opening our minds avoiding abusive relationships and authoritarian groups by jon atack 4th Edition Originally published as _Opening Minds: the secret world of manipulation, undue influence and brainwashing_ This book is dedicated to the memory of Bobby Yang, who was a daily source of good cheer throughout his short life. Praise for this book: "_Opening Our Minds_ shines a laser beam into every key bit of research on manipulating the human mind and surgically extracts the kernel in each. This has created a book of immense breadth and depth without the lumbering weight of an academic tome. Instead, we have an almost breathless, short yet comprehensive review of what we know about manipulating human minds and the educational vaccinations against these processes. If there were a required reading list for maintaining one's critical thinking in the over-information age, _Opening Our Minds_ would be at the top. Parents should make this book the first present to your children graduating middle-school, high school or college, and then bring it to your book club to discuss how to integrate it in your own life. It will be the liveliest discussion you have all year and very possibly the most worthwhile!" ~ *Ira Chaleff*, author _Courageous Followership,_ and _Intelligent Disobedience._ Visiting Leadership Scholar, Moller Institute, Churchill College, Cambridge University. Chairman Emeritus of The Congressional Management Foundatoin, Washington, DC, and member of the Board of Directors of the International Leadership Association 2012 - 2017. "Jon Atack's book _Opening Our Minds_ is exactly what I expected: an interesting, important and incredibly helpful book. The work perfectly illustrates Jon's brilliance, learning, wisdom and compassion." ~ *James A. Beverley*, Research Professor, Tyndale University, Toronto, Ontario. Associate Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion, Woodway, Texas "In the years I have sought to undo the abuses of extremist authoritarian sects and other controlling relationships, I have been one of many voices asking, "Isn't there anything we can do to prevent all this harm in the first place?" For a number of reasons, answering that question always proved harder than asking it. As more years have passed the techniques of propaganda, destructive manipulation, and predatory influence, once most often associated with totalist sects, now have penetrated into all areas of life. "In this edition of his book _Opening Our Minds_, Jon Atack gives us clear insights and precision tools for protecting ourselves and our society from these exploitative techniques. He does this not merely by describing the current landscape of coercion, control, and harm, but by exposing the underlying principles by which our minds are vulnerable. In doing this, Jon also shows us how to equip ourselves to recognize and resist manipulation in all its disguises. "This book has been on my "must-read" booklist for members, ex-members, and their families since it was first published under the title, _Opening Minds._ This new edition will remain there." ~ *Christian Szurko*, DialogCentre UK "Opening Minds" by Jon Atack is an excellent guide for those people who want to understand what cultic mind control is, how it functions, and how not to become a victim of it. The book is clear, witty and deep at the same time. The author shows incredible erudition in many areas and possesses a rare gift of explaining difficult matters in a very simple and understandable way. I especially want to commend the language - concise and elegant. Bravo, Jon!" ~ *Professor Alexander Dvorkin* "Jon Atack's book is an important wake-up call for us all. I work with people who have survived authoritarian groups and strongly recommend it to all survivors of human predators, and to their loved ones and the counselors who support them. "Jon not only explains how human predators operate and why they are so successful, he also shows why we are all vulnerable to persuasion and trickery. It is important to know that acknowledging this makes us less vulnerable and increases our ability to help others who have been victimized. "Jon is a truly gifted writer and has made this complex subject accessible to those who need it the most." ~ *Frances Peters*, counselor and cult expert. "Jon has written a classic. He uses story-telling effectively to bring the book to life. _Opening Our Minds_ orients the reader and provides an understandable framework for how our minds work, and how intelligent and functional people can become victims of undue influence. "It will help you understand unethical influence in a wide variety of contexts including cults, parental alienation, terrorist recruitment, and more. Consider buying copies to donate to your local library, mental health professionals, politicians, and educators. "Hopefully, this book will be translated in all languages and it will serve as a foundation to create global awareness about how humans can be deceived, manipulated, and enslaved so we can protect human rights everywhere." ~ *Steven Hassan*, PhD, director of Freedom of Mind and author of _Combating Cult Mind Control_. TABLE OF CONTENTS before we begin introduction by Alan Scheflin 1 the web of influence 2 recruitment and seduction: the way to unhappiness 3 belonging 4 cults in our mist 5 manufacturing fanatics 6 belonging and susceptibility to coercive control 7 groupthink 8 coercive control at work 9 the mind's "I": conscious and identity 10 the imitation game: from copying to compliance 11 life is a pitch (and then you buy) 12 coercive control: the science and the law 13 the evidence for coercive control 14 from child abuse to college hazing 15 the human predator 16 understanding the past to find the way forward 17 bringing the living back to life: from groupthink to courageous followership appendix A appendix B appendic C afterword acknowledgements about the author references [i will be splitting references and including them at the bottom of each email.] # before we begin Human predators roam among us. Although there aren't many of them, they have a tremendous influence. To them, the rest of us are prey. Predators manipulate their prey using well-tried tricks. Once you know these tricks, it is much easier to avoid them or to stop them in their tracks. Every bad relationship, every destructive group, every dangerous government has a human predator at its heart. Predators rely upon persuasion. In honest persuasion, we have access to all of the facts - and different opinions about those facts - and enough time and privacy to consider these facts and opinions. But then there is the type of persuasion used by predators, which is simply manipulation. To manipulate means to manage or influence skillfully, especially in an unfair manner.