How cults rewire the brain
1,364,946 views |
Diane Benscoter |
TED2009
• February 2009
Diane Benscoter spent five years as a "Moonie." She shares an insider's perspective on the mind of a cult member, and proposes a new way to think about today's most troubling conflicts and extremist movements.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
About the speaker
Diane Benscoter, an ex-Moonie, is now invested in finding ways to battle extremist mentalities and their potentially deadly consequences.
Robert Jay Lifton | Martino Fine Books, 2014 | Book
This book is often referenced by 'deprogrammers,' especially chapter 22, in which Lifton proposes a criterion by which any environment can be judged for what he refers to as 'thought reform.' It was during the reading of this chapter, by my deprogrammer, that my identity as a disciple of the Messiah, along with the belief system I had come to trust for all of life’s questions, crumbled around me.
Kathleen Taylor | Oxford University Press, 2006 | Book
Neuroscientist Kathleen Taylor brings a unique perspective to the subject of what happens to your brain when you join a cult.
Richard Dawkins | Oxford University Press, 2006 | Book
This is where the idea of memes was born.
Susan Blackmore | Oxford University Press, 2000 | Book
This book does an excellent job of defining the concept of memes and memetics.
Steven Hassan | Freedom of Mind Press, 2013 | Book
This is a good book for anyone trying to understand how to help a loved one who is in a cult or to understand their own experience with being controlled.
Lawrence Wright | Vintage, 2013 | Book
A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now classic study of al Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. This book exposes the inner workings of a dangerous group. Well worth the read.
Amir Ahmad Nasr | St. Martin's Press, 2013 | Book
I highly recommend this book. I can empathize with Nasr's story as he grapples with freeing himself from a belief system that he deeply loved, and as he discovers (as I did with my belief system) that he has to leave it to be free himself.
Frank Meeink and Jody M. Roy | Hawthorne Books, 2010 | Book
This book is painful to read. It demonstrates how a vulnerable young person can find themselves deeply involved with a dangerous and violent group. His story of being seduced by what gave him meaning in life was not so different than mine. It was a long and painful road for him, but he is now helping others to avoid what happened to him.
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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.