a
gym. If you want to make your mind stronger, pay close attention to
what this book tells you. Not only will you learn how to spot and
avoid threats to your mental integrity, you will also have the
pleasure of reading a very fine book.


~Alan Scheflin, professor emeritus of law


Alan Scheflin holds a BA in philosophy (with high honors), a JD in law
(with honors), an LLM in law, and an MA in counseling psychology. He
is the co-author of _The Mind Manipulators_ (1978) and _Trance on
Trial_ (1989) and many others. He has also published over 70 articles,
and is the recipient of 18 awards from various professional
organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, the
American Psychological Association, and the American Society of
Clinical Hypnosis. He has been a consultant in, or appeared as an
expert witness in, dozens of legal cases.

# references

1: Dictionary.com