Beyond the all too common “Yes it is.”, “No, it isn’t.”, “Define your terms.”, “It is all relative.”…and associated ‘humor’, the question is of note.
There are almost countless levels to the issue. In an attempt at narrowing the question down a little, I will suggest that torturing a person is one method of producing ‘successful’ compliance. Also, in many cases the existence of ‘their will’ seems to be absent to the point where suggestion can produce exhibited behavioral change. Hypnosis and other forms of trance production might fall into this category. What about subliminal suggestions? This was a big topic a couple of decades ago. Recently, one hears nothing about it. Is this a result of lobbying efforts of the masters thereof? I suggest that if advertising didn’t “work” (produce behavioral change), it wouldn’t be used. Overall, the manufacturing of consent is an interesting topic. One case has fascinated me for quite a while. Charlie Manson. “…He was convicted of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders, carried out by members of the group [the Mansion Family] at his instruction…” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson It was around this time, as best as I can remember that the notion of ‘conspiracy’ arose in US jurisprudence. Until that time, I seem to remember that what a person said or said alone was not a crime. Here we have one person telling other people to do something. They did it. He didn’t do it. He was convicted of doing it. So, apparently in the US law, one can have the power to cause others to do things whether they want to or not. At the time, I thought this conclusion left out the notion of self responsibility. Are we not responsible for our actions? The common question of ‘Would you jump off of a cliff if told to do so?’ points to this concept. As far as I can tell, it is generally accepted that people can be influenced against their will even though often there exists the apparently conflicting notion of being responsible for one’s own actions. This is a knot that appears to be Gordian in nature. Yet, when one includes the notion of a unified, omnipresent ‘mind’ that we all access, the untying becomes easier. This is a topic we have already addressed at length. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
