I have recently started a contractual transcription job for some guy. I'm not going to advertise him because it's self help of the slimiest kind and I don't want him getting undue exposure but during the time spent transcribing I had an interesting thought.
I can be a wordy sort of person- if you've ever read any of my crap you would know that. The reason I am so wordy is because I am seeking clarity and precision in what I say. Unfortunately the main formats with which we transfer information from brain to brain- especially when it comes to complex thought- are very lossy, meaning a lot of information can be lost in the transfer. Simply refer to your favourite forum of choice (I recommend vaguely anti/pro religious videos on youtube) to see this incredible phenomenon at work.
So, whilst watching this guy and noting down every last botched sentence he spouts I realised that he continuously said the same thing over and over again, in slightly different ways. Although I disagreed with what he was saying I realised that the reason he did that was as a kind of verbal brain massage. Self help, if the help offered is fine, is most likely to fail due to the person not really following through. That's obvious! Changing the structure of your brain, especially for deep-seated behaviour, is super tough and reading an inspirational quote or cool idea will not change that structure though it might flood your brain with good feels.
The snake oil salesman kept saying the same thing over and over again, not to instill a particular idea- like a formula or line of poetry- but in order to perpetuate the mode of thinkingthat he is trying to cultivate in his audience .
It's not quite the same as copying a behaviour because deeper thought is not so easily mimicked- I think it was a way of entertaining the audience's minds, keeping the ball rolling if you will, in order to stupefy disbelief.
Hold on, I suppose that's what a mantra is isn't it? Urgh, this job is melting my brain.
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