Watch shoppers act against their own instincts

Each week in Mind Control Derren Brown has presented us with mind games we can play at home. In the first episode, he asked us to think of two shapes, one inside the other, and to give each a colour, then amazed us by revealing the very colours and shapes that were in our minds.

This week Derren performs a similar feat when, at his subtle command, crowds at the Whitgift Shopping Centre in Croydon unwittingly raise their hands. The bemused shoppers stop and look around, unaware of why their hands have suddenly shot up in the air. In both instances Derren knows just what the outcome will be and why any group of people will react almost exactly as he wants them to.

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.'

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.'

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.'

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Books

	The Sixth Sense by Laurie Nadel, Judy Haims and Robert Stempson (Prion Books, 1996) Explores how intuition relates to logic and other ways of thinking and includes interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Oliver Sacks and Roger Speery and other celebrities, together with practical exercises for improving intuition. Buy this book from Amazon.
	How to Develop your Sixth Sense by David Lawson (HarperCollins, 2001) The author argues that we may all have the potential to develop our psychic and intuitive abilities and offers exercises to develop the powers of your mind. Buy this book from Amazon.
	Body Language: How to read others' thoughts by their gestures by Allan Pease (Sheldon Press, 1997) What people say is often very different from what they think or feel. Body language can tell you if someone is lying and give you an insight into what they're really thinking. Buy this book from Amazon.
	Reading People: Secret tips that will change your life by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius (Vermilion, 1999) Teaches the reader how to tell a person's sincerity by the tone of their voice, which character traits are most likely to determine a person's behaviour and the message you are sending with your hairstyle! Buy this book from Amazon.
	I Know What You're Thinking by Lillian Glass (John Wiley & Sons, 2002) An easy-to-follow guide to reading people, understanding what they are really thinking and gaining an insight into their personality. Buy this book from Amazon.
	Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram (Pinter & Martin, 1997) Milgram's classic 1961 experiment revealed that, if conditioned to obey authority, as most of us are, we are capable of inhuman behaviour. Buy this book from Amazon.

Websites

Coercive Persuasion and Attitude Change
www.rickross.com/mind_control.html
A warning about how cults brainwash their followers, with sections on how to deal with leaving a cult.

The Man who Shocked the World
www.psychologytoday.com/htdocs/prod/ ptoarticle/pto-20020301-000037.asp
Describes the classic Stanley Milgram experiment carried out at Yale University in the early 1960s, which showed that most people will obey authority to the point of sadism.

Skepdic
www.skepdic.com/mindcont.html
Good article on mind control, brainwashing and the power of suggestion.

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