From Disidentifying Workshop at Jim’s
CD 1 around 1 : 01
[from Marsha…..Long ago when I started taking voice lessons, my mentor said he thought I had a learning disability. I really took that to heart and believed it; but as I continued with the 48 tapes, I realized that I was trying to learn through much criticizm I had experienced from my father as I was growing up. No matter what I played or sang, he would find fault. As a result my throat would close up whenever I sang preparing for the onslaught of disapproval; but the desire to perform was greater than the fear of disapproval; and thanks to the teachings and my mentor, I did it anyway and was amazed when people said they loved my voice. It took a while to accept that they meant what they were saying.
And then I had a piano student who had trouble with her lessons. She kept saying that her teachers in school said she was a “slow learner”. She would come for a while and then quit, come for a while then quit. I gave her what encouragement I could, but the script in her head was too strong. She was unable to question what she had been told.
So when I found this experiment Dr. Bob did with a teacher, I was thrilled. I wish all teachers would be willing to run this experiment so that children could reach the epitome of potential and talent within them…..
So here goes with the experiment….]
One time in Albuquerque, I’ve worked with a schoolteacher. She wanted to get her master’s degree, and she didn’t feel she was wantin’ to write it, so I took on the chore for a few bucks to write the thing, and we have set up the experiment. It was on slow learning children.
So we took the fastest learning children and the slowest learning children: divided them into two reasonable groups for conversation.
Now we told the ones that was fast learning that they would pass if they said, “I don’t know,” or answered correctly. But if they answered incorrectly, they would be flunked.
And we took the slow learning ones and told them if they answered anything, they would pass. The only time they wouldn’t get along is if they didn’t say anything. If you said, “How do you spell cat?” and he didn’t know and he said, “Four, five, seven,” why, he would get pass, see?
And so when the smart kids come along and one of em, you know, the teacher would ask something, he’d hold his hand up and he knows the answer. And he’d answer and she’d say,
“Are you sure that’s correct, you wanna stick with that?”
And he’d say, “Yeah.”
She said, “Are you real sure?”
And he’d say, “No, I didn’t answer at all.” That was the smart one.
The slow ones could say anything. They got passed, anyway.
And you know, it completely reversed the slow learners and the fast learners – just by making them doubt whether their answers were correct – on the smart ones.
So, I’ve delved into the not-I’s that have been working on me to set up the experiment. And there was one that always come up and said, “Are you sure?” Okay? That’s a not-I, okay? Do watch him. He don’t mean a thing – he’s just another not-I. There’s a not-I down there that’s sayin’, “Are you sure?” (laughter) Try to throw doubt in.
Now what we are trying to observe, that as number one, when we objectively observe, you meet with tremendous opposition from the not-I’s, okay? They use every hypnotic trick in the game. And they will use “doubting,” try to instill doubt in I – that’s one of the better ways to hypnotize.
Would you say that we hypnotized all those kids in that classroom? Made them doubt their ability to answer the questions. Some of them you had to do three times before he would really doubt. We’d say, “Do you know the answer?” Let him answer now. “Are you sure that’s the right answer? And you remember what happened?” Now you’re trying. You say, “Are you real sure now?” But much less sure that time.
You say, “Are you real real sure, ____– do you wanna stick with that? Or you rather say you don’t know?”
“I don’t know.” (laughter)
You see, you can wreck his whole self confidence in a matter of seconds, all right?
Now the rest of the story is that we got em all back where they all were free to answer anything – we told them what the story was. And that teacher until this day has no slow learners in her class. They come in but they don’t go out as slow learners. ‘Cause nothing is made important down there. It’s a game.
But the minute we made it important that either they answer correctly or not all… They all begin to answer “Not at all,” you see.
So this is your little not-I that was coming along and hollerin’ what? “Are you sure?”
(Now I understand?)
Right. You interpret correctly? Are you sure, Darrol?
(chuckles)
[from Marsha So what this is referring to is the not-I’s within that make us doubt ourselves. I doubted my ability to sing and play music and when I began to have a lot of success in music, my father was never impressed or appreciated the effort I put into the quest. Trying to get attention and approval from him was an impossible effort as was trying “please” him. He had a whoppin’ lot of not’I’s in him which, of course, I finally come to realize.
Dr. Bob said many times that there are no mistakes or failures, only what doesn’t work. And we have in music what we call “woodshedding” and also a “no mistake” day. So when I feel a need to be creative, I will sit at the piano and improvise – no goals. Wonderful melodies start to emerge. So fun!]