Get the heck out of that persons class, if you can. I once took on a college prof's "ideas", and crticized him in a paper... guess what? VERY BAD MARKS! Some of these profs are super-weenies, or worse. Coz
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I wouldn't say Robbins is doing classical "mind control", unless of course i wanted to create a fuss! BUT, he uses very very very powerful techniques of "Unconscious Influence". He uses Eriksonian Hypnosis, and literally EVERY other technique that is available. The question is, what DOESN'T Robbins do? EVERYTHING Robbins does is to manipulate. To him, manipulati
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Write a letter to the Dean, and outline your concerns. Look into transfering to another Prof as well. Keep your letter anonymous initially if you are afraid. We dont yet know if he belongs to a group, or whether he's unable to handle open debate. Academic freedom and tenure can be a nasty duo! ;) Coz
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have read some analysis that when EMDR "works", what is really probably happening is Cognitive Therapy. You move your eyes around while thinking, "moving my eyes around is going to Desensitize my trauma and Reprocess it". So it could just be a "placebo effect", if you will. Or just flat out Cognitive Restructuring. But there is enormous propaganda about EMDR fr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Leaders know if you make the populace very very AFRAID, and TERRIFIED, then they will do what they are told. No, the winter storms are not the coming of the end of the world. Its just a blizzard and artic air mass. But these people want to SCARE the populace. It used to be the Red Menace, now its the "Terrorist". Pat Robertson, and his ilk, are the worst kind of demagogues. He
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

REAL philosophy, is an absolutely wonderful thing. Its a disciplined way to THINK about Reality and our place in it. It involves Epistemology, Mind, Ethics, Logic, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Eudaimonia, Critical Thinking, etc. Real Philosophy is not about dogmatism, but about inquiry and exploration. Its wonderful, because if you get serious about Philosophy, seeing the lies and errors of the cult
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Some franchisees and followers of Tony Robbins are known as "Robbins Clones". They mimic his hand movements, physical "anchor" movements, language patterns, vocal tonalities, stage performance, schtick, etc etc. Basically, these Mini-Tony's look like jackasses. Coz Quoteelena Seriously, do you know of any other group or organisation where people mimic the behav
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

You know, this makes me think of the relation between mental illness, religiousity, and cults. No question, many of these "end of the world" cults are lead by people who truly believe the world is ending next week, and some mythical figure is coming to destroy the unbelievers. I tend to assume that the Cultists are conmen, out to make a fast buck. I tend to forget there are many who
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This i have heard before. Overt skeptics seem to force undecided people to make up their mind, and join the group more rapidly. I have read accounts of how a skeptic at these types of recruitment meetings actually INCREASES enrollment!! Coz QuoteGuy My experience is that the more resistance I received from a guest, the more enrollments I would get from the room.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

My last opinion on this subject, is that what people SAY, and what people DO, generally don't have a lot to do with eachother. There is lots of BDSM "propaganda" from people who say that its 100% consensual and negotiated, and its all good, and its all about love, etc etc etc. Even Michael Jackson says what he does is all about Love for the Children! He probably believes it too!
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have to disagree with this point. It reeks of DENIAL and rationalization to me. This business of "no penalty" is absurd. People always penalize eachother, one way or another, even if its unconsciously. We all have these Dominant/Submissive tendencies in us. My guess is that when the "acting out" becomes extreme and life damaging, that is when there is cause for real c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

In my view, BDSM is obviously not a "cult". BUT, as was said, the Cult Leader/Slave, Guru/Slave dynamic seems to have some similarities. I see no problem exploring ANY idea, and see if it is related to cultic behavior. Even alleged "safer BDSM" in my view sounds like a bad idea. I actually think this subject is relevant to this site. Dominance and Submission sound like
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Sadism and Masochism are destructive and sick behaviors and tendencies, even though people "enjoy" them. Just because something makes a person "feel good" doesn't mean its healthy. They are totally destructive. I think both ends of this twisted viewpoint need some real help. Coz Sadism: Psychology. a. The act or an instance of deriving sexual gratification from in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

And don't forget, many of these "celebrities" have almost no education or critical thinking skills. Their agents and managers run their Career, and many of these folks are sheltered, childlike people, who hide behind their powerful agents, and are spoiled brats. For a skilled cult leader, manipulating them is like taking candy from a baby. Frankly, from my experience, meeting a s
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

