Derren Brown: Illustrating How Unconscious Programming Dominates Experienced Reality
Derren Brown: A Street Magician Illustrates Unconscious Programming
Every so often I come across something that is a superb illustration of an observation that is subtle, and therefore difficult to describe in concrete terms.
I came across such an illustration yesterday, and I'm choosing to take the time to present the illustration and describe what I saw as I experienced the show of a British performance artist named Derren Brown.
Derren Brown
If you want to know more about Derren Brown, you can view his website here: Derren Brown
So what I'm going to do is share a series of snippits, so you can view what it is Derren does. This series of footage is very entertaining in its own right. Watching the entire series of clips I'm presenting here will take a little time, but it is engaging and fun.
While you are dazzled and entertained by these clips, I'd like for you to pay attention to the following observations about what is going on. Some of these observations won't apply to ALL the clips, so just hold the observations in mind:
In American society, advertising and marketing pervade nearly every sector of our lifestyles. This next clip gives an excellent illustration into how modern advertising preys on the unconscious mind, yet most of us are totally unaware of just how powerfully we are being manipulated by our advertisers. In this clip, Brown asks two professional marketers to come up with a marketing advertisement for a taxidermy company. The question is, did the two marketers come up with an original idea, or did they come up with the idea that Brown cleverly programmed into their minds?
Another variety of the same sort of subconscious influence is illustrated here, where he is able to get this girl to choose the envelopes he wants her to choose through subconscious suggestion.
Those snippits give the appropriate background to take a closer look at some of the feats he is able to pull off through using subconscious programming in a given moment with someone.
In this next snippit, he is able to get people riding on a subway to forget what stop they're exiting from the subway just after they tell him what that stop is. Notice the subconscious suggestions he uses in certain phrases and the movement of his hand to literally remove the information from their memory. In a couple of the instances he asks a very crafty question, "What stop, thinking about it now, were you getting off at?" But the way he says it, there is a subliminal command, 'Stop thinking about it now.'
In this next performance, he is able to talk this man into giving him his phone, his keys, his wallet, his watch, and whatever else he wants.
This snippit is particularly illustrative via the technique he uses to literally entrance this man to do what he is asked to do. If you watched the first snippit carefully, you'll notice that he asked to shake his hand, but then interrupted the handshake, took his hand, and held it while giving him subconscious commands.
Well, evidently a handshake is something most people do entirely unconsciously. Literally, the conscious mind is shut down for that very brief moment cause all handshakes are very similar. If that unconscious pattern is broken, the conscious mind goes into a stupefied state, where the conscious mind is thoroughly confused because it is having an experience it can't comprehend. In this state, the mind is wide open to the power of unconscious suggestion.
You'll see this illustrated superbly in this snippit:
In this snippit, he induces a person into a drunken state purely by hypnotic suggestion:
In this snippit, he has a conversation with strippers about the 'no touch' rule, then with their eyes closed he is able to reproduce the experience of their being touched without actually touching them. They have the experience of being touched, but the other two strippers see he doesn't actually touch them. Notice a few of the suggestions: 'You must trust me' and 'Be honest'.
I'm showing a variety of these applications of his craft to demonstrate just how broad the effect of subconscious programming is on the average person's mind.
He's able to use various forms of influence, suggestion, and programming to completely alter a person's choices and create out of seeming thin air various sensory experiences.
Taking the previous snippit a few steps further, he does a demonstration with a kung fu master. The master demonstrated the one-inch punch. What Brown demonstrates is that he is able to recreate the experience of being punched in one of the master's students without actually touching him!
I must say, that this next snippit is one of my favorites. If you watch this one, you'll understand the reason for the new quote on my profile. He is able to take losing tickets on a dog race and collect on them as if they were winners.
What strikes me as I see these seemingly amazing feats is that Derren Brown is a master at understanding how perceptions are formed in the unconscious mind, and then is able to communicate with that unconscious mind directly, totally bypassing the conscious mind.
The Innate Innocence of Consciousness Lies Underneath Unconscious Programming
And this illustrates just how 'out of their mind' someone is when their unconscious mind takes over. The conscious awareness is totally absent, the individual is literally out of their mind temporarily!
In the same way Brown can use the power of subconscious suggestion to reproduce all sorts of bodily experiences (generated through the mind's natural process of associating certain triggers with past emotional memories), when our conditioned past programming takes over, we often project out onto others our own unconscious attitudes--like anger, anxiety/panic, guilt, lust for things to be different than they are, and judgmentalism.
The realization that allows us to break free of these destructive patterns is this: We are ALL inherently innocent, at all times.
In order to directly notice mankind's inherent innocence, we must first choose to notice our own innate innocence. This means surrendering our guilt. The truth is: You have no reason to FEEL guilty!
