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Isolation |
By:
Kenrick Cleveland |
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Isolation
Kenrick Cleveland
At the end of last year a documentary about the cult leader Reverend Jim Jones came out called "Jonestown: The Life And Death of People's Temple". It was the history of Jonestown through photos, film clips, recordings and interviews of surviving members of the murder/"suicide" of over 913 people.
Jones was charismatic and very good at appealing to disenfranchised members of the community preaching social equality and setting himself up as a caring father figure. This ended with him convincing his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide laced cherry Flavor Aid.
This is a very disturbing example of evil persuasion through isolation, charismatic authority and all of this in relationship to brainwashing and manipulation.
There are two kinds of isolation--physical and mental. Jim Jones used both.
It's not always possible for cults or multilevel marketing companies or religions to physically isolate their members. It's possible they have the ability to physically isolate, but normally the mental isolation is enough. They'll suggest to their members that anyone who tells them they shouldn't be involved with the group is not supporting their choices in life.
When isolation is used by someone who has bad intentions, it is a very dangerous tool.
On a more reputable level, isolation can be used for say sales or business.
For mental isolation it's most effective to be involved with the customer/ prospect/client on a more regular basis. Creating lots of small interactions will tend to create more loyalty. For example, the caf business is extremely competitive. Cafs are abundant in the area where I live, and most likely in the area where you live. People have many choices-from Starbucks and Peet's, to locally-owned chains, to independently owned mom and pop shops.
I occasionally go to a small locally owned cafe where the owner sparked up a conversation (quite coincidentally) about how their product was not generic, was organic, high quality, and it didn't cost a fortune like the most famous coffee chain. This is a little seed, whether intentional or not, and presupposes that the famous coffee chain doesn't have an organic, high quality product.
Some religions use isolation in terms of imposing rules about what is and what is not okay to talk about with non-members or "outsiders".
I'm a very spiritual person and am NOT making judgments about religion here, but simply illustrating how persuasion can be used to indoctrinate members of any given group.
Creating a shared experience is another way to create a psychological isolation. This can be accomplished in business by having a retreat or conference. It can be used to reward employees. Shared tragedy also has this effect. Think of 9/11 wives/survivors, New Orleans residents who were at the Superdome, Gulf War veterans. All of these groups have incredibly powerful bonds and there is the potential for them to become very committed to each other.
The final strategy in isolation is to 'predict the future'. Sales people do this all the time in response to the 'shop around' objection. "Sure, go ahead. But X shop doesn't have our selection (return policy, prices, etc.)" Cults use this all the time, telling new members that their "choice" in joining will be ridiculed by friends and family. The cult leaders offer this as "proof" that the new member's family and friends obviously don't care about them as much as the group does. 'If they really cared about you, wouldn't they be glad that you found something to make you happy?'
This is powerful stuff and I strongly urge you to use your knowledge ethically, honestly and with integrity.
Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent clients using http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion strategies. Get your own completely http://www.uberarticles.com/?id=16743&b=79 unique content version of this article.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article63596.html |
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