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 diamond WV Theme ...             #15            ...individual <---> knowledge

  THE COLLECTIVE COGNITIVE IMPERATIVE 

If properly stimulated or sufficiently stressed, I can suspend analytical thinking, narrow my consciousness and passively transfer control of myself to some real or imagined authority. I put my faith and trust in, indeed I feel obligated and beholden to, this authority. (Note: The authority is associated with a culturally agreed on expectancy behind a belief system. The authority can be preacher, shaman, witch doctor, hypnotist, idol, voice from a speaker, TV image, drum, sacred book, magic charm, etc. This giving up control happens most often in settings where peer pressure to conform is strong, or involving rituals triggering trancelike behavior, and, in some cases, may involve auditory and / or visual hallucinations.)

Related Words, Beliefs, Background -- 26 entries

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #15: The Collective Cognitive Imperative 

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (from Julian Jaynes website)
Bicameralism (from online encyclopedia)
Mind Control (from online encyclopedia)
Hallucination (from online encyclopedia)
Brainwashing by Religious Cults (from Religious tolerance website)
Peer Pressure (from online encyclopedia)
Wishful Thinking (from online encyclopedia)
Subliminal Messages in Advertising
The Battle for Your Mind
Hypnosis (from online encyclopedia)
Trance (from online encyclopedia)
The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis (from Scientific American)
Suggestibility (from online encyclopedia)
Hypnosis and Suggestibility: An Experimental Approach (from American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis)
Intervoice ("the international community for hearing voices")
Hearing Voices Network
Parenting--Teens--Peer Pressure
Shaman   (the journal of The International Society for Shamanistic Research)
"Are Spiritual Encounters All in Your Head? by Barbara Hagerty (part of five part series on NPR, May 2009) 
"Anthropology and Hallucinations, by Andrew Lang" (from 1900 book The Making of Religion)
The Relationship of the Bicameral Mind and the Paranormal (article by Julian Jaynes, Paul Kurtz, and D.C. Stove)
Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness: Julian Jaynes Bicameral Mind Theory Revisited (about this book)
Evolution, Religion, Schizophrenia, and the Schizotypal Personality (90 minute lecture by Stanford's Robert Sapolsky)
Science, Psychology, and Spirituality by Khalid Sohail  (2006 article) 
People Pleasing by Steve Mensing
Groupthink (from online encyclopedia)
Groupthink (from Small Group Communication)
The Masses and Emotional Suggestibility (from classic 1946 book)
Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War, by William Trotter (read this classic 1908 book at Google Books)
The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki (read excerpts of 2004 book at Google Books)
Group Mind
Social Psychology and The Group Mind (from 1937 book by Herbert Blumer)
Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco (1/3 way through this book is a detailed description of Amparo "called by deep voices" losing control of herself in a drum beat filled, other worldly, Caribbean spiritualistic meeting)   
quotes on thought and mind control
quotes on cults

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