When you remember something stupid you did in the past, something that hurt someone you love, you can rest assured that it wasn't you doing that, it was your unconscious conditioned programming. That programming has a life of its own, and you weren't even aware it had taken over. If you WERE aware, you'd have likely chosen differently. You never have a reason to feel guilty about your choices, cause there is no circumstance that is improved by feeling something as destructive as guilt. Just notice the choice and improve it.
Those minds that are taken over by these destructively unconscious patterns go temporarily dark, just like those who had their minds taken over by Derren Brown. There is no way anyone in their right mind would entertain such self-destructive attitudes and perceptions. And that is just the point, those who do entertain those destructive attitudes are completely out of their mind.
Intimate Involvement and Unconscious Attitudes
It can be challenging to actually notice this truth when the person going unconscious is someone with whom you are involved intimately. Yet, intimacy is one context where this whole observation is most true. No one in their right mind would entertain toxic attitudes toward someone they love! With someone so close to the heart, one can never entertain destructive attitudes without doing real damage to self.
Hurting those we love with our poisoned attitudes is a very heavy burden to carry, and we tend to hate ourselves for using our minds in this way toward those we profess to love.
But many will never face this guilt and this burden, instead they will act out their self-rage by attacking those they love, subconsciously hoping to drive them away in order to soothe our guilt for how we are treating them in our hearts and minds. Easier to destroy an otherwise amazing friendship, rather than simply notice the damage we are reaping onto ourselves and those we love via the attitudes we entertain in our minds about them.
This can be easily stopped by simply letting go of the guilt, then realizing that you are an innately loving creature... and when you do things that are destructive, it is not YOU at work--it is your conditioned programming putting you into an unconscious state while the programming takes over your body-mind organism. All you have to do is simply notice that this happens, and realize that programming is NOT you. It's conditioned stimulus-response. Noticing that this is true is all that is required to begin to dissolve it.
As soon as that happens, you move past guilt. Realizing your own innate innocence, you stop trying to blame others for the stupid choices they make. You see their innate innocence, and simply apply forgiveness to their destructive patterns. If they are addicted to destruction, then the choice arises to remove yourself from being involved with them so as to not harm yourself. But this choice to remove yourself is creative, for it creates space for beneficial behavior to show up where there was destructive behavior.
Every so often I come across something that is a superb illustration of an observation that is subtle, and therefore difficult to describe in concrete terms.
I came across such an illustration yesterday, and I'm choosing to take the time to present the illustration and describe what I saw as I experienced the show of a British performance artist named Derren Brown.
Derren Brown
If you want to know more about Derren Brown, you can view his website here: Derren Brown
So what I'm going to do is share a series of snippits, so you can view what it is Derren does. This series of footage is very entertaining in its own right. Watching the entire series of clips I'm presenting here will take a little time, but it is engaging and fun.
While you are dazzled and entertained by these clips, I'd like for you to pay attention to the following observations about what is going on. Some of these observations won't apply to ALL the clips, so just hold the observations in mind:
- Under certain conditions, the unconscious mind can be easily reprogrammed.
- The programming of the unconscious mind has a POWERFUL effect on what happens in the conscious mind.
- The mind can be programmed, even to reproduce physical sensations and experiences.
- When someone's unconscious mind is in control, someone can take control over their memories, perceptions, and even their choices, but the individual will not even be aware of it.
- Unless you have achieved self-mastery, your unconscious mind is most likely in control A LOT more often than you'd think.
Click to viewIn American society, advertising and marketing pervade nearly every sector of our lifestyles. This next clip gives an excellent illustration into how modern advertising preys on the unconscious mind, yet most of us are totally unaware of just how powerfully we are being manipulated by our advertisers. In this clip, Brown asks two professional marketers to come up with a marketing advertisement for a taxidermy company. The question is, did the two marketers come up with an original idea, or did they come up with the idea that Brown cleverly programmed into their minds?
Another variety of the same sort of subconscious influence is illustrated here, where he is able to get this girl to choose the envelopes he wants her to choose through subconscious suggestion.
Those snippits give the appropriate background to take a closer look at some of the feats he is able to pull off through using subconscious programming in a given moment with someone.
In this next snippit, he is able to get people riding on a subway to forget what stop they're exiting from the subway just after they tell him what that stop is. Notice the subconscious suggestions he uses in certain phrases and the movement of his hand to literally remove the information from their memory. In a couple of the instances he asks a very crafty question, "What stop, thinking about it now, were you getting off at?" But the way he says it, there is a subliminal command, 'Stop thinking about it now.'
In this next performance, he is able to talk this man into giving him his phone, his keys, his wallet, his watch, and whatever else he wants.
This snippit is particularly illustrative via the technique he uses to literally entrance this man to do what he is asked to do. If you watched the first snippit carefully, you'll notice that he asked to shake his hand, but then interrupted the handshake, took his hand, and held it while giving him subconscious commands.
