Of Brainwashing and Arguing

It might be too late for this to get noticed by the majority of the class, but I think the answer to the question regarding my opinion on the matter is that it would likely be inappropriate to voice heavily in this setting.  None of you plunked down money to hear me talk about politics or morality and I have little expertise worth paying for in either topic.  I am here because I love to teach future therapists and because (hopefully) many of you want to learn.

My hunch is that entering into the debate could lead some of you who feel strongly about the issue to have less passion about learning.  What a pity that would be!  Thus taking a strong stand on the issue would contradict my stated purpose.

As a therapist, this is also true.  Your job is to help others heal.  You do this by providing an environment where people feel safe, accepted and loved.  I've had clients come to me who are clearly sex addicts and have zero interest in working on it.  They're here to quit drinking or drugging or whatever.  Can I treat a sex-addict who is disinterested in addressing that issue?  You bet!  I can be of some service by accepting him or her where they're at and seeing where we can go.   Arguing about whether or not their a sex addict will simply drive them to someone else's office...

Hopefully that makes sense. 

A bit more on the argument piece... Studies show that when there is debate between two sides, those talking move farther away from the "center" so to speak.  Not surprising.  What is surprising though is that the audience typically does the same.  If you watched two people debating something, by the end of the discussion you will generally have sided with one member of the talk or the other and your own opinion will be more akin to theirs even if you had started out at a more moderate position!

What's REALLY interesting about that, is that if I'm unscrupulous I can use this to really mess with your head.  Let's say I wanted to convince you that - and I'm trying to come up with something fairly neutral here - that cigarettes don't cause cancer.  One way I could do this would be to put two people in front of you, one arguing passionately that science on this matter is inconclusive and the other arguing equally passionately that cigarettes are actually healthy and good for you!  Sounds ridiculous, right?  Well, studies show that often by the end of the conversation if it's a topic you have interest and those speaking have "expert" credibility in your mind, by the time the discussion is over you'll lean toward one or the other. Which are you more likely to side with?  The majority of the audience will have forgotten that they formerly believed that cigarettes cause cancer.  They will now be deciding between the lesser of two crazy positions and be pulled in the direction that I want them to.  Muhuhahaha... 

So, there's a lesson in brainwashing 101.  Next time you watch tv news or listen to the radio, look at the topic and see what's being debated.  If you put your mind to it you could find this technique being used with regularity...