by Scully 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
OK, I have read it twice and I don't completely understand the JW connection.
"People who hold false convictions are better at retaining corrected information"
Are we trying to say that JWs (who do hold many false convictions) - would be better at retaining information AFTER they let go of the false convictions?
Or, are we just saying that people who join things like the JW religion are highly impressionable, and are easier to retain suggested ideas?
I take it to mean, James Woods, that contrary information may be retained - and mulled upon - far better than we may have imagined.
They talk about something similar in Twelve Step programs. When someone truly bothers you, it is more than likely you are bothering yourself and projecting the feelings onto them. Denial is a very strong factor. When I was in the Witnesses and believed, I believed even more if someone attacked the Witnesses. Evolution was my problem. I respected my teachers too much. In fact, the state and Board of Ed approved evolution as science. Deep down, I knew they were right. Well, my major project in junior high school was writing an opus defending the WT. I used every secular mention in Witness lit.
We had to present our papers in class. My teacher was not pleased. It horrified me that a teacher was displeased but the emotion towards the Witnesses was very strong. I wanted the Witnesses to be right. My parents to be right. He gave me a C-. I was crushed b/c I thought I could convince him thru sheer effort. Fortunately, my friends saw me loaded down with books and cancel engagements to work on the paper. They convinced him to take my grade up to a B-.
When I recall this, part of me finds it so funny that I was so determined but the other part is still very hurt at the tension.
I believe that conversions are usually gradual. Few people see blinding lights on the road to Damascus.
But back to the topic here, BOTR - do we conclude from this that JW recruits are most likely to be impressionable people who record and recall implied ideas more than the general public? That cannot really be the case with born-ins, correct? (unless it is an inherited quality, which I would strongly doubt...)
I still have a hard time making the leap from this SA article to the general JW experience.
Part of the point, I think James Woods, is that the correction must be provably CORRECT. To be indoctrinated/deceived, the information is presented softly, softly my pretties. Doubts are indefinitely deferred. I am convinced the lengthy six month WT indoctrination is required. I am also convinced that regular reinforcement is required (2-3 times a week).
This article gives me hope because all of this can be undone with a firm and positive CORRECTION. And it will stick. I think this describes the sometimes rapid reawakening for some of you when you take a peek behind the curtain. Once reawakened, there is no going back.
james_woods:
OK, I have read it twice and I don't completely understand the JW connection.
"People who hold false convictions are better at retaining corrected information"
Are we trying to say that JWs (who do hold many false convictions) - would be better at retaining information AFTER they let go of the false convictions?
Or, are we just saying that people who join things like the JW religion are highly impressionable, and are easier to retain suggested ideas?
Actually, what I took away from the article was that the person who goes the extra mile with their JW studies - the "true believer", if you will - who knows, for example, the scriptures to support the WTS's blood doctrine, or the scriptures that "prove" 1914 is the year that the Gentile Times™ ended, based on 607 BCE as the year for Jerusalem's destruction, who feels those beliefs in their heart of hearts, when presented with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, will have their beliefs fall apart like a house of cards. These are the ones who feel betrayed by the WTS, people who cannot unsee what they've seen, or unlearn the corrections they've learned.
On the other hand, there's a huge number (the vast majority, I would imagine) of JWs who go through the motions, more or less as social JWs. Doctrine is something the Governing Body sorts out. It's not for the Sheep™ to understand. You just trust what the Organization™ tells you and obey, and that's all you need to do to survive Armageddon™. They're intellectually lazy when it comes to the nitty gritty of the JW belief system, and you could show them stacks of evidence to disprove any number of JW doctrines, and they don't care beyond repeating the WTS's mantra: "That's Apostate™". The evidence doesn't have the same impact because they haven't invested in The Truth™ on an intellectual level - and that's how the WTS likes it. It creates dumbed down, fiercely loyal, poorly informed followers, rather than bold, well-informed and confident individuals.
Wow, that's great insight, Scully. I think you are right on.
"In contrast, if I asked you a question to which you gave a not-very-confident answer, like, perhaps, 'What color does amethyst turn when it is heated?' and you say, 'blue' with low confidence, when I tell you that it's actually yellow, you're not very likely to remember it," Metcalfe says...."
BING!! WRONG!!
Depending on the temperature it's heated to, amethyst can actually turns GREEN... It takes special types of amethysts to turn YELLOW... And it can turn OTHER colors, too...
From this website: http://www.jewelinfo4u.com/Different_Amethyst_Treatment.aspx
"Heating
Heating is the most common treatment which can alter the color of a stone to lighten, darken, or change completely. Very dark amethyst is heated to produce lighter shades. Most of the amethyst available in the gem market is enhanced to get exotic shades. On treating Amethyst under controlled conditions one can produce some very astonishing colors or intensify the royal purple color at 400c to 600c. This heat treatment causes inclusions to expand causing tiny fractures in the crystal surrounding them. It is a permanent and common Amethyst treatment and last forever. Most of the large darker stones exhibiting color zoning are often heat-treated to produce dramatic color changes.
Citrine from Amethyst
Citrine, yellow colored quartz though occurs naturally is produced by heating amethyst with the proper iron content under controlled conditions. It was discovered long ago that by heat-treating light colored amethyst or smoky quartz a small percentage would turn into attractive golden yellow color. The only difference between amethyst and citrine is the oxidation state of the iron impurities present in the quartz. When heated, the iron impurities are reduced to make amethyst's purple color to fade and turn yellow to reddish-orange (citrine). This process depends on various factors including the percentage of the iron impurities present and the heating duration and time. Much of citrine which comes from Brazil is heat-treated. Some unusual like golden orange or Rio Grande citrine or dark sherry colored or Madeira citrine are highly prized. On subsequent heating amethyst looses color and turns grey or white making it worthless.
Vermarine or Prasiolite
There is green quartz called 'Greened' amethyst or Vermarine also known as Prasiolite having light to medium color. It is produced by careful heating of Brazilian amethyst. A collector's item though inexpensive is not available easily. The heat treatment of Amethyst between 878 and 1382 degrees F may produce light yellow, red, brown, green or colorless varieties of stones. The result of heat treating these gems are stable so they hardly require any special care while wearing .But they should not be steam-cleaned due to their susceptibility to heat. ..."
So, what happens to the brain when a supposed "authority" presents inaccurate information, and a layperson catches it and corrects it???
Hee hee hee heee!!
Bing, Bing! You never forget it.
HAHAHHAHAHAAHAA
