In 1935, psychologist Mazafer Sherif took a group of people into a dark room and asked them to look at a tiny point of light in the distance. This group became test subjects in the study of a phenomenon called the "Autokinetic Effect." and you can test this effect yourself.
Get yourself a dark room where you and some friends can stare at a small point of light
and just observe it for a few moments. After a short amount of time, the light may appear to wobble at times. (Protip: This also makes a great party trick)
In Sherif's experiment, the light source was completely stationary at all times andthe test subjects were asked, first individually and then as a group, if the light was moving or stationary. As individuals, opinion was almost equally divided: about half saying they saw movement. What those who reported seeing movement were actually seeing was small wobbles in the light source that stemmed from their own movements in their body due to breathing and heartbeat. THEY were moving. The light was not.
As soon as they were put together as a group, though, their individuality began
to vanish. The answer given by most of the subjects was highly dependent upon the
overall opinion of the group. People tended to agree with the prevailing majority,
even if they had to recant their first answer.
Then, when asked a third and final time as individuals, the subjects tended to hold on to the opinion of their group over their own previous individual experience. The experimental subjects who changed their answer to state the light was moving were absolutely convinced that the light had always been moving and clearly remembered "seeing" the movement of the light. The group consensus, which was observably inaccurate, rewrote their memories,
This is called the "Autokinetic Effect" and it occurs in any group of people of any size discussing any subject. When a persons understanding of an experience faces overwhelming pressure from one or more other points of view, our brain's natural inclination is rewrite the memory of the experience to match the other point of view.
This is the danger that many people don't even know they face in religious cults, political discussion, media consumption or even casual conversations with friends. When communicating with another person, we automatically engage in a method of influence (whether we know it or not) that can accidentally, or even intentionally, completely rewrite someone's understanding of an event.
Thankfully there are ways to prevent this type of automatic memory rewriting through extensive training and practice but the first beginning steps to protecting yourself are surprisingly uncomplicated...but not easy:
1. You have to understand that no interaction is without influence. Anything and everything you, or anyone else does, will have an effect on anyone else present. This is normal and completely natural. Simply be aware of the fact that people will have an effect on you just by being near you or engaging with you.
2. Understand that no one actually reacts to YOU...they react to the version of you that they think they know. They literally react to the picture of you in their mind. Again, this is normal, it's how the brain works. But if you remember my previous blog posts, you'll remember that a person can only be as great, or as terrible, as you allow them to be in your mind. Controlling how influential you think them to be greatly facilitates or inhibits their ability to influence you.
3. Pay attention to how your (or your loved ones) behavior changes when you're around other people. If you find that your beliefs or experiences shift radically depending on who you're spending time around or what your media source is...consider diversifying your social attention to gain exposure to multiple opinions so you can avoid being trapped in an echo chamber.
There are several more steps in the technique to bullet-proof your mind against undue influence. If you're interested in gaining the ability to maintain sovereignty in your mind, why not book a free consult call to discuss how you can learn these skills?
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