[1] Facts are hidden or distorted, and we are rushed into decisions that take away our own authority and harm our interests. Predators cause upset, conflict, corruption and devastation. By seeing through their methods, we can take power away from human predators and have a much greater chance to overcome the problems they cause in our personal and group relationships. Here is a quick description of the human predator: Human predators: - are mean. - are utterly selfish. - pretend friendship and love but feel absolutely nothing for others. - are charming and good at flattery, but don't mean a single word of it. - brag and boast and make up outrageous lies. When challenged, they blame others. - don't feel anxiety or fear - or are deeply anxious and cowardly. - are impulsive and easily bored. They demand thrills and take dangerous risks. They enjoy pushing others into taking dangerous risks, too. - are bullies with explosive tempers. - are cunning and manipulative. - enjoy humiliating people. - weaken people with insults and putdowns. - hate it if anyone else has power or is praised. For the predator, life is a competition and they want to WIN. - lie easily and think nothing of breaking a promise. - are without conscience: they do not feel remorse or guilt. - often boast about the harm they've done other people. - are parasites and lazy, living off others, giving as little as possible in return. - are control freaks, stopping others from taking control of anything if they can. - force petty rules on others - rules that are impossible to follow. - boast about tricking other people and breaking the law. This book will show you how to deal with predators and how to make society safe from their tricks and traps. # introduction The most precious and personal part of every person is her or her own mind. No one else ever sees it, or knows exactly what it is thinking or feeling. It is our most sacred possession because it houses our innermost identity. It defines for us precisely who we are, and who we are not. We can hide the truth from others, but not from ourselves. Or so we think. But our mind, like our body, needs nourishment. Other people feed our mind with thoughts, suggestions, comments and ideas. We choose which ones to accept and which ones to reject. And we feel confident that we are good at doing so. But are we? To be good at protecting our minds we must be familiar with the tactics and strategies that may be used by others to outmaneuver our natural protections and defenses. You can see a punch coming, but not a carefully crafted lie or a manipulation strategy, unless you are trained to look. The greatest threat to the autonomy of our mind is from people who seek to influence it for their own best interests, but present themselves as our friends and helpers. Every one of us has great confidence in our ability to protect ourselves from other people acting in ways that would harm our own best interests. We have faith that we have a strong mind, have good "crap detectors" and are not easily influenced. I call this "The Myth of the Unmalleable Mind." As kids are fond of saying, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me." But they can. For the last 60 years I have studied how people can be fooled, seduced, altered and injured by con artists with exquisite expertise in mental manipulation. I have journeyed through Soviet, Chinese, Korean and American government programs to mentally enslave citizens and enemies, and private cultic groups around the world that have millions of devout follows. I have studied the tactics of advertisers and marketing specialists, the techniques of police interrogators, the dark literature of the antisocial uses of hypnosis, and the exquisite artistry of rhetoric and persuasion. During this journey I encoutered Jon Atack and found a fellow traveler, and a friend. My journey has been as a research scholar; Jon's journey began by being a victim. After he freed himself from the clutches of a cultic group, he chose to make saving others his life's work. There are very few "warriors of the mind." Jon is one of the best. In this book, Jon has written a handbook for mental integrity. A botanist studies what insects and pests can harm plants and flowers. Jon has provided us with a handbook for protecting the mind from often invisible forces seeking surreptitiously to undermine freedom of thought. One of the fastest growing areas of law is the expansion of protection for victims of mental assault. British and American law for over 500 years has recognized that it is a violation to act towards another person with undue influence. The cases, however, usually involved older people conned out of their life savings by dishonest caretakers. These cases involve _financial_ harm. Within the last twenty years, however, courts and legislatures have recognized that undue influence can also include _mental_ harm. New laws now widen the protections available for people injured by mind manipulators. The need for such laws demonstrates how serious the problem has become. Lord Thomas Robert Dewar once observed that "minds are like parachutes; they only function when open." This book is a manual for keeping your mind open. If you want to make your body strong, go to a gym. If you want to make your mind stronger, pay close attention to what this book tells you. Not only will you learn how to spot and avoid threats to your mental integrity, you will also have the pleasure of reading a very fine book. ~Alan Scheflin, professor emeritus of law Alan Scheflin holds a BA in philosophy (with high honors), a JD in law (with honors), an LLM in law, and an MA in counseling psychology. He is the co-author of _The Mind Manipulators_ (1978) and _Trance on Trial_ (1989) and many others. He has also published over 70 articles, and is the recipient of 18 awards from various professional organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He has been a consultant in, or appeared as an expert witness in, dozens of legal cases. # references 1: Dictionary.com