Instant atheist conversion. This is wild!

Ig
Posts: 96
Joined: 2006-12-26
User is offlineOffline
Instant atheist conversion. This is wild!

Watch as Derren Brown converts atheist into believers in a couple of minutes. Make sure to watch part 2 where it explains how it's done in the video description. It something called NLP I think.

I'm kind of hesitant to post this so religious nuts don't use this tool(which they already are do to some extent) but thought it would be of interest.

Christians should especially watch this to understand what the Holy Spirit really is. Please dont learn how to do this for abusive purposes like making more christ bots. Smiling

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sq-YUdq1OI

Almost forgot....
I remember when Ergun Caner was supposedly going to manifest god in front of you guys. I wonder if he has learned this technique and was going to use it on you guys. Maybe that's why he wants to meet face to face?


BGH
BGH's picture
Posts: 2772
Joined: 2006-09-28
User is offlineOffline
Video did not work IG,

Video did not work IG, "malformed blah blah blah".


Ig
Posts: 96
Joined: 2006-12-26
User is offlineOffline
Link works for me. Try

Link works for me. Try searching You Tube for the title...

Derren Brown "instant conversion" part 1

 


BGH
BGH's picture
Posts: 2772
Joined: 2006-09-28
User is offlineOffline
It came up, seems to be

It came up, seems to be working now. First couple of tries took me to the "malformed blah blah blah" statement.


Ig
Posts: 96
Joined: 2006-12-26
User is offlineOffline
It is called NLP. Wasnt

It is called NLP. Wasnt sure before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming

MystryBox gives a pretty good description of how he works his "magic". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybmOlQRuaYM

 Edit: Now this one is giving me a malformed url. :/

I think it's the forum software.

Does anyone know the tag to embed videos in posts? 


Klarky
Klarky's picture
Posts: 70
Joined: 2006-04-10
User is offlineOffline
Derren Brown uses NLP,

Derren Brown uses NLP, (Neuro-linguistic programming) and other psychological methods he has developed to suggest certain sub-conscious ideas to his audience.

It doesn't have to be of a theological nature, he did that for a show called "Messiah". In this show he tried to convince a Pastor and some atheists, an alien abduction "expert", a new age crystal energy magazine publisher and a spiritualist who can talk to the dead, that he had the kind of powers that they believed in and were looking for.

Derren Brown is an Atheist, a reformed fundie, as well as an amazing magician and psychological illusionist. He made this programme to show how easy people can be duped into believing all kinds of nonsense. James Randi is an admirer of his and he has made lots of TV shows here in the UK.

He states that he has no powers and it's all a trick of the mind.

I showed the full episode in stickam a few weeks back.

I hope this helps.

- Klarks


American Atheist
American Atheist's picture
Posts: 1324
Joined: 2006-09-03
User is offlineOffline
I like the commentary by

I like the commentary by Simonmaal from the James Randi forum.

 

Quote:
First important point here: Derren Brown in an atheist and ultra skeptic. He is against all kinds of magical thinking. Second point: the thing that makes him so brilliant to watch is that it is unlikely that he uses confederates or stooges. And before we get too carried away here, the tricks Derren has used in all three videos are nothing other than those used by the average stage hypnotist. What makes it look so amazing is the presentation; it is made to look like magic, but then the man himself then debunks the explanation. He is nothing other than a charlatan, which he openly admits. In fact, he carries out these displays of magic so he can use psychological trickery and sleight of hand to show that charlatans can, indeed, dupe people so easily. The tools at work during the conversions are a combination of compliance, obedience, expectation and simple hypnotic suggestion. The first thing we need to remember is that the participants were responding to an advertisement for a discussion on spirituality: they were therefore already interested in the subject whether they agreed with it or not; it could be that they were not quite as skeptical as we are lead to believe, but I don't think that variable is as important as it might first seem. It is very easy to gather personal information about people who apply for tickets to a show, which can then be used in the show itself (remember the first two conversions are very different in nature); this is a trick used by evangelists such as Peter Popoff. We are already aware of people falling back during a conversion; this image is indelibly linked with religious conversion. Additionally, before the presentation, Brown has already made people aware that he can convert people with touch. In other words, his audience is primed even before the presentation has begun. The correct ambience is created by the carefully controlled lighting (known to increase suggestibility) and the fact that he is standing at the front above the audience behind a makeshift pulpit (thus becoming an authority figure). Anybody who is aware of the work of Stanley Milgram will see how powerful obedience is: we can very quickly abandon our morality and existing beliefs under pressure from an authority figure. What makes Brown more authoritative is the presence of the evangelist, who leaves in shock halfway through the presentation, sending out signals to the audience that something scary is going on, thus inadvertently playing into Brown's hands. Listen very carefully to the second conversion, where he tells the participant that he will catch him: by doing this, he is giving him a suggestion that he will fall backwards that is harder to resist because it is indirect. He also creates fear in the participant by telling him he will not be hurt, therefore using what is known in hypnotism as a "negative suggestion": putting an idea in his head that he might be hurt by stating the opposite. Easy to reproduce: if I say: "don't think of a pink elephant", you think of a pink elephant. So, by invoking an emotional reaction, he has already exerted control over his participant. This will increase his suggestibility. The statement he makes to the first participant is "you don't believe in anything", accompanied with body language deliberately designed to appear judgmental. Never underestimate the importance of non-verbal communication. Note how he doesn't mention God at this stage: "you don't believe in anything." He is very sneakily amplifying her skepticism to look like cynicism, thus embarrassing her. And he does this so casually, in a way that makes it look like he was talking about God. This is a very powerful technique used by barristers and attorneys to catch defendants and witnesses off guard. Additionally, she may think that the rest of the audience are already converts (we know from watching the clip that they were not, but individual members did not appear to know each other). This would then make her feel even more uneasy. This brings in the final variable: compliance. Notice how the whole crowd falls after seeing the first guy do it. In the 1950s, Asch showed just how powerful compliance is (even more powerful than obedience). Have you ever wondered why we change when we get into a crowd? How a bunch of respectable people with successful careers suddenly turns into a mob of violent and dangerous hooligans at a football match? Compliance is an inordinately powerful phenomenon. To conclude, Brown is using a combination of tried and tested psychological techniques combined with hypnotic suggestions. It is easier than you think to do this kind of thing, hence the prevalence of scumbag evangelists and mediums. So, although there is nothing magical going on here, there's nothing fake about the psychological techniques: the Chinese thought reform program used precisely the same these techniques to convert people to Communism.

By Simonmaal - James Randi forums


Hambydammit
High Level DonorModeratorRRS Core Member
Hambydammit's picture
Posts: 8657
Joined: 2006-10-22
User is offlineOffline
NLP = neuro-linguistic

NLP = neuro-linguistic programming, I think.  It's up there with wearing tin foil helmets to ward off aliens, as far as empirical evidence goes.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism