TCAHR - Better Living Through Memetics

Issue 9
Programming Your Humans                             12/03/00
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This piece deals with concepts used in Neuro-linguistic
Programming (NLP).  I'm putting it out there right off at
the start.  There's a lot of skeptics out there when it
comes to NLP.  That's all right, a closed mind is welcome as
long as you read till the end.  All will be revealed then.

Input datability - I take a word with bad connotations, such
     as "famine".  I then take another word with good
     connotations, such as "love", and combine the two into
     one term, "love famine".  The theory is that the this
     puts the mind into a confused state, or which Milton
     Erickson named an open state.  It is in this open state
     in which a hypnotic command or suggestion is given.

Presuppositions - A question is posed in which to comprehend
     the question and answer it, other preplanned premises
     have to be accepted.  Continuing with our previous
     example:

          Don't you want to enjoy the freedom and clarity of
          mind that comes with accepting a love famine?

Ericksonian double disassociation - The bracketing of one
     story or image inside another.  Supposedly this
     technique makes the second (or bracketed) story or
     image much more favorably received by the target.  In
     our example:

          I used to depressed all the time.  Sex became
          meaningless to me and my wife.  Afterwards, we
          would just lay there miserable.  One night, my wife
          told me about an article on "love famine".

          In the article, we learned about Dr. Farmsworth's
          techniques of abstinence with love.  After learning
          how...

Verbal pacing - In this technique, I state aloud my
     experiences in objective terms which are verifiable to
     the senses.  Verbal descriptions of ongoing sensory
     experiences will, according to NLP, cause a feedback
     which can be used to induce altered stated.  This is
     used in hypnotism by making several statements which
     are true to those intended to be true.  If Dr.
     Farmsworth was giving a seminar:

          As I look upon this large crowd on this bright
          sunny day, I feel the pain with which all of you
          have felt all your lives.
    
          As you sit in those cushy blue chair, I want you
          all to think on what love famine can do for you.

Now it's time for the part when all is revealed.  Whether
you believe in NLP or not, think back on the past
presidential election and try to remember how many times
you've seen these techniques used in speeches by the
candidates.

Some people in power certainly seem to endorse NLP.
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tcahr@hotmail.com                             Copyright 2000