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Do you think that cults deliberately prod their members to engage in embarrassing, socially unacceptable behaviors (like the wild and ridiculous fist-pumping song leading of NSA YMD, or the dressing-all-the-children in matching uniforms of Quiverfull, or the FLDS dresses (see below)) because doing those things not only ostracizes them from society (and makes them more dependent upon the cult for social support) but also requires a deliberate choice to go with the cult, no matter what, instead of seeing themselves as part of society as a whole?
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Experiments
There are two famous experiments that show cognitive dissonance in action.
In the first, students were asked individually to perform a futile repetitious task for several hours. Upon finishing, each student was asked to explain their task to the next "student" (who was actually one of the researchers). They were instructed to introduce the task in positive terms; that it was fun, interesting, and exciting.
One group of students was paid $1 to extol the virtues of the job
Another group was paid $20
A third group was not asked to talk to anyone for any price.
Afterward, all the students were asked to evaluate the experiment on how enjoyable it was (for them).
Those who were paid $1 to "market" the task said they enjoyed it much more than those who had been paid $20 or who had not been asked to talk to anyone.
There are three cognitions interacting in this experiment:
1) The enjoyability of the task
2) The behavior of talking to another student about the task
3) Justification through money.
Nearly everyone hated the task while performing it. **Those who were not asked to lie to other students reflected this feeling on the follow-up survey**. (** by Corboy)
Similarly, the $20 group also stated they did not enjoy themselves. They could justify the act of lying -- they were getting paid. Selling out is good enough justification to tell a white lie for the sake of research, right?
However, those who were paid $1 were in a bit of a bind. They had just lied for practically nothing. (Corboy italics)For them, the path of least resistance involved a slight modification to their cognition -- to convince themselves they did indeed enjoy the task.
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"When I first started traveling with Amma, I thought it would be, like, six months," a young woman tells me on my second day at the ashram. "That was six years ago." Indeed, I spend three days at the site, a sleepdeprived blur during which time takes on malleable properties.
While waiting for my own hug, I wash dishes and serve food, something all attendees are encouraged to do in order to understand the value of putting others before yourself.
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A zeitgeber is an external cue which influences the operations of the internal clock in an organism. The classical example of a zeitgeber is light, which leads some organisms to wake up, while others go to sleep. An interruption in such cues can confuse an organism, potentially causing health problems and functional difficulties, as demonstrated in numerous studies.
The term was coined in 1954 by Jürgen Aschoff, a German biologist who studied circadian rhythms. In German, “zeitgeber” means “time giver,” so in a sense, you could consider a zeitgeber to be like a natural alarm clock, triggering some sort of change in an organism's internal clock, like a cue to wake up, eat, or engage in various activities.
Light is such a powerful zeitgeber that numerous studies have been carried out on the influences of light over the lives of various organisms. Deprivation of light clearly has an influence on health, as does an excess of light, and many people struggle when they travel across time zones because they receive external cues to wake up or go to sleep at times which feel strange to the body.
Other natural and unnatural phenomena can act as zeitgebers. Many social interactions, for example, can provide cues to the internal clock, as can eating, drinking, using various medications, and taking drugs. In some instances, the body learns to respond to particular events, following patterns established in the past, and in other cases, the body can be tricked into responding, as is sometimes done with prescription medications.
In many cases, a zeitgeber is a naturally occurring cue, and it is part of a complex series of cues used to establish natural rhythms for an organism. For example, people who live with chickens often use roosters as a cue to get up, naturally rising earlier or later in the day throughout the year as roosters crow at different times, depending on when the sunrise is. Roosters actually crow before the sunrise, typically, which may come as a surprise to some people, and the birds have an uncanny ability to recognize the time of sunrise, tending to be very reliable clocks.
Because the internal clock relies on zeitgebers to set itself, a lack of such cues can be very disorienting, which explains why people have trouble sleeping in strange places, or experience a disruption of appetite or personality while traveling. Many such cues are so subtle that people don't realize how influential they are until they are gone
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corboy
Zeitgeber
---in SGI, especially long term, one may have learned to measure time differently than in the outside world. One measures time according to devotions, assigned SGI tasks, the SGI events and meetings, the big SGI rallies. This can be a 'wrap around world' with its own way of meauring time.
To leave SGI is to leave that and feel oneself like an alien in another culture?
Don't forget the August Shakubuku Campaigns!! They've no doubt taken away the capital letters, but there's still that emphasis - "August has always been the month of shakubuku campaigns" O_OQuote
I'm sure there is even more I'm forgetting.
This sounds like the FNCC, Trets retreats, SGI sponsored trips to Japan, etc to a tee doesn't it? It also explains what has been mentioned as ridiculous hours or travel to WPG and other mass events.Quote
corboyQuote
"When I first started traveling with Amma, I thought it would be, like, six months," a young woman tells me on my second day at the ashram. "That was six years ago." Indeed, I spend three days at the site, a sleepdeprived blur during which time takes on malleable properties.
While waiting for my own hug, I wash dishes and serve food, something all attendees are encouraged to do in order to understand the value of putting others before yourself.
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Hitch
there was always at least that thread keeping them "connected", or as Corboy has shared, that last vestige of gakkai cult zeitgeber, never completely letting some people get away.
- Hitch
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rattyboy
Was it a couple of years ago that they made a celebration out of the anniversary of Ikeda's visit to Harvard University to give a speech? 20th year since? Ikeda + speech in front of people + world peace as subject + Prestigious Harvard....it looks good and typical show of Gakkai 'greatness'. Small rented room + Ikeda not actually invited by Harvard University + not many Buddhist scholars present + members of cult not invited + so what?
Its like the usual - A few seconds of movie film at an airport, waving from a limo, camera flashes set to maximum speed by hired 'reporters' probably not even taking pictures. Such pomp and circumstance.
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TaitenAndProudDon't forget the August Shakubuku Campaigns!! They've no doubt taken away the capital letters, but there's still that emphasis - "August has always been the month of shakubuku campaigns" O_OQuote
I'm sure there is even more I'm forgetting.
And in February, there will be the Women's Division General Meetings, and, of course, there will need to be several planning meetings for that. The push for that typically starts in early January. Plus there's a gosho study every month, too.
And how could you forget New Year's Gongyo?????
Just a few >.<
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Spartacus
To those who are considering leaving, or have already left the SGcult, bewarned. They may not come after you as hard as they came after me. But rest assured, they will come after you. Sooner or later. Again and again. Resist! Rebel! Fight for your life! Your doubts and misgivings are justified. Don't let them fool you AGAIN! They want you and they want your money! Don't give in! KEEP THAT DOOR CLOSED!!!
Spartacus