[ot][personal] cult reading notes

[Undiscussed Groomed for Male Slavery, One Victim of Many]

ch4

- author says biofeedback is one of many systems used to encourage
autonomy rather than undermining it

- the people who changed their personalities to run and support
concentration camps were exposed to three psychological things:
_behavior modification_ (consistent social relations that alter
people's behavior without their awareness), , _group conformity_ (how
individuals respond to patterns in groups), and _obedience to
authority_ (behavior changes when one is directed by an authority or
trusted figure)

- to me it seems giving people a ridiculous thing to believe, then
showing it is false but asking their belief to stay, is a way of
testing their dedication and manipulability

- when i described my experiences of being manipulated last decade, i
would always get negative social feedback and no reply. whether
natural or influenced, this is patent behavior modification.

- i have definitely experienced mind control, and it is very hard for
me to think about. i should call these people and ask them for advice.

- "if you control the information  someone receives, you restrict his
ability to think for himself"

- mind control theory stems from a theory called "cognitive dissonance theory".

- four components of mind control: control of Behavior, control of
Information, control of Thoughts, control of Emotions

- cognitive dissonance happens when people experience contradictions.
people shift their actual behavior, thoughts, and emotions, so as to
reduce the dissonance when it is too extreme. my personal experience
is that this relates to limits of emotional memory. i guess it is then
somewhat sensical that i experience severe memory issues. i have fear
here and something missing.

- cognitive dissonance theory says people need to maintain order and
meaning in their life, and to think they are acting according to their
values and self-image; so these things shift to sustain this. i would
describe this as dissociative trauma. it is painful to be somebody
other than yourself.

- this is really intense

- a key takeaway from BITE is that only _one_ element of behavior,
information, thoughts, or emotions needs to be controlled, to
influence the other 3 and establish mind control

- behavior control is generally asserted by limiting people's access,
occupying their time, and/or establishing norms, notably of reduced
decision making. people are generally in controlled groups and may
experience reward/punishment via hierarchy, which they may believe
they enjoy. ritual behaviors bind things together.

- "social proof" is similar to but different from my internal "proof"
label that my parts used to work with thoughts [... whether ,,, based
on real experiences]

- mentions the requirement of positive affect

- information control: "deception is the biggest tool"; "essential".
later, behavior control gives a ton of information control. spying
hierarchically as a norm is performed. [hierarchical spying].
cult-specific information sources are produced. people are kept
separate from others with disparate information, especially outside
the group. [phone call screening]. local news about relevant cult
activities are kept filtered. more "inner" differing information is
revealed as superiors deem people ready.

- members often believe they are experts on their group, but generally
are the least in the know

- daydreaming about finding therapy. maybe i could ask them to give a
free training to sascha, and also hunt down a female therapist etc to
resist information control across gender lines

- the experience of believing controversial information and thinking
both are "true" without issue is one i share; this is where cultists
land when they learn "inner" information. for me the "truth" lets me
speak to others honestly. amnesia now harming my further perceptions,
sad. what i wrote might have been wrong. my experience was different
from the one in the book.

- ::: this section describes BITE from a place of physical cults. i
did not enter a physical cult that i am aware of. i had these things
through the less physical channels, such as "gang-stalking"/exposure
to other influenced people, heavy behavior modification online,
behavior of authority figures, communication channels, and technology,
and [experiential cognitive dissonance], ...

- thought control is engaged via indoctrination and an all-answering
doctrine, cult-specific loaded languages of explanation and discourse,
and thought-stopping techniques

- rather than a cult-specific truth, although i saw some of this, i
think it seemed i was mostly exposed to a denial of there being truth
at all, which increases the dissonance. it definitely seemed like
there were multiple systems going on simultaneously.

- totalistic cult language "condenses complex situations, labels them,
and reduces them to cult cliches" sound familiar? author says the
label governs how members think. i've seen this for influence on
non-members of course and my analysis has been around how the
establishment and implicit use of assumptions engages our
conversational and cognitive habits. when somebody assumes rather than
debate, there is more dissonance -- more emotional memory required to
engage without shifting -- in the responder.

- thinking some on the authors description of 'cain abel' problems and
whether a term is used to stop thinking around a situation, or to
express an opinion, one's actual thoughts, around it. thinking that
because the cain-abel label applied to all hierarchically vertical
disputes, it became thought-stopping; but i guess it seems more the
lack of clarity in the meaning of the words makes it this way, too,
when a more clear label could be used to simply state the speaker's
opinion that the person on the lower hierarchy must obey the person on
the higher. remembering that words are how they are used. i think i'm
wanting here to defend phrases used in communities with shared
beliefs, when those aren't harmful. hard to think about. maybe a
reasonable question is: does the phrase open the dialog towards more
respectful and deeper considering, or does it close the dialog and
push a specific action? this is probably easier for others to think
about than for me.

