To be a member of this group you need to do the following. Go out and recruit like minded individuals. The way we do this is by stressing the following things to people. 1) Social needs - people need others to feel normal and human. Interaction with others is a necessity for a fulfilled and balanced person. 2) Affirmation - the need to be recognized as having value. 3) Security - the need to have a consistent social environment; a somewhat predictable habit of social contact. 4) Attention - the need to have a personally directed response to our thoughts and actions. 5) Leadership - the need to have a goal or purpose, sometimes a reason for life. Employ the following methods to help people enter First Comment 1. repetitive recitation: makes responses automatic, and is most closely affiliated with what has been termed "brainwashing". It reduces the natural inquisitiveness of a person to an automatic, homogenous "parrot" of the ideas that are taught in this repetitive way. Often, victims are told to meditate on an idea, or become part of a group that uses peer pressure to enforce the activity. 2. Scripture twisting: appeals to the need for rational thinking, and depends on a pre-existing confidence in Scriptures, or a possible confidence in Scriptures. Misinterpretation, discouraging question asking, and extreme authority are often utilized in conjunction with Scripture twisting. 3. Emotional incentive: social needs are met only when the "proper" response is given. Often coupled with peer pressure, once a target is drawn into the group, conformity to the group's ideas and "rules" is enforced by providing and/or withholding emotional needs. 4. Emotional teardown: breaking down the individuality of a person encourages replacement of the individual with the ideas and thoughts of another. Related to ideas of self-esteem, emotional teardown consists of a leader or group emphasizing negative traits in an individual. Through this process, individuals with low self-esteem, or have a low self-confidence, will strive to satisfy the "new" attitudes of the group, thereby reducing the group's concentration on the individual's "negative" traits. Often, emotional teardown is utilized when an individual can be isolated from society, family, and friends. (i.e. retreats, camps, "training" schools) 5. physical incentive: physical needs are met only when the "proper" response is given. Conformity is enforced by providing or withholding physical needs. Often, the targets are not able to be self-sufficient, or they have "lost" these skills due to the influence of the group. 6. spiritual incentive: secret or mystic "truths" are revealed only when the "proper" response is given. Often, secret oaths and horrifying penalties for the disclosure of these "secrets" are utilized, although some groups are known to reveal "inner" secrets only to those that have proven loyalty to the group. A defined hierarchy of authority is usually the case with these kinds of groups, with the revelation of "secrets" used as a method of enforcing conformity. 7. physical teardown: a sensual experience is generated through physical deprivation. Affects emotional and rational needs. This takes advantage of a medical phenomenon whereby an individual becomes more suggestible under a physically weakened state. Sensory deprivation is also related to this, to a certain extent. The most common occurrence of physical teardown occurs when individuals are isolated, encouraged to "meditate", and are fed at the end of long intervals. Repetitive recitation often follows. 8. spiritual teardown: current belief system is challenged and ridiculed. A new, or modified belief system is proposed to replace it. The technique plays on emotional and spiritual needs. In pseudo-christian cults, scripture twisting is common. 9. social incentive: social needs are met when the "proper" response is given. An individual who does not conform to the group is shunned, harassed, or persecuted. 10. peer pressure: needs are met when the expected "proper" response is given. Acceptance of an individual into a group is dependent on conformity to group ideals and actions. This is often tied to any and all of the incentive methods. 11. graduated indoctrination: the actual basis, or belief system, is introduced to the target so slowly, the victim assimilates information without checking it against previous information. Most commonly, truthful principles are utilized initially, then the true beliefs and policies of the group are intermingled. An individual may subjectively perceive the new ideas of the group as being very consistent with his/her own belief system, even though those ideas were originally perceived as being contrary to that individual. good luck -the leader To invite images, copy and paste the code below: <i>Please add this exquisite image to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/first_comment/" title="First Comment">First Comment Group</a>!</i> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/first_comment/" title="First Comment><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/623584249_b0a703df55_o.gif" width="200" /></a> It will look like this: Please add this exquisite image to the First Comment Group!!