Snapping
Page 38
Chapter 14: SNAPPING IN EVERYDAY LIFE
183 A great deal has already been written about how the accelerating
rate of drastic change: See McLuhan's Understanding Media [108]
for the classic perspective.
Physicians have identified the various health hazards: See The
Stress of Life, by Hans Selye (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956);
also "What Stress Can Do to You," Fortune, January, 1972.
184... the approaching menace of "future shock": See Toffler's Future
Shock [113].
... another form of snapping . . . much less tangible . . . is clearly
observable in America today: Psychiatrist J.A.M. Meerloo, author of
The Rape of the Mind, reported the existence of this phenomenon
years before Future Shock. In Contributions of Psychiatry
to the Study of Human Communication (Dance [57], pp. 130-59),
Meerloo wrote, "Indeed, there exists a positive communication
explosion, a prelude to an avalanche. I have already observed
in some patients the breakdown of their communication systems as
a result of this overloading. We are in danger of being crushed
under a mountain of information debris."
... the more confused he may be . . . and vulnerable to suggestion:
Marcuse discusses the "confusional technique" of hypnosis [37], p. 57.
188 American business and advertising have . . . the latest . . .
knowledge concerning the manner in which human behavior can be
manipulated: See Packard's classic work, The Hidden Persuaders
[109]; also "The Gilded Bough: Magic and Advertising," by Howard
Luck Gossage, in The Human Dialogue [107], p. 363, and The
Folklore of Mass Persuasion, by Floyd W. Matson [107], p. 371.
190... our society has begun to acknowledge . . . an entire generation of
Americans has now been molded in the image of television: See
"What TV Does to Kids," Newsweek, February 21, 1977; also
"Television and the New Image of Man," by Ashley Montagu, in
The Human Dialogue [107], p. 355.
Chapter 15: SNAPPlNG AND PUNISHMENT
195 "Burglar, car thief": Bogliosi [94], p. 199.
Manson "appears to have developed a certain amount of insight":
Bugliosi [94], p. 196.
196 According to Bugliosi, the Process was founded by a former disciple
of L. Ron Hubbard: Bugliosi [94], p. 636.
"Undoubtedly," wrote Bogliosi, "he . . .": Bugliosi [94], p. 635.
197 "He whispered into my left ear": From Atkins [92] as excerpted in the
New York Daily News, September 21, 1977.
198 "These defendants are not human beings, ladies and gentlemen . . .
mutation.": Bugliosi [94], p. 606.
In her recently published book, Susan Atkins: Child of Satan --
Child of God . . . Completely gone: From Atkins [92] as excerpted
in the New York Daily News, September 23, 1977.
207 Dr. Joel Fort . . . a "maverick": The New York Times, March 1, 1976.
Fort . . . argued . . . Patty was a "willing participant":
The New York Times, March 9, 1976.
Browning told the jury, "they wash each other out": The New York
Times, March 21, 1976.
208... one assistant prosecutor did succeed in suggesting . . . that
Lifton had a vested professional interest: The New York Times,
February 28, 1976.
209 In a half-hour interview granted to CBS News: The following quotes
were taken from "Patty Hearst -- Her Story" a CBS News "Special
Report" broadcast December 16, 1976, 11:30 p.m.-12:00 M, EST
(used with permission).
210 Dr. Martin Orme . . . stated that . . . "A totally helpless person
would appear at that time": The New York Times, February 27, 1976.
Another picture, drawn by New York Times reporter Lacey Fosburgh:
See "Patty Today," The New York Times Magazine, April 3, 1977,
p. 100.
... the opinion expressed by Ted Patrick: Patrick [40], p. 284.
211... man in the street . . . "brainwashing can only be done by experts":
The New York Times, March 21, 1976.
Berkowitz was said to have shown "no remorse": The New York Post,
August 11, 1977.
212... doctors ruled out the possibility . . . of physical brain damage:
The New York Post, August 18, 1977.
... "emotionally dead": The New York Daily News, September 2, 1977.
214 "I said I didn't bring it to the field": These quotations from
Berkowitz's letters to a woman described as a high school
sweetheart were published in the New York Daily News on August
15, 1977, in a copyrighted article, "Sam Letters: From Here to
Insanity?" by Richard Edmonds and Alton Slagle.
"There seemed to be a personality change": This description by
an army friend of Berkowitz's appeared in another article in the
New York Daily News, August 15, 1977, "The Saga of Sam," second
of a series, "A Mind in Torment: Drugs, Dogs, Korea and Christ,"
by Alton Slagle.