- loaded, cliche-filled languages also put up an information wall
between the indoctrinated and the public, and possibly provide a
confusion-driven path to guide newcomers through

- loaded language helps them learn how _not_ to think or understand
... 'They learn that "understanding" means accepting and believing".
remembering my consternation at the concept of understanding being
bad. my subconsciousness physically hurt me, contracting my face to
the point of intense pain against my will, to discourage any concepts
of understanding, in that way i spent a year or more navigating.

- learning of habits to retain the new thoughts and push out old or
outside thoughts

- describes layers of thought boundaries; denial, rationalization,
justification, and wishful thinking

- calling things out as fake news and conspiracies to keep members
within information bounds. techniques like this result in criticism of
the group strengthening dedication of members.

- distracting behaviors/rituals learned to quickly engage to manage
thought bounds. this can confuse me, as i have a habit of distraction
i engage to manage my amnesia issues and such, but i also have the
automatic self-distracting behavior triggers he describes, sometimes
aware i am distracting myself, sometimes not.

- "After leaving a cult that employs extensive thought-stopping
techniques, a person normally goes through a difficult withdrawal
process before they can overcome the addiction."

- thought-stopping is very effective, and can effectively produce
feeling control and slavery

- these things definitely do not describe all my experiences. noticing
how i respond to digital imagery flickers / unexpected UI
inconsistencies very intensely.

- emotional control: "guilt and fear figure mightily. however, most
members cannot see". "they are both essential tools". i had huge
projected guilt and fear, intensely obsessive. fear is used to prevent
unwanted behaviors. author describes cult defining feelings based on
behaviors etc desired to respond to them. i think i was exposed to
this but was cut off when i rejected it. says happiness is the
behaviors the cult desires, i think. strong value around loyalty and
devotion, negative emotions only toward outsiders. criticize only the
self.
- first exposure to this section gives a lot of memories of exposure
to facebook and community influence patterns before things went [to
hell].
- cult definition of sexuality somewhat in this section [it seemed to
me love was redefined as sex and marriage, removing caringness. very
harsh. very strange to think of somebody as married to] [thinking of
intense dissonance of behaviors being cast in terms of cult-like
belief systems during possible behavior modification. quite similar to
assumption dissonance.]
- dependency and helplessness from randomness of reward and punishment
[recall learning of pavlovian response being stronger when reward is
random, while experiencing this, possibly roughlyish]

- snippet from a daydream: "i don't think that any group you trust is
a cult. i think we've both been exposed to mind control similar to
that used in cults, by the people we _don't_ trust, not the people we
do." [of course reality is important if it differs !]

- entrapment: "anything you say can _and will_ be used against you.
This device can even extend to blackmail, if you leave the cult."
associated with fear of speaking out

- strong fears around leaving built via both overt and covert horror
stories. e.g. insanity. cults say members are free to leave, but
prevent members from doing this via behavior, thought, information,
and emotion control.

- note: my experiences are not what a deprogrammer would expect. i
need therapy for mind control, and my experiences are not what a
deprogrammer would expect.

- strongest minded individuals tend to get most involved and
enthusiastic. similar to my experience regarding mind controlling
challenges. [inhibition may relate to lack of clarity]

- no one cult does _all_ the BITE approaches; meanwhile there are more
that are not listed.

- some phobia indoctrinations are extremely subtle

- this looks like a mistake to me: "What matters most is the overall
impact on the individual. Are they truly in control of their life
choices? The only way to tell is to give them the opportunity to
reflect, to gain free access to all information and to know that they
are free to leave the group if they choose." This doesn't seem to
address the BITE influences causing mind control, which seem
specifically there to prevent those 3 thing. Maybe explained later.

- the next section is getting too triggery for me.
unfreezing/changing/refreezing is how my memories and behaviors
change. i very strongly dislike this, and have found no way to talk
about and manage it. this is a weekend and the people are not open.
holy frack.

- i strongly dislike this model. i think we very much need to prevent
it. that is my opinion.

- i am sad i dropped this. they said i could have a free session if i
read the book and took the course. i am presently planning to find a
referral to somebody with more availability. I ALSO KNOW AN EXISTING
HYPNOTHERAPIST. after reading this much I should be able to work with
him, or any hypnotherapist, much better.