Jim Collins teaches us a whole bunch of goodness on how employers are crushing the spirits and ruing the motivation of their employees with the Big Idea at the Big Think blog at http://bigthink.com/ideas/40844 as part of an ongoing series related to the Mind of an Employee. Employees aren’t children (by law in the United…
** Special Student Series
** Special Student Series, Influence
Normative Social Influence and Pathways Experiment on Social Proof
by Brian David Phillips •
A group of students devised a series of experiments to test normative social influence with a twist on social proof by testing Normative Social Influence in concentrated areas (Philadelphia) to the most isolated such as our local park. As the amount of people decreased the level of Normative Social Influence decreased as well. Their experiments…
** Special Student Series, Hypnosis Videos, Influence
Honking demonstrates Social Influence Principle of Power in Action
by Brian David Phillips •
As regular readers know, one area I teach quite a bit on at the university is communication and social influence. In this brief video, we see one of the principles of social influence in action, that which is often referred to as the Law of Power which states that people are more likely to obey…
** Special Student Series, Influence
New Study confirms Materialism DESTROYS Marriages
by Brian David Phillips •
As the folks at io9 put it: The Beatles said “money can’t buy me love”; the Notorious B.I.G. said “Mo Money Mo Problems”; and every after-school special taught us that rich and greedy people are miserable in their hollow worlds of shiny trinkets. And now scientists have evidence that they may even have been right.…
** Special Student Series, Hypnosis in the News, Influence, Special Features
Jonestown and when Social Influence takes a Bad Turn
by Brian David Phillips •
When most of us think of Jim Jones and Jonestown, we think of images like the one above showing the horrible aftermath of almost one thousand folks drinking poison-laced kool-aid at the behest of a man who is characterized as a nut job cult leader or we think of the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan…
** Special Student Series, Hypnosis Videos, Influence, Music, Special Features
500 People in 100 Seconds
by Brian David Phillips •
This is an absolutely brilliant music video that features 500 people holding more than 1,500 developed pictures. The locations are all around Israel, creating a smooth music video within their hands. The music is “Malinkovec Valzer” by Maxmaber Orkestar (http://www.maxmaber.org). First, enjoy the video: Now . . . IF I were going to make a…
** Special Student Series, Eroticatrance, Experiential Trance, Hypnosis in the News, Science Fiction
Undeserved Mindwipes
by Brian David Phillips •
Ah, the mindwipe, that powerful technology from science fiction and fantasy that oh so just a little bit too many seek in real life. As a hypnotist, I honestly can’t count the number of folks who have approached me asking if it would be possible for me to use hypnosis to wipe a memory from…
** Special Student Series, Influence, Religion, Science Fiction
Klingon Jesus Died for Everyone’s Sins, maybe
by Brian David Phillips •
Io9 reports on a conference in which at least one panel explored the ramifications of intelligent life on other planets and Christianity, asking whether Jesus would have gone to other planets or if the Terran Jesus died for the sins of everyone in the multiverses or if perhaps mankind is uniquely saved. While the io9…
** Special Student Series, Interactive Drama, Music, Science Fiction
Captain Robert of Abney Park talks Steampunk and RPGs at the League of STEAM
by Brian David Phillips •
Captain Robert (Robert Brown) of the steampunk band Abney Park (http://www.abneypark.com) visits the League of STEAM podcast to discuss the crossover of stampunk music with roleplaying games. The tabletop RPG, AIRSHIP PIRATES, was recently released and is based upon the music of Abney Park (I have my autographed copy in front of me, ooooh luvely…
** Special Student Series, Eroticatrance, Influence, Special Features
Lysistrata in Real Life
by Brian David Phillips •
Folks who are familiar with my work know that I wear a whole slew of different hats and one of the various hats I wear is that of academic. My formal academic background is related to performance and critical theory. My undergraduate and first graduate degrees are firmly rooted in theatre while my doctoral degree…
** Special Student Series, Influence
Laughter may not cure you but it sure can help . . . a lot . . . I mean really a lot.
by Brian David Phillips •
Feel like smiling? Great, your immune system is getting a boost. Feel like a bit of a bellylaugh? Wonderful, your pain tolerance just shot up. Seriously, laughter can do some really serious good for your body and your mind and your spirit and your health. Really, want someone to feel less pain? Tell ’em a…
** Special Student Series, Influence
Self-Delusion can be Positive?
