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March 2009 
Resistance to manipulation
Posted on Oct 17th, 2006
by 
Itlandm
Itlandm
Manipulation is an important part of real life. Friends and enemies, businesses and governments, religions and ethnic groups all try to manipulate you for their own ends. It is something humans do without thinking, but it is also becoming a science in the hands of people who rarely have your eternal good as a goal.
It is essential to resist manipulation as early as possible. The fastest way to start is, I believe, decoupling of desires.
I do not mean the gradual reduction of desire to zero, as portrayed in Buddhism and parts of Christianity. This could take a lifetime. We cannot afford that. Decoupling can change an ordinary human in minutes.
Remember Pavlov's dogs? They got used to a bell ringing when they got food, and soon they were salivating when the bell rang, food or no food. A natural desire was coupled to an unrelated stimulus. The same happens with humans every day. But our desires are more complex: Food is no longer scarce in most of the world. Few of us freeze in the night, or are attacked by hungry wolves. Our needs are mostly social at this stage of civilization. (Some have even advanced to self-expression.) At this point, our desires are being hijacked, coupled by advertising mostly, but also by indoctrination in schools, churches or by public broadcasting.
Re-examine your desires. Ask what you REALLY want. Not the objects that you think can make you happy, but the real need. Not "I want a ..." but "I want to ...". Cut to the heart of the matter. Decouple your desires from the objects you are taught will fulfill them. Evaluate it again from the start. An explosive amount of freedom will come from a few minutes of this.
It is essential to resist manipulation as early as possible. The fastest way to start is, I believe, decoupling of desires.
I do not mean the gradual reduction of desire to zero, as portrayed in Buddhism and parts of Christianity. This could take a lifetime. We cannot afford that. Decoupling can change an ordinary human in minutes.
Remember Pavlov's dogs? They got used to a bell ringing when they got food, and soon they were salivating when the bell rang, food or no food. A natural desire was coupled to an unrelated stimulus. The same happens with humans every day. But our desires are more complex: Food is no longer scarce in most of the world. Few of us freeze in the night, or are attacked by hungry wolves. Our needs are mostly social at this stage of civilization. (Some have even advanced to self-expression.) At this point, our desires are being hijacked, coupled by advertising mostly, but also by indoctrination in schools, churches or by public broadcasting.
Re-examine your desires. Ask what you REALLY want. Not the objects that you think can make you happy, but the real need. Not "I want a ..." but "I want to ...". Cut to the heart of the matter. Decouple your desires from the objects you are taught will fulfill them. Evaluate it again from the start. An explosive amount of freedom will come from a few minutes of this.
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