Yuval Laor on fervor, awe, and hyperreligiosity – on the ‘Trust Me’ podcast
https://www.podcastone.com/episode/17-Yuval-Laor---Fervor-Awe-and-Hyperreligiosity-405441
'Trust Me’ podcast hosted by Lola Blanc and Meagan Elizabeth
Lola and Meagan interview Dr. Yuval Laor, behavioral and cultural scientist who studies evolutionary biology and religion. Yuval describes his theories on awe experiences and fervor, and how cult leaders manipulate these emotional states to earn and keep their followers' loyalty. He also talks about belief attachment and why it's not so different from parental or romantic attachment, and the hyperreligiosity that can occur with temporal lobe epileptic seizures. ______________________
(extract, slightly edited for readability)
33:05 Yuval Laor: ... And what you expect affects the experience. If you expect God to touch you when you are hallucinating, then you will interpret any anomalous [or out of the ordinary] sensation you have as that. So it is experiences, but experiences are not without context.
Lola: So what are other ways that someone might manipulate and manufacture awe experiences for someone?
Yuval: So because awe experiences are, as I said, anything that you judge to be sufficiently anomalous. So when some people see a double rainbow, that will be sufficiently anomalous. Other people know that all rainbows are double rainbows. And you see that in cult leaders they would tailor what would cause the experience to the person. But, for example, any type of magic trick could do. And there is hot reading. So suddenly the cult leader knows something about you that they had no way of knowing.
Lola: Is that different from cold reading?
Yuval: Hot reading is when people actually did research. Or you came to their events and someone else, that you think came to their event, talks to you and you don’t know that they are actually an informant for the cult.
Many times we know how to interpret experiences because of the people around us. We see that many cults would do that, for example the Moonies. If you go to a weekend intensive of the Moonies, it is three days. You are told that you will get eight hours to sleep, and it’s fine. And fifty people show up. What you don’t know is that actually there are 45 cult members pretending to be recruits, plus you and four other [potential] recruits. You do whatever you do during the day, and then when it comes to go to sleep, you are in a room with three other potential recruits – that you don’t know are actually cult members. And in the room they involve you in a discussion about how great everything was. You don’t know that it is the cult that is preventing you from sleeping. You don’t know that it is the cult that is having people, that you judge to be honest actors, telling you what they thought. There are those kinds of insidious methods, and then also the sleep deprivation would affect the next day. So anything that would change, a change in scenery, a change in diet, a change in sleep patterns.
We also know that awe experiences are more likely to happen in the small hours of the morning. They are more likely to happen when you are a teenager or a young adult, or when you are very elderly. And certain people, who for example fly in their dreams, are more likely to have awe experiences. …
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Jordan Harbinger: scams, influence, and the law of attraction
Podcast veteran Jordan Harbinger joins Lola and Meagan to talk magical thinking, the law of attraction, influence vs manipulation, how to be an ethical leader, how he himself has been scammed, and what makes people susceptible to scams!
https://www.podcastone.com/episode/Jordan-Harbinger-Scams-Influence–The-Law-of-Attraction
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#53: Rachel Bernstein & INDOCTRINATION
Ever heard of a cult specialist? Therapist and IndoctriNation podcast host Rachel Bernstein shares what healing looks like after leaving a cult, common themes in manipulation recovery, signs that someone is in a high-control group or experiencing dissociation, and advice for those with loved ones in a cult.
https://www.podcastone.com/episode/53-Rachel-Bernstein--IndoctriNation
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#16: Lucien Greaves – the Satanic Temple, satanic panic, & recovered memory
Meagan and Lola interview Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Satanic Temple, about how the Satanic Temple was founded and why their (hilarious) stunts and lawsuits are actually deeply important for religious freedom and the separation of church and state. They also discuss the Satanic panic of the 80s and 90s and how it's had a resurgence in the form of QAnon, plus why "recovered" memories, and organizations like the ISSTD that champion fringe science, can have dangerous consequences.
https://www.podcastone.com/episode/16-Lucien-Greaves---The-Satanic-Temple-Satanic-Panic--Recovered-Memory-905594
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If you have your own story about cults, high-control groups, manipulation, or abuse of power, leave us a voicemail at 513-900-2955, OR shoot us an email at [email protected].
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