Read Online The Prophet Motive by Eric Christopherson - Free Book Online
Authors: Eric Christopherson
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was to model, or demonstrate, desired reactions and behaviors from the new recruits.
The Wizard continued. “That in a nutshell, my friends, is my task this evening, my daunting task. To help you—those who are already awake—to wake up even more! You simply must wake up even more, and before it’s too late!”
Even more, and before , Marilyn repeated in her mind. A little rhyme. And she’d noted a fondness for word repetition too. Delighted to meet new friends, new friends who . . . support the environmental movement, a movement that simply must succeed . . . my daunting task . . . make you . . . already awake . . . wake up even more . . . You simply must wake up . . .
Rhymes. Word repetition. That could only mean—.
“Although each of you chose to be here today,” The Wizard said, “I wonder just how many of you, my new friends, recognize the urgency of this moment in history. Do you realize that we—and when I say, ‘we,’ I mean, humankind, and humankind alone—have pushed and kicked and dragged every living creature on the planet onto a new Noah’s ark? That’s right, a new Noah’s ark. Can you feel, as I can, the icy cold wind of fate at our backs as we float together upon treacherous waters?”
He was using guided imagery now, speech evoking strong visual images. Rhymes and word repetition and guided imagery delivered in a thick melodic cadence meant that The Wizard sought to elicit an altered state of consciousness in the new recruits. He was utilizing a common psychological persuasion technique known as naturalistic trance induction . Falling into a trance could temporarily inhibit the mind’s ability to think critically or analytically, suspend independent judgement, blur the very boundary between fantasy and reality.
“We are not actually on Noah’s ark,” The Wizard said, shaking his head. “Oh, no, quite the contrary. We, humankind—too many of us inhuman, too many unkind—are aboard another great ark, one that has taken the reverse course of Noah, one that is now on the verge of undoing Noah’s mission. For, unbeknownst to most of those aboard, the ark is sinking fast! Sinking with every living thing aboard! Everything!
“Every human being. Every insect. Every single-celled amoeba. Every sponge. Every earthworm. Every starfish. Every jellyfish. Every octopus. Every snail. The beetles, the grasshoppers, the bees, the scorpions, the spiders, the shrimps, the crabs, the lowly sea squirts. Sharks, rays, lizards, crocodiles, snakes. Frogs, newts, birds, kangaroos—”
Whap ! Marilyn slapped her cheek involuntarily with the palm of her hand to prevent drifting into a trance state. The sound carried crisply, derailing The Wizard.
He eyed her before continuing. “And aboard this giant ark we call Earth, only the human beings can stop it from sinking. Stop it from sinking into the black ocean of annihilation!” He paused. “But why, you may ask, should you believe me? Why believe some strange, silver-haired man’s ranting and raving about the imminent destruction of the biosphere? After all, nobody else seems to agree. No one else is so concerned, right?”
Marilyn peeked at several of the other new recruits. Their subdued, glassy-eyed expressions indicated the trances were already beginning to take hold.
“Well,” said The Wizard, “that’s easy to explain. No one else has found the courage to face the truth, even though it’s out there now for anyone to see and grasp. And the truth is nothing less than this: that humans—or rather, inhumans—have by now damaged the biosphere to such an extent that it may already be too late to avoid an ecological holocaust!”
The Wizard commenced a wild-eyed oration on air pollution, acid rain, carbon dioxide, ultraviolet radiation, ozone holes, and other causes and effects of global warming, often waving torn and yellowed newspaper clippings that purportedly substantiated his views. He decried the steep decline in plant and animal
The Wizard continued. “That in a nutshell, my friends, is my task this evening, my daunting task. To help you—those who are already awake—to wake up even more! You simply must wake up even more, and before it’s too late!”
Even more, and before , Marilyn repeated in her mind. A little rhyme. And she’d noted a fondness for word repetition too. Delighted to meet new friends, new friends who . . . support the environmental movement, a movement that simply must succeed . . . my daunting task . . . make you . . . already awake . . . wake up even more . . . You simply must wake up . . .
Rhymes. Word repetition. That could only mean—.
“Although each of you chose to be here today,” The Wizard said, “I wonder just how many of you, my new friends, recognize the urgency of this moment in history. Do you realize that we—and when I say, ‘we,’ I mean, humankind, and humankind alone—have pushed and kicked and dragged every living creature on the planet onto a new Noah’s ark? That’s right, a new Noah’s ark. Can you feel, as I can, the icy cold wind of fate at our backs as we float together upon treacherous waters?”
He was using guided imagery now, speech evoking strong visual images. Rhymes and word repetition and guided imagery delivered in a thick melodic cadence meant that The Wizard sought to elicit an altered state of consciousness in the new recruits. He was utilizing a common psychological persuasion technique known as naturalistic trance induction . Falling into a trance could temporarily inhibit the mind’s ability to think critically or analytically, suspend independent judgement, blur the very boundary between fantasy and reality.
“We are not actually on Noah’s ark,” The Wizard said, shaking his head. “Oh, no, quite the contrary. We, humankind—too many of us inhuman, too many unkind—are aboard another great ark, one that has taken the reverse course of Noah, one that is now on the verge of undoing Noah’s mission. For, unbeknownst to most of those aboard, the ark is sinking fast! Sinking with every living thing aboard! Everything!
“Every human being. Every insect. Every single-celled amoeba. Every sponge. Every earthworm. Every starfish. Every jellyfish. Every octopus. Every snail. The beetles, the grasshoppers, the bees, the scorpions, the spiders, the shrimps, the crabs, the lowly sea squirts. Sharks, rays, lizards, crocodiles, snakes. Frogs, newts, birds, kangaroos—”
Whap ! Marilyn slapped her cheek involuntarily with the palm of her hand to prevent drifting into a trance state. The sound carried crisply, derailing The Wizard.
He eyed her before continuing. “And aboard this giant ark we call Earth, only the human beings can stop it from sinking. Stop it from sinking into the black ocean of annihilation!” He paused. “But why, you may ask, should you believe me? Why believe some strange, silver-haired man’s ranting and raving about the imminent destruction of the biosphere? After all, nobody else seems to agree. No one else is so concerned, right?”
Marilyn peeked at several of the other new recruits. Their subdued, glassy-eyed expressions indicated the trances were already beginning to take hold.
“Well,” said The Wizard, “that’s easy to explain. No one else has found the courage to face the truth, even though it’s out there now for anyone to see and grasp. And the truth is nothing less than this: that humans—or rather, inhumans—have by now damaged the biosphere to such an extent that it may already be too late to avoid an ecological holocaust!”
The Wizard commenced a wild-eyed oration on air pollution, acid rain, carbon dioxide, ultraviolet radiation, ozone holes, and other causes and effects of global warming, often waving torn and yellowed newspaper clippings that purportedly substantiated his views. He decried the steep decline in plant and animal
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