This post is like the others in the Pulling Back The Curtain series about Scientology and the book Age Of Propaganda. I will highlight and quote excerpts from that book. It is on propaganda as seen through social psychology. And in my opinion very good at deciphering Scientology.
There is s concept called the minimum group paradigm. It involves the reality that people often will form bonds based on the slightest and most temporary of associations.
Kurt Vonnegut created the term granfalloon to mean proud and meaningless associations of human beings. In research people linked by such things as a coin toss show preference for each other. In tests people showed a greater liking for members of groups they were placed in, even if they had never met before and would never see each other again.
Granfalloons gain power by dividing people into in groups and out groups. Us and others. Differences are exaggerated, often irrationally.
A terrible result is out group members become dehumanized. They are seen as fitting a label.
In Scientology the out group labels wog, degraded being, suppressive person and low tone are used for any out group members that are not favored. These labels include severe negative prejudice, even disgust.
In the book the Sociopath Next Door Martha Stout noted that getting most people to kill other human beings requires two prerequisites: a recognized authority in immediate proximity issuing the order to kill and the dehumanizing of the people to be killed. Multiple studies have confirmed this. If the enemy is seen as an individual human being just like you, most people will be very reluctant to kill them. Additionally if the order to kill them comes from a remote source compliance declines. If the authority is not recognized as proper, and it is remote and the victims are not dehumanized compliance drops to almost nothing.
Scientology is particularly dangerous because the black and white severe Scientologist - SP false dichotomy effectively dehumanizes out group members. Scientologists are indoctrinated routinely with Hubbard's claims that Suppressive Persons are the cause of society's ills. And that they deserve no rights of any kind whatsoever and can be lied to, deprived property, and destroyed utterly. He famously in his 1951 book Science of Survival said suppressive persons should be removed quietly and without sorrow. They are effectively dehumanized.
Granfalloons encourage liking of other members, even otherwise unlikable members. Similar to the old idea of siblings who bicker but if any one is attacked by a person outside the family, they often cease and team up to counterattack the threat from an out group source. We make allowances for in group members and are more critical of out group members.
In Age Of Propaganda in chapter 25, five rules for handling granfalloons are suggested. I will paraphrase them.
First, be careful about being put into a category and look closely at anyone putting you in one. Ask why you are being put into a group and given a label. Second, try linking your self-esteem to a goal rather than keeping a self-image. Third, don't put all your self-esteem into one granfalloon, it may lead to fanaticism. Fourth, look for common ground like goals that are acceptable to both sides as a way to reduce the importance of group boundaries. Fifth, try to think of an out group member as an individual, someone you may have more in common with than you previously thought.
In Scientology the cult is emphasized over all other groups, as thousands of families are broken apart through disconnection. The black and white good evil view prohibits acceptance and finding trust or common ground. Scientologists are taught to never question the decision to make the in and out groups as they are. In the cult as goals are increasingly vague and unattainable the preservation of self image becomes increasingly crucial. The out group members are not seen as individuals, once they are labeled suppressive persons having anything in common with them is repugnant and unthinkable.
The Scientology granfalloon is designed to be the opposite of rational and without prejudices. But by knowing about this you can do something about it, for real.
Pulling Back The Curtain part 6 The Granfalloon Technique
