http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SotPfdSJ7Qk
This is part of a British expose on the Church of Scientology that examines the churches use of hypnotic suggestion and techniques of mind control.
While I'm no big fan of Scientology, thinking it about as logically founded as Astrology and a lot less benign, I'm not really posting this simply to be critical of the "religion", but also to highlight that most institutionalized religions use similar subtle methods of inculcation and indoctrination.
For instance, during colonization of the Western hemisphere, the Catholic church threw an incredible amount of money into building relatively impressive churches in every small village they could. It was always the tallest structure in the village, and the interior was meant to evoke a sense of awe, and to create a space entirely distinct from the culture of the indigenous people. None of the psychological ramifications of this colonization strategy were unintentional, while they obviously didn't understand the psyche in the way we do now.
That brings us back to Scientology, which is very modern, very psychologically oriented, and very well supported in certain circles. Here's a telling experience of mine that supports the thesis of the video above.
I was in the NYC subway, and happened upon a Scientology group set up with table, books, and their galvanic skin response meters, ready to do "readings". I simply walked up, picked up a copy of Dianetics, and started thumbing through it. This lady walks up to me and starts asking question. I tell her I just want to look at the book, and that I don't want to talk about it at the moment. Thirty seconds later she comes back and starts asking questions again. I tell her that I really just want to look at the book and that if she continues to pester me, that I will stop looking at the book. She walks away. One minute later she comes back and tells me that the book is meaningless unless you have someone to put into into context for you. I put the book down and walked away.
It's really crazy what they are doing in that process. Basically it's a lie detector. And that gives them information about when you are having an emotional response or not. And that is a PR dream come true!!! To sell something while having a direct reading of how someone is responding to what you say. This allows one to find emotional trigger points, and to judge peoples receptiveness to the suggestion of the interviewer. Its actually rather questionable from an ethical standpoint. While these people are volunteering, they have not been adequately informed about the nature of the technology being used.
So from what I understand Scientology is not about the psychology of personal change, but the concept that personal change comes from ridding ones self of a foreign presence. That doesn't sound very empowering to me. Anyone got a different take? More information?