Senator Obama? Senator Barack Obama? Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little solitaire?
I’m voting for this guy.
Relax… How about a nice game of solitaire?
(PS: Anybody else think this is a not very well thought out method of control? What the hell happens if the Queen of diamonds is buried in the deck and never gets played?)
Just to be clear, in principle I have nothing against debating anything - especially with an informed group.
But there is a problem in that time is not an unlimited commodity, and frivolous and mendacious topics like this waste everyone’s time. The nature of long meandering conspiracy theories and rants is that they often require disproportionate effort to debunk their various circular Byzantine claims, when they don’t even rise to the threshold level of credibility to warrant such effort.
The other problem that annoys me is that studies show that there is an asymmetry between the presentation of erroneous claims in viral emails and the mass media outlets and their retraction or refutation, such that low information voters frequently retain persistent false beliefs about them. Other studies also show that even the mere act of talking about or debating false claims can have a reinforcing effect.
In short, spreading stuff like this around is unhealthy for democracy.
After the Bush administration it’s amazing that anyone can doubt mass hypnosis techniques. ;p
Jesus Christ, you folks think you’re fighting ignorance by just shouting down the OP? Because it smells like pseudoscience, but you’re not really sure? Get some fucking science or get out.
Is it hypnosis, in the sense that you throw your hands up and are at the will of the speaker? No. Hypnosis is the result of slowly shifting your personal sense of agency to a third party through old fashioned persuasion techniques salesmen have known for years.
Now, as to Obama’s techniques? Yes, he employs a number of techniques that are no big secret to anyone who wants to know on how to get into the mind of someone. Corporations do the same thing. It’s why McDonalds has “I’m lovin’ it”, Obama’s website will take you to my.barackobama.com, my university have MYbama. It’s why his slogan is “yes we can.” It’s just a number of subtle linguistic shifts that take place in the mind of the listener to better align you with your listener.
Anyone who’s had relationship counseling or seen a terrible sitcom on on the topic knows you’re supposed to address problems from a “we” standpoint, not “you.” He uses rhythm, which is crucial in forming trances. It’s not some secret CIA brainwashing technique; you can find it in the smallest churches in Alabama.
Take any beginning speech writing class, and you learn the importance of a number of these techniques. In every speech, he casts a narrative for himself that helps humanize him and make him more sympathetic, so that you’re primed to accept what he says as true. He appeals to emotional heuristics like “history has shown” and uses emotionally charged phrases like “the great american experiment” and frequently invoking lincoln. He uses anaphora to make his words stand out (“I have a dream”–MLK). He uses phrases that let you fill in the blank, because science shows and teachers know that when you produce knowledge on your own, you’re more likely to believe and remember it.
So is Obama some wizard casting a spell over the masses? No, that’s silly. Are the techniques he uses the same techniques known to public speakers all around the world? Yeah. Nothing sinister here. Just really, really good use of psychology and stage presence.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Britney Spears. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Skittles. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love blowjobs. <twitch> I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love puppies. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Chairman Mao. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love wool socks. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love chocolate. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me. Join me.
Well, you’ve convinced me.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
Senator Barack Obama. Does not use. Hypnosis techniques. He is. A brilliant leader. And the sole hope. For America. I love him. More than I love Cats. I will vote for him. Again and again. I ask you. To join me and Cervaise. Join me and Cervaise.
I’d vote for him, but I cannot. I am in Sing-Sing. 
[nitpick]
that’s powdered unicorn horn.
[/nitpick]
I’m not disputing you, but if this is truly the case, than the most hypnotized poster in this thread is the OP him(her)self.
; )
You posted the link to the thesis, and you defended it. Either you think it’s likely, or you don’t. If you don’t think mass-hypnosis is likely, why are we here talking about it?
Influential Panda, you’re not fooling anyone trying to walk away from the actual horseshit in the article.
