Derren originally wanted to create his own cult with ming beards, and very loud, purple shirts. Watch this video to see how you can start your very own from the comfort of your living room.
Create your own cult
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At first the clip seemed funny, but then I realized that yes, this is what cults do. It makes me pretty angry. They’re basically setting mind-traps that are very hard to get out of.
As a teen, I found a group online that DID promise ‘psionic’ powers, and offered seminars, and tried to tell me that my family was making me sick. Too bad for them, I found their reasoning unbelievable, and their lack of willingness to test their ‘psionic powers’, suspicious. Also, around that time, a former follower showed up on their forums and called them a cult. I stopped going to their website. Interestingly, though, I didn’t discount the reality of ‘psionic powers’ at that point – I kept believing in those, and seeing random coincidences as evidence for them, for quite a few years after that.
People wonder what makes normal, well-adjusted young people into terrorists. This is exactly what does that. Cult leaders disgust me.
I’m fascinated by the design in the wallpaper.
I was nagged for two whole years to join a group like that by a close friend. Eventually the sheer drip-drip-drip chinese water torture constant nagging made me go through the motions just to shut him the hell up. I simply went through the motions and rituals and just rejected everything once I left 4 days later and £260 lighter.
I do sometimes wonder why I keep friends like that. Maybe next time I need to work on thumping him hard in the face whenever he suggests another seminar weekend.
Or I could just e-mail this to him.
I found this on youtube 6 months ago and I’ve been showing it everyone. However, if you want to look up other short films by Carey Burtt, especially The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase’ ,you will need the following:
The willingness to be utter repulsed and disturbed, and yet completely compelled to watch it through to the end.
A stable sleep routine.
An understanding friend who will subsequently watch it after you to negate and soften the overwhelming feelings of dirtiness and general maliase which comes from the knowledge that you are the only person you know walking around with this film in your head.
Enjoy.
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Perhaps an idea for a special Derren Brown: The Cult, to highlight the traps they use which “normal” people fall into?
I think that’s what “the Heist” and “Messiah” were partly about, but it’s a very big topic to cover in one go.
From experience it came as no surprise that the members of the cult that tried to get me badgered all their members to convert 5 others a week with pester power and guilt trips in order to ascend to the next level. The trouble is my friend was so immune to reason I had to go through the motions to prove to him it was a cult.
One year later the penny finally dropped for him.
BTW, the other thing they did was not to tell you anything about their seminars upfront and forbid members from doing the same, while still insisting you sign a cheque for £260.
Some of what happened there was self help such as you’d get in any self-help book for £12. However, there were scary elements like confessing your darkest personal secrets to a room full of strangers. When one teenage girl refused to do so the cult leader laid into her remorselessly in front of the 150 members by telling her she should be ashamed of herself , and how dare she after all her mother had done by bringing her here (against her will). There was also the insistance on not wearing watches in a room with the blinds drawn, we were told not to take medication unless we asked them first, and all manner of subtle control freakery. We were also told that they were going to share our phonenumbers with the group “unless you want to opt out, in which case tell us now”. Naturally no-one felt like doing that with such huge peer pressure to play ball.
Speaking of cults, would love to know what Derren Brown makes of this: http://www.scientologyhandbook.org/SH6_4.HTM
This clip is a wonderful examination of how cults actually work, it seems like a parody at first but its pretty much a true to life piece with a good writer to show how crazy it can be. But instead of a cult attempting to convert people there are just a lot of people literally looking for something like a cult to throw their money at. And as any confidence man / hustler usually quotes, you never give the sucker back their money.
Jaye- If the con man in question has done a good job, they never ask for it back, or consider themselves suckers. I felt like double the sucker for knowing full well what I was letting myself in for and what an orchestrated con it all was but still parting with cash!
Pester power somehow always gets to me, as I have a low irritation threshold. Regretably my friend is just the type who never stops pestering until he gets his way, and 2 whole years was as long as I could hold out. With friends like these…