Reason in the Cobweb: Magical Manipulation of Living Consciousness

The chapter addresses the widely spread manipulation of living consciousness that targets people’s implicit belief in magic. Many such crimes are committed through personal contact of fraudsters with their victims and use suggestion rather than threat. The chapter argues that the suggestion targets not the victims’ rational objectivized consciousness but their living consciousness in the form of their implicit belief in magic. The concept of magical beliefs is considered, illustrated by psychological research and excursions into the history of the living consciousness. Types of magical manipulation of living consciousness in the domains of medicine, psychotherapy, religion, and political are analysed. Rules that could help people protect themselves from magical manipulation are suggested. Today, a new type of crime is spreading rapidly in large cities of the world. Typically, crimes are committed overtly, and their mechanisms are psychology transparent. From time immemorial, people have been robbed, deceived, and hypnotized. In such cases, the victims of the crimes acted rationally; after all, when a gun is pointed at you, it is reasonable to give up a wallet than one’s lifelife or health, and if you believe a clever fraudster who is skilfully deceiving you, then your actions seem reasonable to you.