You’re simply doing a bait and switch on the absurd, mendacious claims of the OP, which actually posits for serious consideration that Obama is somehow engaged in a deceitful and illicit campaign of mass hypnotic mind hacking to win the presidency. But instead of facing up to that fact, you’ve tried to ignore the nonsense in the linked article and swap in some completely banal and trivial “insight” about politicians using Lakoff-style cognitive linguistics, word-poll-response metrics, and timeless public speaking insights from books like Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” as if that’s what the thread is about.
Too bad you can’t connect the dots, as the former is exactly what the linked horseshit in the OP is suggesting.
There is a kernel of truth in the OP that needs to be explained. It’s not quite on the level of Flying Spaghetti Monster absurdism like the people in this thread want to portray, but neither is it the hypnotic , spellcasting shamanism from the OP. I presented the middle ground where fact meets fiction, where the (admittedly sparse) truth from the OP is separated from the outrageous.
Somehow you’re so offended by my post that you accuse me of dangling the keys and saying “look! shiny!” while quoting irrelevant texts. The information cited is trivial and banal to you and me, since we’re familiar with what I posted. I don’t make the arrogant assumption it’s the same for other posters. What is in the OP is a mangling of the “trivial and banal” into hyperbolic black voodoo, and you’re not going to get away from refuting it without pointing it out.
I can enter a hypnotic trance fairly easily (interesting side note: when I was delivered by an Osteopath, my Mother was under hypnosis and had no drugs). I just saw Barack Obama speak at a rally in Kansas City from the 5th row of people from the front. I had waited five hours to hear him speak. I was about as ready to be awed and cranked up as a person can be.
I was not hypnotized.
I agreed with his speech. I was impressed with his eloquence. I came away with the impression that he is more intelligent than I am. And I came to believe that he will do an excellent job as President of the United States.
But he is not in Bill Clinton’s league, who is a once-in-a-generation public speaker.
“Have you met the man? I’d fuck him!” - Bill Mahar
Aquila Be in blue, my response in black:
I refer you to the OP. Viz:-
Gee, thanks.
I made no assumption. You base your claim on nothing.
Bullshizzy. You’ve assumed Obama’s speeches are banal and uninspiring. This is an assumption, because you’ve admitted to never having actually hearing or watching any of his speeches. Reading transcripts doesn’t cut the mustard.
You base that on nothing. [concerning being attracted to the author’s ideas]
I base that on the OP itself, in that you’re obviously parroting and paraphrasing the “preamble” in that very thread. Unlike hypnosis, there’s such a thing as reading between the lines.
I have insisted on nothing. [concerning he insists on reading a 67 page “thesis”]
Please, don’t be so annoyingly coy. The very first opening says, Warning - 67 page PDF. Then you go on and on through the rest of the thread, telling us you’re not the author so you can’t discuss it or argue for or against its statements. WTF? How can we talk about anything if you won’t discuss it (having read it yourself), unless all of us who decides to join this thread reads it. You ask too much (indirectly) and offer too little (directly).
Also, concerning the whole “I’m not the author” thing, I’m beginning to think you doth protest too much.
You mean other than the stuff I’ve already quoted from the preamble? No.[concerning the string of words that mean something separate, but become meaningless together]
Well, why the fuck not? You said it all became “crystal clear” after you scanned the entire document. Either shit or get off the pot. Break it down, already. You started the thread.
I wondered that initially, but when I did a quick scan through the document it all became crystal clear to me.
They’re dot points that are explained in greater detail within the body of the document.
Again, break it the fuck down, and let us know what seems so compelling to you, concerning not only mass-hypnosis, but how it applies specifically to Obama. A tip: Feel free to quote snippets from the thesis and give us your analysis and opinions.
I am living breathing proof that Barrack HUSSEIN Obama does indeed engage in hypnosis. I am a registered Republican and he has used his wily ways to get me to vote for him. Sometimes he makes me act like a chicken, which is embarrassing, but I still support him because I am under his spell.
p.s. Won’t it be cool though when he has Kim Jong-il and the Al Qaeda leadership quacking like ducks?
You have a point. A Svengali as president can be a great thing… if he’s on your side!
Or your candidate has a penchant for going to Vegas?
No, the brown wizard was Radagast.