21st Century Wire says…
Mind control master, illusionist and all-purpose showbiz wizard, Derren Bown, the man who always makes it look so easy, says he once used a simple linguistic trick (see story below) which immediately reduced a mugger to tears. What a great little trick to have in your handbag, right?
This is the Age of Austerity, where double digit unemployment and drug use are the norm – so muggings will be an issue, especially in big cities. Your first option is to relent, and hand over your wallet, the watch and the phone. For those of us who don’t want the hassle of canceling the cards, phone and losing all your contacts, then you must consider the full spectrum of possible actions and outcomes…
If you happen to be unarmed, then yes, you would need to resort to either of the following: evasive action (run), Aikido, or just use ‘the old noggin’ (your brain) to fend off that mugger at night. Obviously, your options will be more limited in Europe, where people do more, and travel more on foot and take public transit through town and city centers late at night, and where it is illegal to carry certain defensive tools – like a knife or gun, although muggers seem to have absolutely no problem carrying them (that’s a debate for another article).
Michael Caine dealt with youth mugger by using smooth, straight talk in the film, ‘Harry Brown‘.
Does mind control really work? Perhaps Brown has simply done the psychology research and therefore understands the underlying thought processes of the mugger (of which he’d never say on TV, because that might reveal his tradecraft).
One example out of a vast array of academic studies, would be the work of social psychologist, Muzafer Sherif, who developed ‘Realistic Conflict Theory’, which takes into account many underlying factors – aside from ‘fight or flight ‘survival situations – factors like negative prejudices, and stereotypes as being responsible for street competition for perceived limited resources. Sherif then validates this theory in his most famous experiment, “The Robber’s Cave“.
Beware of over-simplified, Jedi mind tricks though. Brown’s middle class, anti-mugging mind control techniques are only useful against a certain type of mugger, in a certain physical situation, and one must be able to evaluate horses-for-course, or risk getting badly injured – or worse. Bear in mind here, that many a savvy street hustler and seasoned smack addict are also well versed in pedestrian mind-control methods as they also deploy them on a daily basis to score basic vice needs.
Some other key factors to consider are being in “the wrong place at the wrong time”, and it’s even been said that, how we walk can increase our risk of being mugged.
The technocrats will say it’s simply a numbers game, and statistical studies show this may be the case. The BBC reports, “A small number of criminals commit most of the crimes, and the crimes they commit are spread unevenly over the population: some unfortunate individuals seem to be picked out repeatedly by those intent on violent assault.”
Ask anyone who knows. Dealing with the initial mugger interface is the easy part, but many of them simply will not leave you alone after the first few seconds – especially young British muggers who like to hang around and talk a lot during the mugging process. Aside from being desperate, mentally disturbed, chemically dependent and grossly under-nourished on chicken and chips, many of them are just plain lonely and need a friend to talk to and share a cheap cigarette with – even if they will eventually mug their new friend at the end of the conversation.
Just keep ‘walking and talking’ and you can sometimes shed the mugger through attrition, as most muggers (but not all) are looking for an easy mugging, not a cumbersome one.
In the end, the unorthodox DeNiro-esque, ‘Taxi Driver Technique’ (You talking to me?), has been known to work on occasion. In other words: make your opponent believe you are the craziest person in the room. In this case, even a polite but firm mad-dog warning like, “Stay the f**k away from me!”, will work on a proportion of street muggers.
When all else fails, then simply cross your fingers – and hope for the best…
Outlining his irrational behaviour strategy, Brown recalled an incident he was approached by a man on the street who was spoiling for a fight.
Derren Brown explains how to reduce a mugger to tears using nothing but words
Jenn Selby
The Independent
Illusionist Derren Brown is a useful person to know for a multitude of reasons.
Playing Russian roulette becomes easier when you can predict which chamber the bullet has been placed in by reading body language, for example. Gambling becomes a breeze when you can simply instruct the cashier to hand over your winnings – even though you’ve lost. And if you ever needed to fake a zombie apocalypse, well, Brown’s your man.
He’s also a dab hand at disarming a potential mugger – using nothing but words.
Outlining his irrational behaviour strategy in the Metro today, Brown recalled an incident when he was approached by a suspicious character spoiling for a fight on his way home at 3am in the morning.
The idea of the psychological tactic, he added, is a bit like “pulling the rug out from somebody”.
“He started breaking down in tears because all of that adrenaline and aggression had to go somewhere. So he did the adrenaline dump. They use it in martial arts where they get people to relax before you hit them to make the blow more powerful.”
The key, he said, to being prepared is to remember a random line or a song lyric you can use – and the more out of context it is, the better.
“It’s not quite the magic trick, but it will save you a lot of pain and money.”
“I said to him, ‘The wall outside my house isn’t 4ft high’ and he was suddenly confused.”
READ MORE MIND CONTROL NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Mind Control Files
