Few groups manipulate their members to act against their own best interests more effectively than...
Blog
Are We More Vulnerable to Manipulation in Groups?
“Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. We crave bonds and attachment, which is why we...
Teaching Teenage Students about Undue Influence
We are always on the lookout for best practice examples of educating teenage students about the...
Authoritarian Beliefs: How Dangerous Are They?
The dictionary defines authoritarian as unquestioning obedience to authority. The authors of 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...
The Overwhelmed Brain
I read Oliver Sacks’ seminal The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat in 1984. But, twenty or so...
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...
Authoritarian Groups in our Midst
The techniques of the scam artist has been elevated to new heights in destructive, authoritarian...
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...
The Dynamics of Authoritarianism
In this new century, the most notorious form of authoritarianism is the terrorist group, but the...
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...
Combating Cult Mind Control – The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults
If you're reading CCMC for the first time, please know that you've found a safe, respectful,...
Terror, Love and Brainwashing – Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems
Written by a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism, Terror, Love and...
Inside Out – A Memoir of Entering Into and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult
A gripping literary memoir of life inside an extremist political group. "If you want to know how...
Opening Minds – the Secret World of Manipulation, Undue Influence and Brainwashing
Opening Minds by Jon Atack shows how we can be cajoled into accepting unethical, uninvited and...
Let’s Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky
Let’s Sell These People a Piece of Blue Sky: the new, unexpurgated, unabridged version of the...