by sandy82 » August 8th, 2005, 7:07 pm
BobbyS, an interesting point. One aspect may be the user's sense of time. If the user is reasonably content listening to File X, he may listen for several weeks or a couple of months. But if he decides that he doesn't like the effects after that length of time, it's only natural that he would want the "cure" to work much faster. It won't.
It seems that they're two additional things going on, in addition to hypnosis. The first is obvious, when you think about it. The most basic way that primates learn is by rote and repetition. Take advertising jingles, for example...or the last song you heard on the radio. Sometimes they will replay in your mind for several hours. I bet there are psychological studies showing that if a person listens to anything long enough, it will be imprinted in his mind. If such message ever fades, it will do so slowly.
The other additional factor is a repressed desire. A person's conscious mind says that it is wrong to want to be a koala bear, and the desire is repressed. But then a voice of authority, rather like the voice of a parent, tells you that it's okay to want to be a koala bear. The "in place of a parent" voice can break down the wall that represses certain desires.
Breaking down those walls may be a good thing, or it may be a bad thing. But, once broken down, are the walls reparable? My guess is that re-repressing an urge (that you decide you don't like after all) can be difficult or impossible. The story of Pandora's box may contain elements of this reality. Some old myths and legends are remarkably sophisticated.
We all know that we can attach words to different physical things, but the words don't change the reality. In the 1890s rich New Yorkers built 12-bedroom houses at Newport, Rhode Island, and called them "cottages." General Motors can make a piece of junk and call it a "luxury sedan." The names don't affect the reality...unless someone is really gullible.
Regardless of what we call them, it may be that some changes can be reversed only very slowly. Other changes may be irreversible. In a way, it may be like "tattooing the mind." Much easier to do than to undo.