"When I look in the mirror": From "Sam Letters: From Here to
Insanity?", the New York Daily News, August 15, 1977.
215 "I must truly admitt": Ibid.
"I hope they let me go home": Ibid.
"I just asked him to go to church with me one day": From an
Associated Press story in the New York Post, August 25, 1977.
Chapter 16: THE FUTURE OF PERSONALITY
218 . . . a new book on . . . the Unification Church: See Sontag [45].
The FBI recently conducted raids on Scientology headquarters:
See Time magazine, July 25, 1977, p. 67.
The once-tiny Children of God: See Time magazine, August 22, 1977,
p. 48.
Werner Erhard has launched a new campaign: See the Village Voice,
"Werner Erhard Thinks He Can Feed the World," October 10, 1977, p. 1.
221 Jack Gibb: Gibb, a pioneer in encounter group theory, has been
developing his own theory and method of encounter, called TORI,
from principles he helped develop at the National Training
Laboratories. See Gibb [3].
224 Researchers who for years have been questing after exotic "psi
energies": Two physicists at the world-famous Stanford Research
Institute offer an intriguing perspective along these lines in
Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic AbilityNew York Times Book Review,
March 13, 1977).
And slowly that framework appears to be taking shape . . . the
new scientific languages of quantum physics, neuroscience,
cyberuetics and information theory: Extensive research in these
areas has been going on in the Soviet Union for decades, where
science and the socialist state have devoted considerable resources
to the study of "biocommunication." One Russian scientist has
gone so far as to quantify the information-carrying capacity
of human extrasensory channels. In controlled experiments in
intercity telepathic communication, he has measured the number
of bits per second that may be transmitted between test subjects
separated by distances of up to 1,000 kilometers. Current Russian
findings suggest that extrasensory communication and perception
function on the basis of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic
radiation. In their view, these little "ELF" waves constitute a
kind of low-energy mental radio that individuals may broadcast
Postscript: Jonestown
The Face of the Eighties
227... "the story of the decade": Jimmy Breslin in the New York
Daily News, November 23, 1978.
227 The twenty-eight-count indictment . . . in history: For details
on the government's charges, see the Washington Post, August 16,
1978.
228 After a three-year probe . . . M-16 rifles: See the Washington Post,
November 2, 1978. The Unification Church has issued a 279-page
denial of the charges.
228... Synanon's self-styled "Imperial Marines": The Los Angeles Times,
October 13, 1978.
229 "It is time to die with dignity" . . . "Mother. Mother. Mother.
Mother.": This description of the death scene at Jonestown appeared
in Newsweek, December 4, 1978.
229... "one of the most shocking . . . outside of wartime": The New York
Times, December 2, 1978.
229... Jones no longer believed in religion: From a previously published
interview with Jones's wife, Marceline, in the New York Times,
November 20, 1978.
234 He "had a different faith . . . in an individual way": Statement
by George Hunter, editor of the Ukiah (California) Daily Journal
in the New York Times, November 23, 1978.
237 Jones . . . pursued illicit relationships . . . outside the temple:
"On December 12, 1973, Jones was arrested by Los Angeles police
for allegedly making a lewd advance to an undercover officer in
an adult theater." In The Suicide Cult, by Marshall Kilduff
and Ron Javers (New York: Bantam Books, 1978), p. 56.
239 (although some of those letters now appear to have been forged):
The New York Times, November 21, 1978.
241... eliciting prepublication protests from . . . representatives of
the American Civil Liberties Union: Newsweek, op. cit.
242... huge supplies of psychoactive drugs were smuggled into Jonestown:
The New York Times, December 29, 1978.
242 "When they came out a week later . . . empty faces": Newsweek,
op. cit.
243 "I can say without hesitation . . . one continent to the next":
The New York Times, November 21, 1978.
245 The Treasury Department . . . eighteen months earlier:
The New York Times, December 3, 1978.
245 The Federal Communications Commission . . . regulations:
The New York Times, November 23, 1978.
246... the Social Security Administration . . . sign away their benefits:
The New York Times, November 22, 1978.
246... the Justice Department . . . freedom of religion: The New York
Times, November 24, 1978.
247... the Children of God moved . . . 829 colonies around the world:
The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 2, 1978.
248... the Unification Church has . . . transferred significant resources:
For a local view of the problem, see The (Massachusetts)
Magazine, January 7, 1979, "The Moonies in Gloucester," by
Gillisann Haroian.
248 The retreat . . . known as New Vrindaban: Information on New Vrindaban
appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 31, 1978.
