One of the powerful patterns of covert hypnosis is something called “linguistic presuppositions.”
It’s kind of sentence that requires we accept part of it before we answer the sentence.
People use them all the time without knowing it, but often the wrong way.
For example, if you walk in a retail shop, the clerk might say, “Can I help you?”
Which is easy to say, “No, thank you.” Since it’s a simple question.
But what if he or she says, “How can I help you today?”
It’s ALMOST the same, but not quite. He or she is PRESUPPOSING that they ARE going to help you, it’s just a question of HOW.
If you can imagine both, you’ll find the second takes a bit longer to shake your head and say, “No, thank you.”
Simple questions, especially if they are said politely, are hard to ignore, from a structural standpoint.
Meaning part of us wants to answer the “how” part but then we decide not to before shaking our head.
While the first question, (can I help you) takes a lot less time and mental processing power.
Most people use these linguistic presuppositions to HIDE THINGS they don’t want questioned.
A FANTASTIC way to see how these are used negatively is by listening to how reporters phrase their questions to politicians they don’t like.
Weaponized language patterns.
I’m sure you know people who are EXPERTS at using weaponized language patterns.
They ask a question, and there’s some nasty stuff embedded in there, and you aren’t sure if you should answer them or punch them in the face.
But you can, as they say, flip the script.
Presuppose POSITIVE THINGS about the person you are talking to, they’ll feel really good, and they won’t know why.
What kinds of things?
Everybody wants a better future.
And everybody has anxiety about their future.
Which means they’re worried about their future.
All you’ve got to do is talk to them and presuppose their future will be BRIGHT, and any potential problems will be TINY.
And just by answering your carefully worded questions, they’ll feel FANTASTIC and they might not even know why.
But they’ll know it has something to do with YOU.