How cults rewire the brain | Diane Benscoter

譯者: Sammy Lee 審譯者: Bu-sheng Lin

My journey to coming here today

我今天所要談的經驗

started in 1974.

是從1974年開始的

That's me with the funny gloves.

那個戴著奇怪手套的人就是我

I was 17 and going on a peace walk.

我那時才17歲,便參加和平示威遊行

What I didn't know though, was most of those people, standing there

當時我並不知道,我身旁的這些人

with me, were Moonies.

大部份都是統一教狂熱信徒

(Laughter)

(觀眾笑聲)[請注意：本影片有血腥畫面]

And within a week

不到一個禮拜

I had come to believe

他們就說服我

that the second coming of Christ had occurred,

耶穌已經重返人世

that it was Sun Myung Moon,

而文鮮明就是祂的化身

and that I had been specially chosen and prepared by God

我是上帝的選民

to be his disciple.

註定要追隨文鮮明

Now as cool as that sounds,

雖然聽起來很酷

my family was not that thrilled with this.

我的家人知道後卻不太爽

(Laughter)

(觀眾笑聲)

And they tried everything they could to get me out of there.

他們想盡辦法要我脫離那個教派

There was an underground railroad of sorts

在那個年代有一個秘密組織

that was going on during those years. Maybe some of you remember it.

也許你們有些人還記得

They were called deprogrammers.

那個組織裡的人被稱為"反洗腦者"

And after about five long years

過了漫長的五年

my family had me deprogrammed.

我的家人終於把我"反洗腦"了

And I then became a deprogrammer.

而我自己也成為"反洗腦者"

I started going out on cases.

我開始幫助被洗腦的受害人

And after about five years of doing this,

在做了將近五年的反洗腦工作後

I was arrested for kidnapping.

我因綁架罪名被逮捕

Most of the cases I went out on

我輔導的大部份當事人

were called involuntary.

並非自願接受反洗腦的

What happened was that the family

這些當事人的家人

had to get their loved ones some safe place somehow.

得先為當事人找到安全的藏身地

And so they took them to some safe place.

把他們安置在那裡

And we would come in and talk to them, usually for about a week.

然後我們再去輔導,通常持續一個禮拜左右

And so after this happened,

經過被警方逮捕的事件後

I decided it was a good time to turn my back on this work.

我決定不再從事這種工作

And about 20 years went by.

又過了大約20年

There was a burning question though that would not leave me.

我腦中有個問題始終揮之不去

And that was, "How did this happen to me?"

那就是:我到底怎麼了?

And in fact, what did happen to my brain?

或是說:我的腦袋到底怎麼了?

Because something did.

因為我的腦中的確產生了變化

And so I decided to write a book, a memoir,

於是我決定要寫一本回憶錄

about this decade of my life.

記錄我人生中被洗腦和反洗腦的那十年

And toward the end of writing that book

就在我快把書寫完的時候

there was a documentary that came out.

有一部紀錄片上映了

It was on Jonestown.

是關於集體自殺的瓊斯鎮

And it had a chilling effect on me.

我看了以後不禁毛骨悚然

These are the dead in Jonestown.

這些就是死於那次事件的人

About 900 people died that day,

當天大約有900個人喪生

most of them taking their own lives.

其中大部份都是自殺

Women gave poison to their babies,

婦女餵自己的小孩吃毒藥

and watched foam come from their mouths as they died.

眼睜睜看著他們口吐白沫而死

The top picture is a group of Moonies

上面的照片是文鮮明(統一教)的信徒

that have been blessed by their messiah.

他們受到了救世主文鮮明的祝福

Their mates were chosen for them.

配偶也都由文鮮明挑選好了

The bottom picture is Hitler youth.

下面的照片是信奉希特勒的青年軍

This is the leg of a suicide bomber.

這是一個自殺炸彈客的斷腿

The thing I had to admit to myself,

我很不願意承認

with great repulsion,

但又不得不承認的是

was that I get it.

我了解這些人

I understand how this could happen.

