21st Century Wire says…
Mind control master, illusionist and all-purpose showbiz wizard, Derren Bown, the man who always makes it look so easy, says he once used a simple linguistic trick (see story below) which immediately reduced a mugger to tears. What a great little trick to have in your handbag, right?
This is the Age of Austerity, where double digit unemployment and drug use are the norm – so muggings will be an issue, especially in big cities. Your first option is to relent, and hand over your wallet, the watch and the phone. For those of us who don’t want the hassle of canceling the cards, phone and losing all your contacts, then you must consider the full spectrum of possible actions and outcomes…
If you happen to be unarmed, then yes, you would need to resort to either of the following: evasive action (run), Aikido, or just use ‘the old noggin’ (your brain) to fend off that mugger at night. Obviously, your options will be more limited in Europe, where people do more, and travel more on foot and take public transit through town and city centers late at night, and where it is illegal to carry certain defensive tools – like a knife or gun, although muggers seem to have absolutely no problem carrying them (that’s a debate for another article).
Does mind control really work? Perhaps Brown has simply done the psychology research and therefore understands the underlying thought processes of the mugger (of which he’d never say on TV, because that might reveal his tradecraft).
One example out of a vast array of academic studies, would be the work of social psychologist, Muzafer Sherif, who developed ‘Realistic Conflict Theory’, which takes into account many underlying factors – aside from ‘fight or flight ‘survival situations – factors like negative prejudices, and stereotypes as being responsible for street competition for perceived limited resources. Sherif then validates this theory in his most famous experiment, ‘The Robber’s Cave’.
Beware of over-simplified, Jedi mind tricks though. Brown’s middle class, anti-mugging mind control techniques are only useful against a certain type of mugger, in a certain physical situation, and one must be able to evaluate horses-for-course, or risk getting badly injured – or worse. Bear in mind here, that many a savvy street hustler and seasoned smack addict are also well versed in pedestrian mind-control methods as they also deploy them on a daily basis to score basic vice needs.
This post was published at 21st Century Wire on NOVEMBER 13, 2014.
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