is that as absurd a question as it sounds?!

i took the forum last fall, and am currently in a seminar. i'm getting quite a bit out of my education (indoctrination?), but remain what i consider to be healthfully skeptical. generally, my life is the same; i.e., i'm not incessantly doing landmark-ish stuff, pressuring people to come to an introduction, or blowing off non-landmark friends. no one's remarked, "you're different, in a peculiar way."

is it possible to keep this in perspective? what are the signs i'm going too far?

Your post is no more absurd than any of the others from Landmark "believers" who come here with the same old line: "I've taken what I need from Landmark and discarded the rest! I'm not brainwashed!"

Of course, it's absurd that Landmark would come up with such a cockamamie sales pitch to begin with, and even more absurd that you would post here and give it yet another try.

thanks for your feedback, glam, but my questions remain.

is it possible to "get" the various landmarks messages, assimilate them into what i already know, and still remain myself?

maidynfall:

I don't think your question is absurd at all! Sounds like an honest & healthy self reflection to me.

Those of us who've been exposed to thought reform methods had to ask ourselves those very questions ---- MANY times over!

From what I've read, every human has a point at which the thought reform/ brainwashing sinks in. That 'set point' is different for each of us. Some are taken right away, after a one day or three day programmatic situation. Others 'break' after 7 days or 10 days.

The problem is, when 'it' seeps in, you don't realize it. It is insidious.
So, cannot identify it at the time. That is why this could be a scarey-psycho world; and potentially destructive.

Like any of 'these groups', Landmark takes some basicly useful self-help analysis information - which a person could easily learn on their own with a book or three for much less money - and puts their hype & excitement into a group bonding / inspirational package.

No different than cocaine - some are instant addicts w/ their first hit, some take many repititions until the addiction hits. With multiple reinforcement, it is rare NOT to become addicted.

Good Luck!

I had the same questions after doing the Forum, however, my naturopath had been using LEC "Technology" for over a year with me. I look back and at another Forum I posted in and saw how nasty I had become, no tolerance for anyone's weaknesses. That could very well have been the effects of the doctor being a classic sociopath, but it also was A LOT of Formu thinking. It took a long time to realize that I'd absorbed some of the technology and didn't realize it, and I was very skeptical during the Forum.

I would welcome the comments of a professional psychiatrist. What follows is merely an opinion from a non-professional, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while.

Actually, this “brainwashed” state of mind reminds me of a “psychotic” state. I have a family member who is psychotic and she suffers from serious delusions for which she has been hospitalized many times. I have read a lot about psychosis and I had a lot of discussions with her psychiatrist and other medical team members.

The point is that a psychotic patient does not realize he is psychotic. He cannot. This situation is actually caused by his disorder, which loops the loop and the patient cannot escape his delusion.

For example, when I ask that psychotic person why she is in the hospital, she says “because I am sick”. When I ask: “what kind of medication do you take?” she says: “antipsychotic drugs”. When I ask her “why?” she says “because it makes me feel better”. When I ask her “do you know what a psychosis is?” she says “yes, it’s when you have delusions and loose contact with the reality”. Finally, when I ask “do you realize the stories you make are delusional and this is why you are here (in the hospital)?” she says “No, everything I say is true, but nobody believes me”!!! Finally, she has this brilliant line which goes “SEE! The fact that the medication is not effective on me proves that I’m not sick, otherwise the medication would cure me”!!!

This closed system of logic is obviously flawed, but for her it makes perfect sense and she doesn’t realize she is psychotic. I see the same type of flawed logic in people that have been trained/manipulated/brainwashed by LGATs like Landmark Education. Maybe this is why this type of training can lead to psychosis for some people.


Mike D.

the long answer to your question is*NO* .

To recognise that you have been brainwashed is almost a paradox. Once you are brainwashed you can not generally recognise that you have been - that is the point of brainwashing.

The thing with Landmark is that the "brainwashing" doesn't seem to occur but if you (for example) find your self making "choices" with out really looking at the consequences or if you don't think twice about the way a person is "coached" by a leader, then perhaps you have already assimilated the information and are "brainwashed"

Having now been "out" of landmark for over a year, its interesting to see what thoughts and processes i had that were affected by Landmark but I would have sworn that they weren't

the short answer to your question is *NO* .

Brainwashing is a meaningless abstraction in language.