Cold Shock and the Modality of Gradualism

Flickr- Boiling Frog - jronaldleeJulian Wash, Contributor
Waking Times

Dear Humans,

Today I wish to return to your awareness an aspect of the Human condition that serves as a device for control. It’s a system that operates silently in the background, carefully and methodically. The intent seems clear. It is to create the unclear. It is to modify viewpoints, effect awareness and undermine the satisfaction one achieves when walking in the light of their own awareness. It’s a system that exploits the Human inclination to trust and conform and to abandon what they know to be right. It’s an intelligent, ubiquitous and clandestine form of attack that has reached a pinnacle of perfection in modern times.

Life is an experience that can be likened to a ship at sea. The rudder steers through tides of consciousness on this personal journey of discovery. But on this particular ship we’ve been handed a compass slightly out of caliber and a sextant a little out of plumb. We are told they are in perfect order. We have no reason to believe otherwise. So we navigate using these tainted calibrations through the often murky and stormy oceans of life. All the while there’s an invisible hand nudging the wheel every time we look away to measure our course. It’s the secretive, malevolent, creepy little hand of an entity I call indoctrination.

Over time these slight variations on the compass dial become greatly magnified. As years go by one may start to realize that somehow they’ve sailed way off course and no longer recognize that old captain looking back at them in the reflection off the water. They may have always thought they knew exactly where they were headed, but one day the waves began to look different and the shoreline strangely foreign. The enlightened mind may wake and realize that the devices they were handed were indeed maligned from the start, and now it’s too late to go back. They’re lost.


  • In the following paragraphs we will take a short journey. Our destination is to return to a little known harbor called “self.” Along the way you just might notice some of the invisible energies that have been haunting your ship cabin. But you’re captain of this vessel and it’s your life to live. This voyage might get a little rough, so hang on tight. Better still, simply let go.

    The Power of Discernment

    In stormy seas the unfettered mind can see a light which serves to define the boundary between water and land. There is an innate understanding that the land can provide either a safe haven or a treacherous landing, depending on the temperament of the tide. So discernment plays a crucial role and can mean the difference between life and death. This ability is a powerful gift afforded to all Humans. But where there is power, there is corruption. There are those who insist on tampering with the delicate nature of this gift and work in the shadows to reprogram it. They have many needs to satisfy, and you’re not one of them.

    Since discernment resides in a place of higher awareness, it is not easy for these shadow clowns to just simply grab it or shut it down. In fact, one must surrender this power under their own authority. This is not an overnight victory for the disingenuous, they must lull this power away in a very gingerly manner. For those with a nefarious intent, they will be tactful indeed. To uproot what you innately know to be true takes a steady stream of corrupted information at levels barely detectable over extended lengths of time. Permeation begins to cloud otherwise lucid judgment. Clarity is gradually obscured in the mist of confusion. This is the system of disinformation. It will continuously erode discernment. This is a way to boil the proverbial frog without drawing nary a whimper. This is the modality of gradualism.

    Gradualism

    Gradualism is neither good nor bad. It is in fact both good and bad. We witness gradualism in nature in the gentle changing colors of sunset, the sweeping rays of sunrise or the whisper quiet phases of the moon. We feel gradualism through the seasons as winter leads to spring, as summer slips into fall. We are attuned to these subtle variations in day to day life. We gradually dip one foot into the pool to ensure the water is not too chilly and then gradually step in. Of course, there are some of you that simply jump in.

    Gradualism is also the preferred modality of indoctrination of any manner or form. It’s the slow but effective adaptation to change that occurs over time, often over the course of an entire lifetime. It comes in the form of perpetual advice and firm recommendations on how one should run their life. Institutions rely heavily on these persistent transmutations. In the case of a religious institution, there are numerous levels to be had in which loyalties and oaths are frequently assessed. In political institutions, one must toe-the-line to reach the next level of recognition. If it’s an “ism” of any sort, then indoctrination on some level will invariably play a role. Be it communism, capitalism, feminism, Darwinism, even individualism.

    Institutions that harbor secrets are very well adept at using the power of gradualism, or incrementalism as it’s sometimes referred to. They include the uppermost echelon in brotherhood societies, religious orders and any number of organizations ranging from something as seemingly benign as the boy scouts to the highly trained professionals of the Navy SEALS. It is simple. Indoctrination is the slow and gradual process of luring someone away from their own beliefs and opinions to slowly adopt the ideas of a given institution.

