By Patrick Haeck | January 2022 One of the most onerous forms of coercive control is mandated...
About Exploitative Techniques
The power of propaganda and how to fight it
Under scrutiny until at least January 2022, the oldest defendant to stand trial so far will be...
Manipulation at its Best (or Worst)
Few groups manipulate their members to act against their own best interests more effectively than...
Teaching Teenage Students about Undue Influence
We are always on the lookout for best practice examples of educating teenage students about the...
Nothing but PRAISE for Educated
The New York Times Book Review proclaims, “Heart-wrenching…. A beautiful testament to the power of education to open eyes and change lives.”
Questioning our Unquestionable Assumptions
If we can be patient with our feelings of unease, and learn to question our assumptions, no matter...
15 Years Later – Undoing the Undue Influence
I was a Jehovah’s Witness from childhood to my late twenties. I officially disassociated myself...
Cognitive Dissonance, Revisited
Cognitive dissonance is perhaps the most fundamental concept for an understanding of undue...
The long history of undue influence
Undue influence has been recognized in law for more than 500 years. It is a legitimate legal...
When the Alarm Sounds
Imagine you are at work. You are sitting at your desk, engrossed in a task. Suddenly the fire...
Building a Life after Leaving a High-Control Religion
Amber Scorah’s “Leaving The Witness” A good writer can hook and hold you from start to finish with...
The Journey of the Lost
Many people leaving cults or high-pressure groups understandably say they feel lost. How could...
Cognitive Dissonance at Work
Knowing how cognitive dissonance works is the key to understanding why the human brain is so...
Potential Recruits for Authoritarian Groups
There is a general belief that only weak people are taken in by authoritarian groups, but this...
The Process of Undue Influence
The process of undue influence follows a predictable series of steps. First comes contact. This...
No Safety in Numbers with Undue Influence
Any examination of history shows that people can be brought to believe almost anything. So,...
Our Susceptibility to Undue Influence
It is not just the Internet that is rife with scams. Trickery is an aspect of human nature, and it...
How Easy is it to Trick the Brain?
Psychological studies have repeatedly shown how easily rational thinking is bypassed. Our...
Conformity
Open Minds would like to give a shout-out to bestselling author Cass R. Sunstein and his new book,...
Faith-based Medical Neglect and Undue Influence
With more than 8,000,000 purported members, it is likely Jehovah's Witnesses are the foremost...
The Paradox of Undue Influence
The great problem with undue influence is that it has a before and an after, but no during. While...
Are You Being Misled Online?
Have you ever been misled online? If so, you are not alone! It’s not easy to discern fact from...
Developing Your Own Fact Detector
"Fake news" is one of the biggest concerns of our time; and with good reason. If people can't get...
News: Fake or Real? Try the Scientific Approach
As you scroll through your social media wall you encounter an article someone shares that sends...
Ukraine is Educating Students to Identify Fake News and Propaganda
Learn to Discern - Media Literacy Training On March 22, 2019, NPR published this article,...
Techniques Used by Authoritarian Groups – New Mini-poster
Manipulative, authoritarian groups can be found in many varieties - from destructive religious...
Foucault’s Hair – Part Two: Cults and Multiculturalism
The reduction in slavery, exploitation, abuse, humiliation, and physical and psychological...
Foucault’s Hair – Part One: Two Frenchmen
If I said that the thing I most appreciate about Michel Foucault is his hairstyle, surely someone...
In Loving Memory of Laura Ann Gracey – A Father Remembers
My darling daughter Laura Ann Gracey was born on July 17th, 1972, in Orange, California. My wife...
Saving a Thousand Lives a Year: Reforming Watchtower’s Policy on Blood – Part Two
The Watchtower strikes back To counter the mounting criticism concerning internal judicial action...
Saving a Thousand Lives a Year: Reforming Watchtower’s Policy on Blood – Part One
A brief history of Advocates for Jehovah's Witness Reform on Blood (AJWRB) and Watchtower’s Blood...
Fifth: “Thou shalt not kill” – The dark side of faith
You're walking along the railroad tracks when you see a runaway trolley barreling down. It is...
Cult, Gang, or New Religious Movement?
The Open Minds Foundation is not a counter-cult group, though totalist cults are part of our...