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I like Malcolm Gladwell and I enjoyed reading Blink. However, he's selling a book. His arguments are all very biased and do not inform. Priming has similar eff

I like Malcolm Gladwell and I enjoyed reading Blink. However, he's selling a book. His arguments are all very biased and do not inform. Priming has similar effects as hypnosis, and is increasingly believed to be linked. 1/3 of people react negatively to priming and hypnosis, something that is rarely mentioned. Hypnosis research has repeatedly shown that you cannot get someone to believe something they don't want to, or to do something they don't want to. There's a very nice scene in Mythbusters where a researcher clearly refuses a hypnotic suggestion, and then quickly comes out of the hypnosis. Earlier in the episode they tried it on one of the main cast members who knew they were being implanted with a suggestion (to slap someone or jump up and down, depending on the cue) and he broke out in a laughing fit. Also if you want to see priming in the extreme, read about the Milgram Experiment and then about the Strip Search Prank Call Scam. Also I know I'm one of the 1/3 who doesn't react to hypnosis. I'm unsure about hypnotic flooding, but its effects are less certain than normal hypnosis due to the fact that it perverts the results. Incidentally I'm one of the (about 10% of people) who react negatively to sleep meds, they wire me like the energizer bunny. The true effects of priming are the country and state flags sat in the court rooms (this is especially bad in death-penalty cases as national pride usually ups the pro-death vote). What about seeing a guy accused of cop-killing being marched to the stand by two cops? We have to be careful of the unconscious effects of priming we place all around ourselves, because the conscious use of priming in wide civilization will likely have the opposite effect of what we desire. > Of course, you like to think you're above such manipulation-- so does everyone else. I do, as you say everyone does. It's just a mere fact that 1/3 of people are. So you, me and a random person means one of us is above such manipulation.

webwright 18y ago
Gladwell is citing several academic studies on priming-- they aren't "arguments". That said, of course, studies can be biased. But there's a pretty healthy supply of scary priming studies. > Priming has similar effects as hypnosis, and is increasingly believed to be linked. I don't know if there is any link between priming and susceptibility to hypnosis (do you have a source for that?). Even if there is, it certainly isn't a solid enough link to say that people who are resistant to hypnosis are always immune to priming. I have a degree in psychology-- but it's admittedly dated. > We have to be careful of the unconscious effects of priming we place all around ourselves, because the conscious use of priming in wide civilization will likely have the opposite effect of what we desire. Well, the REST of us do. You don't, due to your special mind powers. ;-)

webwright 18y ago

Gladwell is citing several academic studies on priming-- they aren't "arguments". That said, of course, studies can be biased. But there's a pretty healthy supply of scary priming studies. > Priming has similar effects as hypnosis, and is increasingly believed to be linked. I don't know if there is any link between priming and susceptibility to hypnosis (do you have a source for that?). Even if there is, it certainly isn't a solid enough link to say that people who are resistant to hypnosis are always immune to priming. I have a degree in psychology-- but it's admittedly dated. > We have to be careful of the unconscious effects of priming we place all around ourselves, because the conscious use of priming in wide civilization will likely have the opposite effect of what we desire. Well, the REST of us do. You don't, due to your special mind powers. ;-)