Portal:United States Congress

“ They are, in effect, living in a second personality modeled on the needs of the surrounding group. Existence is no more a matter of individual free choice, because the individual has lost his past and the capacity to consider complex ambiguous ideas. ”

“ There will be no structuring of something brand-new, only an acceptance of the surrounding environment.
Mr. Giaimo. To that degree he would be a captive of that environment?
Dr. Clark. To that degree he is a captive if he is not let loose within the next two or three sleep periods. After that, there seems to be very clear evidence that the individual is technically a multiple personality living in the second personality.
There are great differences in the memories of the past, especially the subtle memories of old relationships and love, which are very complicated. ”

“ Those of us who have seriously attempted to study the rapidly spreading phenomenon of absolutist groups and effects of extreme pressures on their converts have reason to declare that the level of public nuisance is now so high that both scientists and public servants must react strongly before it is too late. ”

“ You mention in your testimony about -- describe characteristics indicating a new personality or a controlled mind.
Dr. Clark. Yes.
Mr. Giaimo. What do you mean by a controlled mind, and does it in any way involve will?
Dr. Clark. An individual who has been brought through a process sequence of conversion, which is very similar and, I think, ultimately the same as, the sequence of hypnosis, narrows his attention gradually -- as anybody dealing with a crisis will do -- to the point where the attention is entirely on the surrounding environment. ”

“ Even more frightening are the actual techniques of controlling the mind. Unwanted memories or thoughts are forced out of the mind by careful training.
For instance, in many cults, the feeling of panic and the image of satan stops stray thinking. ”

“ They are animated only when discussing their group and its beliefs.
They rapidly lose a knowledge of current events. When stressed even a little, they become defensive and inflexible and retreat into mumbling cliches. ”

“ Having been rapidly converted by utterly determined people whose efforts induce trance states and who have been separated from their customary environments in these states, these individuals become dependent on their surroundings for the validation of reality. ”

“ Because they have learned to live with greatly reduced sleep time in many cases, they may display a loosening of association and commonly see visions, hear voices, or experience odd delusions of smell. ”

“ About 40 percent of them -- that's a small number compared to some other people's figures -- are perfectly normal people by any test that I could apply through gathering information about their past. They were normal people. ”

“ They may represent political, social, magical, neolith points of view or none at all, but are sustained by their total commitment to some forms of opposition to the accepted surrounding culture. Each selects a slice largely dependent on the original inclination of the founding leader. ”