Thx for the insight Guy. Your insider knowledge can help educate a lot of people. Landmark sort of reminds me of Tony Robbins business model. Except Robbins sells DREAMS to people. He can teach you to make your WILDEST DREAMS COME TRUE, if you attend his courses, starting from 1 grand, to 30 grand, up to 50 grand a year, into the hundreds of thousands for Franchises, and then whatever you ca
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I just want to throw this idea into the mix. I grew up in a trauma-laden abusive environment, so i speak from personal experience. I had an excellent REBT therapist years ago, who was highly recommended, and who's books i had read and enjoyed. After outlining my symptoms to him in detail, at one point i exclaimed, "how long will i have to live with this anxiety, and other problem
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Kico, these are some very good insights. I am personally not into any type of BDSM thing, BUT, i have dated women who wanted to be dominated sexually, and even humiliated, and wanted to play those types of sex-mind games. In my view, that can be a slippery slope. There is something very primal in us humans when it comes to Dominance and Submission. And if you look at many cults, they are a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Many years ago, i actually did "infiltrate" a number of cults, merely out of personal interest. I am a professional actor, so i am fascinated by wacked out people. I personally have an intense curiousity in wacko people doing wacked out things. I have used this info in my work many times! I have also read many many books on cults, propaganda, etc. Frankly, if i was an evil sociopath,
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Power Corrupts. Here is the Prison Experiment Coz Quotesunsetserene In another famous social psy. experiment male students were split into two groups of pretend guards and prisoners. After a surprisingly short amount of time the "guards" became surprisingly abusive and the "prisoners" demonstrated emotional trauma congruent with that of real prisoners. The experim
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

My personal opinion is that human primate "predators" were selected for by Evolution over millions of years. Being a predator on the savanna hundreds of thousands of years ago was very useful. The problem is that in modern society, those same predatory behaviors do not work, or only work for a very short while. But those same paranoid/predatory behaviors worked great in pre-civiliz
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

This is a good initial resource for dealing with trauma. Of course, seek good professional help, but there is a lot people can do to help themselves. You can download the entire free ebook Psychological Self Help from here. It really is an excellent piece of work. Coz
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

In my view, this is a good initialresource for dealing with trauma and PTSD. Of course, seek good professional help, but there is a lot people can do to help themselves. You can download the entire free ebook mentioned above, Psychological Self Help from here. It really is an excellent piece of work. Coz
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

The simple reason that NO ONE is able to give an intelligent defense of Landmark, is that there isn't one! There are all sorts of rationalizations, but as they are picked apart, virtually every single Landmarkian i have seen just falls into CRAZED personal attacks. Ad Hominem is all that's left, as there are no evidence or facts to use. The negatives people are saying about Landmark
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Its interesting to see the TOTAL lack of concern and empathy displayed by the Landmarkians on this forum. They have contempt for people who are "stupid" enough to get tricked by Landmark. Their basic response is, "WHO CARES?". They want to have a "Master Morality" as opposed to a "Slave Morality". People with Antisocial Personality Disorder, basically b
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

You make some really accurate points about Maharishi Mahesh Unyogi. What you have said below is the Vision of the Narcissist. Its like the Narcissist who happens to walk "on stage" or "on-camera", and feels the GLORY of being center-stage. They become addicted to it. MMY saw the King Guru, being carried around and worshipped, and he went Ga-Ga for it. He must have thoug
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I find it fascinating, that it seems at the core of almost every "cult", is a sociopathic leader without a conscience, advertising himself as a "Holy Man" of some sort, when in reality these individuals are the most greedy, vicious, criminal, sadistic, sociopathic maniacs on the face of this earth. I could list 100 of them off the top of my head. They are all masters of mani
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Its fascinating how the wild rambling ravings from Landmarkian Propagandists are so similar to eachother. It always comes down to a Ad Hominem attack though. Never any specific points, backed up with objective scientific evidence. Just wild ravings and personal attacks. My only hope is that because the Landmark Wolf eats its own young, the most nasty of the Landmark Promoters will be gi
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Here is an excellent link about Marishi Mahesh Yogi the sociopath. It is so great when people of conscience take the time to make these types of excellent websites. Coz
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I guess there will be no end to the Landmarkians coming here and lying, and trying to manipulate. The truth scares them. You can see in the last post by Hotshot the extreme reactive emotions being triggered. When discussion fails, they have to fall back into "Landmarking", which is a form of glorified personal attacks. There is no question, Landmark attracts, and uses people wit
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

According to Karl Popper, the key component of any scientific theory is the ability to FALSIFY it. That is, the ability to disprove it. It has to make predictions that can be disproven. I guess all we can do is wait for about 7 years. But frankly, most humans are not interested in genuine science. They want to believe what they want to believe. And maybe force others to believe what they
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"