I think my point was that otherwise clear headed, good intentioned people may be more easily duped than they believe they can, especially if they never have had to interact with a sociopathic person or organization. The kids I saw were a heck of a lot more immune to this because they had to protect themselves against it from an early age. They knew the little signs, the minimal cues, the tells th
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

again, from my experience, it isn't nearly so simple as being an unwitting pawn versus a fully autonomous being. Both are simplisitc caricatures that understate the complex nature of human interaction. Paradoxically, some of the easiest people to dupe are those who have had the benefits of good education, the fortune to associate with truthful, high quality people. That's because they h
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Warytraveller responded: "Thank God for the Food and Drug Administration. GSK is also the makers of Tums, Contac, Tagamet, to name a few. Do you think we should stop using them in light of this scandal?" Heavens no ! If you think LGATs are taking heat, join the Life Extension Foundation (I have for other reasons, and think it is well worth the money if you know what you're do
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

very well then, I'm not to discount anyone's experience here. I fully accept that Warytraveller is speaking in good faith, from his point of view, although it may be a naive good faith. I hold no animus toward him, her, or them, as the case may be. I have had more time with the EST group, pre Forum, than many have, although no internal experience as a volunteer or member of their cla
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

As I was just now saying. This tidbit comes in from the New York Times: "The attorney general's civil suit accuses the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline of committing fraud by concealing negative information about Paxil, a drug used to treat depression. The suit says that the company conducted five clinical trials of Paxil in adolescents and children, yet published only one study whose mixe
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

The devil, as usual, is in the details: "In fact, an independent public opinion pollster that did a survey of Forum graduates showed a very high rate of satisfaction among participants. 7 out of 10 had it as one of their most rewarding experience. (Yankelovich DYG)" Since we are on the subject of facts, inquiring minds would like to know, 1. Who comissioned this survey ? How mu
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

interesting that david Brooks should write this in today's paper: "But that is not how things work in real life. As Donald Green, Bradley Palmquist and Eric Schickler argue in their book, "Partisan Hearts and Minds," most people either inherit their party affiliations from their parents, or they form an attachment to one party or another early in adulthood. Few people switc
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

In my humble opinion the critical difference is in the personality structure of the group. Any group, religious, political, self improvement, you name it.... What Cleckly, writing nearly 50 years ago defined as Psychopathic may be spoken of today as Malignant Narcissism. If a difference exists between the two I have yet to see a compelling side by side comparison of the two words, so I believe
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

:!: As you may see, this phenomenon happens on multiple planes. At the smallest level, the personal family system may have cultish aspects, at the largest level, entire nations or faith structures may be organized this way too. From the tenor of our discussion we are talking about the nature of relationships between the individual and the group, and between the group and the leader, and the indi
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

:roll: hello friends, Socrates here. Have enjoyed the discussion so far in spite of my limited contribution. What can I say ? The more things change the more they stay the same. This is an ancient mythic story that captures the essence of the problem: "Procrustes was a host who adjusted his guests to their bed. Procrustes, whose name means "he who stretches", w
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

in Saturday April 24 New York Times, David brooks wrote a piece about the psychology of the Columbine boys turned killers. I thought that this shed a good light on what may be in the minds of others. Some may have similar attitudes but lack the homicidal urges that these two had. Here is an excerpt to consider: "As we've learned more about Harris and Klebold, most of these misconcept
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Going to a higher logical level, as John Grinder would say, is the attraction to LGATs a response to general cultural failure ? Is whatever normal people get from a healthy culture, psychic nurturance, a feeling of an ordered world, personal meaning, stable identity, the bedrock of personhood, not being adequately provided for by the mainstream commerce based world that is the only thing many peo
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

hi everybody, my name's socrates and i'd like to share... no, only kidding. I did EST about 20 years ago and left with the conclusion that some unexplained S+M dynamic was at work... the trainers were like professional infomercial actors who read from a giant training manual. Among the bones I have to pick with them is that they were intellectually dishonest by constantly evading rea
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"