248 Their own teachings . . . undermine this argument: Krishna leader
Kirtanananda quoted from the Krishna Code of Manu, which, he said,
"teaches that it is a favor to kill someone who has committed an
offense, because it absolves him from carrying the sin into his
next life." In the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 31, 1978.
248 "The Krishna teachings offer three choices . . . to kill yourself":
In Patrick [40], p. 197 and elsewhere.
248 Investigators probing the operations of Synanon . . . ammunition:
The New York Times, January 20, 1979.
249 The Way International . . . only seeking hunters' safety training:
The New York Times, January 22, 1979.
249 The FBl's 1977 raid on Scientology . . . "vampire blood":
Newsweek, August 28, 1978.
249 "Operation Freakout": The Los Angeles Times, August 28, 1978.
Other instances of Scientology harassment and criminal frame-ups
have been alleged and, in some instances, proved in court, but the
public is largely unaware of the cult's explicit sanction of such
activities in its official doctrines. One such "Policy Order"
issued in 1967 by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard concerns
"SPs" or Suppressive Persons, also known as "enemies." Titled
"Fair Game," the order states that such persons "may be deprived
of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist. May
be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed." Cult spokesmen claim
the order was rescinded years ago, but provide no conclusive
evidence to that effect. Another little-known Scientology
doctrine is labeled "R2-45: An enormously effective process for
exteriorization but its use is frowned upon by this society at
this time." Former Scientologists assert that R2-45 authorized
the killing of church enemies with two .45-caliber bullets. There
is no evidence that this order was ever carried out, however,
and cult spokesmen claim "it was only a joke." Also in the "Los
Angeles Times," August 28, 1978.
249 "I will conquer and subjugate the world": In the New York Daily News,
November 30, 1975.
249 "The present United Nations must be annihilated.. .": Ibid.
249 " . . . Many people will die -- those who go against our movement": Ibid.
249... he is said to be already drawing up plans for large-scale
international campaigns: See "The Dark Side of the Moon,"
by Alan MacRobert, The Real Paper (Boston), March 5, 1977.
250 The Hunger Project: See "Let Them Eat 'est'" by Suzanne Gordon,
Mother Jones, December, 1978. Gordon claims that the Hunger Project's
underlying purpose is to recruit customers for Erhard's mind-bending
est training seminars. She and other investigators report that
everyone who volunteers for the project is encouraged, even openly
pressured, to sign up for the training. est vehemently disputes
Gordon's charges and has announced its intention to sue "Mother
Jones."
251... the Campus Crusade for Christ . . . "every person on earth by
1982": In the Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1978.
Selected Bibliography
This listing of books, magazine articles, and scholarly papers is
not intended to be complete, but it will provide the reader with
references to the main sources cited in this book, along with some of
the key texts and seminal works used by the authors in the formulation
of their perspective. Entries are grouped under headings that do not
necessarily indicate the main subject matter of the work but rather the
context in which it was found to be most valuable in this book. All
newspaper articles and many other magazine articles are described in
the accompanying Notes.
Topics in Modern Psychology and the Human Potential Movement
1. Freud, Sigmund, Civilization and Its Discontents, trans. by
J. Strachey. New York: W. W. Norton, 1962.
2. _____, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, trans. by
J. Strachey. New York: W. W. Norton, 1965.
3. Gibb, Jack R., "Climate for Trust Formation," in
L. Bradford,
J. R. Gibb, and K. D. Benne, eds., T-Group Theory and Laboratory
Method. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1964.
4. Jung, Carl G., Modern Man in Search of a Soul, trans. by W. S. Dell
and Cary F. Baynes. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1933.
5. Koch, Sigmund, "The Image of Man Implicit in Encounter Group
Theory." Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 11:109-27 (1971).
6. Lieberman, M. A., I. D. Yalom, and M. B. Miles, Encounter Groups:
First Facts. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
7. Lilly, John C., The Center of the Cyclone. New York: Julian
Press, 1972.
8. Maslow, Abraham H., Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences.
New York: Viking Press, 1970.
9. _____, Toward a Psychology of Being. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1968.
10. Moreno, Jacob L., Who Shall Survive? Foundations of Sociometry, Group
Psychotherapy and Sociodrama, 2d ed. Beacon, N.Y.: Beacon House, 1953.
11. Rogers, Carl R., On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961.
12. _____, Carl Rogers on Personal Power. New York: Delacorte Press, 1977.
13. Ruitenbeek, Hendrik M., The New Group Therapies. New York:
Avon Books, 1970.