    It works by first diminishing feelings of self-worth. It’s important for the system to take as much of your personal power out of the equation. One must first feel small enough and vulnerable. This is when incrementalism slowly wiggles its withered fingers into your life. You’ll start sensing it around you. Moral judgment may also be under constant trial due to financial entanglements or complex dilemmas from the contradictory nature of right and wrong. Since self-worth has been so sorely degraded, one will welcome any change as a much needed friend. Soon this modality will appear to want what you want, and it wants you to embody it.

    Academicians will tell you you’re cousin to the chimpanzee. Preachers will tell you that you were born with sin. A grade school teacher will tell you you’re an empty vessel waiting to be filled. The justice system will tell you you’re just a number. Advertisers will call you a “consumer” until one is quite convinced that is exactly what they are. So now when looking in the mirror you see an empty, consuming, sinful monkey with a number for a name. And they don’t stop, they go on and on and on. The process of breaking people down is a non-stop, pernicious and deliberate assault, and yet remains invisible to nearly all.

    Cold Shock

    Cold shock is a hard truth strategically implemented. This comes in many forms as well. Once far enough along in the indoctrination process, one may be shocked into position. Timing is crucial here. Religious cults are especially attuned to the proper timing and execution of this process. Military recruitment protocols can offer similar examples and by creating a sense of urgency. There is much finesse required before coming to this point. Cold shock occurs when a so-called irrefutable truth is brought to the attention of someone who has already been compromised. It’s usually a very powerful statement that is highly uncomfortable to hear. As the listener retreats in abject fear, the infrastructure put in place through indoctrination immediately takes over. One is now able to use this foreign bypass system of data processing as a way of coping with the new information. Ultimately they are eternally grateful for having been “initiated” into this new way of thinking. The loyalty that binds this sect is often unshakable.

    Levels of Indoctrination

    No one is exempt from the effects of indoctrination. It is everywhere. But once you’ve been attuned to this vibration, you will be able to see it. It’s quite strange indeed walking down the sidewalk and seeing little strings binding the mailman, the policeman and the baker. Like marionette puppets, they walk and talk and assume their role, and all is right and all is good. And there is nothing wrong with being a mailman, policeman or baker, if that’s indeed what they wanted to be.

    Because society is built around the opposing forces of order and chaos, one is not to ever question the strings. Like the racing greyhound that captures the mechanical rabbit, once the illusion is exposed, the greyhound will never run that hard again. In the case of the greyhound, if not rescued by an adoption agency, then a far bleaker fate awaits.

    Society does not want you to catch your mechanical rabbit either. If you do, you may stop working so hard. They want you to remain in awe within their spell of indoctrination. I must admit that I am in awe of it. But I’m not part of it. That rabbit is fake. They can have it back.

    Final Thought

    Incrementalism, gradualism, they’re not bad on their own. On the contrary, the process is vital. But when gradualism is exploited to manipulate the minds of others, whether willfully or unknowingly, then it becomes an issue of grave concern.

    Take a moment to remember who you are. Who you really are. You’ve been exposed to sociological indoctrination coming in all shapes and sizes your entire life. You’ve been given a steady stream of bad information to gradually lure you off your true course. You have been pressed into a mold and pressed into service. You have been labeled, stamped, sealed and approved over and over again. But you are much more to me than a number, a rank, a title or consumer.

    You are Human, and for that I am most grateful. Don’t let anyone slowly woo you into thinking you are something less than beautiful or perfect. Beware of toxic but addictive phrases such as “born into sin” or “I want to be part of something bigger than myself” and words to that effect. There IS nothing bigger than that which you already are! You are a fractal of Creator. You are the shining ones.

    The powers of gradualism are muted when the mind has been awakened. Once you see the light with an unfettered mind you can always find your way back home.

    It’s never too late to regain the rudder. Take a moment and behold the sight. You are the captain. The Universe is your sea.

    -Until next time

    About the Author

    There is a certain obscurity that follows Julian Wash.  After all, any writer that starts off with “Dear Humans” might be a little hard to nail down. We sense he’s benevolent, a little crazy and we think rather enjoyable to read. Email: jwash@rattlereport.com

    **This article was originally published at The Rattle Report.**

    This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

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