Derren Brown - Subtle skills - Powers of suggestion

Derren Brown - Subtle skills - Powers of suggestion:

"Conditioned response
Commonly referred to as 'thinking inside the box', this form of mind control underpins most of the others. Psychologists, hypnotists and mentalists base their work on the theory that we are conditioned by society to think and act in certain ways. 'We learn suggestibility from an early age,' says Derren. 'We have to learn that if we touch a flame, it will burn. We pick up this kind of thing subconsciously so that next time we know not to touch.'

This theory is the basis of the work of authors Laurie Nadel, Judy Haims and Robert Stempson who, in their book The Sixth Sense, explore the relationship between intuition and logic. 'From earliest childhood we are praised and rewarded for performing mental feats involving logic, memory and other measurable cognitive skills,' they say. 'The entire foundation of our traditional education system is predicated on the belief that these skills are superior to other mental abilities such as imagination and intuition. Thus you learn early on in life to programme your mind to use only a limited part of its ability in performing tasks.'

Trained to obey
This issue of authority is central to why most of us are inclined to think 'inside the box'. As Derren points out, 'It's important to learn how to make patterns and generalise but through it we also learn unquestioning suggestibility and authority. This leads us to accept what societal figureheads such as parents, teachers, tutors and doctors say – and even find ourselves offering their opinions as our own.' It was on this basis, then, that Derren was able to condition the shoppers in the Whitgift Centre to act outside their own free will. 'I used the tannoy as a subtle form of authority,' says Derren. 'As people are not really paying much attention to it, their subconscious takes over.'

Authority and imagination
Does 'thinking inside the box' seem to you a perfectly viable go-with-the-flow option? Or does it bring on the horrifying realisation that you need to get out more? Whatever your reaction to it, don't switch your TV set off yet. According to Derren, we should really be hoping for a mixture of both. 'Ingrained patterns are something we all need to learn for our own safety and development,' says Derren, 'but they can be limiting so sometimes we need to think outside the box. That way we can learn to be more creative and challenge our limitations.'"