Well, evidently a handshake is something most people do entirely unconsciously. Literally, the conscious mind is shut down for that very brief moment cause all handshakes are very similar. If that unconscious pattern is broken, the conscious mind goes into a stupefied state, where the conscious mind is thoroughly confused because it is having an experience it can't comprehend. In this state, the mind is wide open to the power of unconscious suggestion.
You'll see this illustrated superbly in this snippit:
In this snippit, he induces a person into a drunken state purely by hypnotic suggestion:
In this snippit, he has a conversation with strippers about the 'no touch' rule, then with their eyes closed he is able to reproduce the experience of their being touched without actually touching them. They have the experience of being touched, but the other two strippers see he doesn't actually touch them. Notice a few of the suggestions: 'You must trust me' and 'Be honest'.
I'm showing a variety of these applications of his craft to demonstrate just how broad the effect of subconscious programming is on the average person's mind.
He's able to use various forms of influence, suggestion, and programming to completely alter a person's choices and create out of seeming thin air various sensory experiences.
Taking the previous snippit a few steps further, he does a demonstration with a kung fu master. The master demonstrated the one-inch punch. What Brown demonstrates is that he is able to recreate the experience of being punched in one of the master's students without actually touching him!
I must say, that this next snippit is one of my favorites. If you watch this one, you'll understand the reason for the new quote on my profile. He is able to take losing tickets on a dog race and collect on them as if they were winners.
What strikes me as I see these seemingly amazing feats is that Derren Brown is a master at understanding how perceptions are formed in the unconscious mind, and then is able to communicate with that unconscious mind directly, totally bypassing the conscious mind.
The Innate Innocence of Consciousness Lies Underneath Unconscious Programming
And this illustrates just how 'out of their mind' someone is when their unconscious mind takes over. The conscious awareness is totally absent, the individual is literally out of their mind temporarily!
In the same way Brown can use the power of subconscious suggestion to reproduce all sorts of bodily experiences (generated through the mind's natural process of associating certain triggers with past emotional memories), when our conditioned past programming takes over, we often project out onto others our own unconscious attitudes--like anger, anxiety/panic, guilt, lust for things to be different than they are, and judgmentalism.
The realization that allows us to break free of these destructive patterns is this: We are ALL inherently innocent, at all times.
In order to directly notice mankind's inherent innocence, we must first choose to notice our own innate innocence. This means surrendering our guilt. The truth is: You have no reason to FEEL guilty!
When you remember something stupid you did in the past, something that hurt someone you love, you can rest assured that it wasn't you doing that, it was your unconscious conditioned programming. That programming has a life of its own, and you weren't even aware it had taken over. If you WERE aware, you'd have likely chosen differently. You never have a reason to feel guilty about your choices, cause there is no circumstance that is improved by feeling something as destructive as guilt. Just notice the choice and improve it.
Those minds that are taken over by these destructively unconscious patterns go temporarily dark, just like those who had their minds taken over by Derren Brown. There is no way anyone in their right mind would entertain such self-destructive attitudes and perceptions. And that is just the point, those who do entertain those destructive attitudes are completely out of their mind.
Intimate Involvement and Unconscious Attitudes
It can be challenging to actually notice this truth when the person going unconscious is someone with whom you are involved intimately. Yet, intimacy is one context where this whole observation is most true. No one in their right mind would entertain toxic attitudes toward someone they love! With someone so close to the heart, one can never entertain destructive attitudes without doing real damage to self.
Hurting those we love with our poisoned attitudes is a very heavy burden to carry, and we tend to hate ourselves for using our minds in this way toward those we profess to love.
But many will never face this guilt and this burden, instead they will act out their self-rage by attacking those they love, subconsciously hoping to drive them away in order to soothe our guilt for how we are treating them in our hearts and minds. Easier to destroy an otherwise amazing friendship, rather than simply notice the damage we are reaping onto ourselves and those we love via the attitudes we entertain in our minds about them.
This can be easily stopped by simply letting go of the guilt, then realizing that you are an innately loving creature... and when you do things that are destructive, it is not YOU at work--it is your conditioned programming putting you into an unconscious state while the programming takes over your body-mind organism. All you have to do is simply notice that this happens, and realize that programming is NOT you. It's conditioned stimulus-response. Noticing that this is true is all that is required to begin to dissolve it.
As soon as that happens, you move past guilt. Realizing your own innate innocence, you stop trying to blame others for the stupid choices they make. You see their innate innocence, and simply apply forgiveness to their destructive patterns. If they are addicted to destruction, then the choice arises to remove yourself from being involved with them so as to not harm yourself. But this choice to remove yourself is creative, for it creates space for beneficial behavior to show up where there was destructive behavior.