我了解他們為什麼會這樣

I understand how someone's brain,

我懂一個人的腦子

how someone's mind can come to the place

為什麼會有那些想法

where it makes sense --

而且竟然認為那些想法是對的

in fact it would be wrong, when your brain is working like that --

事實上,當你陷入那種思考模式以後

not to try to save the world through genocide.

你會認為大屠殺是為了拯救世人

And so what is this? How does this work?

這到底是什麼樣的心態?它是如何形成的?

And how I've come to view what happened to me

我又是如何看清一切

is a viral, memetic infection.

明白那其實是一種腦部中毒的現象

For those of you who aren't familiar with memetics,

在座有些人可能不太清楚這概念

a meme has been defined as

腦部中毒指的就是

an idea that replicates in the human brain

一個想法在人腦中不斷分裂複製

and moves from brain to brain like a virus,

像病毒一樣散播到別人的腦中

much like a virus. The way a virus works is --

而就像病毒的運作方式一樣

it can infect and do the most damage to someone

會傳染給他人並造成莫大傷害

who has a compromised immune system.

抵抗力差的人更深受其害

In 1974, I was young, I was naive,

1974年的我年輕又天真

and I was pretty lost in my world.

迷失在自己的世界裡

I was really idealistic.

抱著過於理想主義的態度

These easy ideas to complex questions are very appealing

統一教的思想直觀，好似能解決人生大哉問，讓人非常嚮往

when you are emotionally vulnerable.

尤其那時的心靈又容易受人影響

What happens is that

在這種狀況下

circular logic takes over.

思考邏輯如迴圈般走不出來

"Moon is one with God.

才會相信"文鮮明是上帝的化身"

God is going to fix all the problems in the world.

"上帝會解決世間所有問題"

All I have to do is humbly follow.

而我只要心悅誠服的追隨他就好

Because God is going to stop war and hunger --

因為上帝會阻止戰爭和飢餓

all these things I wanted to do --

那也是我的理想

all I have to do is humbly follow.

我只要心悅誠服的追隨他就好

Because after all, God is [working through] the messiah. He's going to fix all this."

他是上帝派的救世主，有他一切便天下太平

It becomes impenetrable.

這種想法漸漸根深柢固

And the most dangerous part of this

而這種想法最可怕的地方在於

is that is creates "us" and "them,"

它造成了"我們"和"他們"的對立

"right" and "wrong,"

"對"與"錯"的對立

"good" and "evil."

"正"與"邪"的對立

And it makes anything possible,

這讓人什麼事都做得出來

makes anything rationalizable.

一切的行為都被合理化

And the thing is, though,

但是

if you looked at my brain

如果當時有辦法一窺我的腦部

during those years in the Moonies --

在我信奉統一教的那幾年裡

neuroscience is expanding exponentially,

不像現在有快速發展的神經科學

as Ray Kurzweil said yesterday. Science is expanding.

就像雷科茲維昨天說的.科學不斷進步

We're beginning to look inside the brain.

現在我們開始窺探人腦如何運作

And so if you looked at my brain, or any brain that's infected with

所以如果當時有辦法一窺我的腦部

a viral memetic infection like this,

或是任何像這樣思想中毒的腦子

and compared it to anyone in this room,

和在座任何人的腦子兩相比較

or anyone who uses critical thinking on a regular basis,

或是和習慣批判性思考的人腦做比較

I am convinced it would look very, very different.

我相信兩種腦子看起來一定非常不同

And that, strange as it may sound,

各位或許會覺得我這麼說很奇怪

gives me hope.

但這件事給了我希望

And the reason that gives me hope

我有了希望是因為

is that the first thing is to admit

我們做到了解決問題的第一步

that we have a problem.

那就是:承認這個問題的確存在

But it's a human problem. It's a scientific problem, if you will.

但這是個人腦的問題,或者說是科學的問題

It happens in the human brain. There is no evil force out there to get us.

存在於我們腦中，並非是外來的邪惡力量要害我們

And so this is something that, through research and education,

所以透過研究和教育

I believe that we can solve.

我相信這個問題是可以解決的

And so the first step is to realize

而解決此問題的第一步

that we can do this together,

就是明白我們可以一起努力

and that there is no "us" and "them."

不分彼此,終止對立

Thank you very much. (Applause)

謝謝大家(觀眾掌聲)