by Brian David Phillips •
Usually, when we think of someone with a bit of self-delusion, we don’t think of it as a very positive thing . . . actually quite the opposite. However, there may be some evolutionary advantages to self-delusion which has made humans a bit more susceptible to over-confidence than one might have thought. See the article…
** Special Student Series, Hypnosis Videos, Influence, Special Features
Master Teacher Visualization Trance Process
by Brian David Phillips •
The Master Teacher Visualization Trance process is a simple guided imagery method to access an archetype within the unconscious that is manifested as the ideal teacher for a particular skill or subject. In this video, I demonstrates the “Master Teacher” process with a volunteer trance partner as part of a seminar I taught in Mythic…
** Special Student Series, Influence, Special Features
Communicating The Hero’s Journey
by Brian David Phillips •
As many of you know, I am a HUGE fan of Joseph Campbell‘s monomyth concept of the HERO’S JOURNEY, especially as applied to visionary psychology and critical thought. Tactics from successful storytelling can be leveraged in order to communicate any idea, from business to politics, says filmmaker Barry Ptolemy. For me I like to provide…
** Special Student Series, Influence, Special Features
Wag the Alien and Save the Economy
by Brian David Phillips •
Want to save the economy? Stage a fake alien invasion. A few of the conspiracy-friendly websites are touting that CNN is advocating or pushing this but actually, the comment comes from an interview with non other than Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman who merely points out that a period of national priority and manufacturing…
** Special Student Series, Interactive Drama, Special Features, Trance-Acting: Actors, Directors, Dancers, and Musical Performers
One Word at a Time Improvisational Language Structure with Roddy McDowall and Carol Burnett
by Brian David Phillips •
As many readers here know, I teach Communication as well as Acting at the university. One of the innovations I use in my English as a Foreign Language courses is a set of interactive games known as Improvisational Language Structures (ILS) which are a series of activities I have adapted from theatre games and improvisational…
** Special Student Series, Influence
Influence through Graphs
by Brian David Phillips •
Statistics and graphs and the like are powerful tools . . . they are also powerful tools of influence and even propaganda. The information presented can be completely accurate and yet the impression given can be skewed one way or another, depending upon presentation. Data does not lie . . . but people do. In…
** Special Student Series, Eroticatrance, Influence
How Advertising Manipulates You
by Brian David Phillips •
You know it and I know it . . . advertising can be very entertaining . . . well, sometimes . . . but . . . no matter how special a commercial may seem, there is always a persuasive agenda at work, a goal of influence. New trends in advertising have taken a turn…
** Special Student Series, Eroticatrance, Influence
Taiwan’s Funeral Strippers Documentary
by Brian David Phillips •
I’m not sure why this is at io9 but Taiwan’s funeral strippers are in the news . . . see http://io9.com/5819625/in-taiwan-you-can-hire-a-stripper-for-your-funeral for an interview with the film maker responsible for a new documentary on Taiwan’s Electric Flower Music Cars (which he calls EFC, something I’ve never heard them called in over twenty years in Taiwan…
** Special Student Series, Science Fiction
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods to HBO . . . most awesome news
by Brian David Phillips •
Okay, you could say that this is not amazingly awesomeness in its own right but if you did it would only very clearly demonstrate that your brain is broken. Seriously, this is great news. Neil Gaiman‘s American Gods is being brought to HBO for a multiple season multi-million dollar run with Tom Hanks behind the…
** Special Student Series, Influence
Case Histories Interview with Kate Atkinson and Jason Isaacs
by Brian David Phillips •
I admit it, I absolutely love Case Histories (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011w4g0), the BBC television adaptation of the first three of Kate Atkinson‘s Jacskson Brodie novels (see http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk). Jason Isaacs is absolutely wonderful as Brodie. The man is a powerful and highly skilled artist and craftsman as his acting shines through beautifully. Yes, I am talking about the…
** Special Student Series, Hypnosis Videos, Influence, Special Features
Hypnomagickal Deception
by Brian David Phillips •
I have posted on Keith Barry and his use of suggestion with mentalism before. Barry bills himself as a hypnomagician and he can be a lot of fun to watch in action. He combines genuine hypnosis effects with the illusion of same via mentalism (mental magic). In addition to his stage shows and various television…
** Special Student Series, Influence, Special Features
Robert Cialdini on Science of Social Influence, the Principles and How YOU can Use Them
by Brian David Phillips •
In an interview with Netherlands Television, Robert Cialdini overviews a number of the important principles of social influence. Cialdini is a widely respected authority on social influence. If you use social influence in any context – and you DO, socially and in business and in a whole lot of places you may not realize, any…
** Special Student Series, Celebrity Hypnosis, Trance-Acting: Actors, Directors, Dancers, and Musical Performers
Camilla Kerslake conquers Stage Fright with Hypnosis
by Brian David Phillips •
Camilla Kerslake used to get bouts of stage fright . . . at least according to Deborah Kerslake, her mother . . . but no more. How did the she overcome the problem? Hypnosis . . . at least according to Deborah Keslake, a professional hypnotist and her mother. Before recording her first music video,…
** Special Student Series, Trance-Acting: Actors, Directors, Dancers, and Musical Performers
Fourteen Actors Acting
by Brian David Phillips •
As regular readers here know, my original professional training is in acting and directing. My undergraduate degree, BA, is in Theatre while my first graduate degree, MA, is in Acting and Communication, and my PhD is in Comparative Literature with a specialty in Interactive Drama and I’ve got professional acting and directing experience under my…
