To understand the term "psychotechnics" you need to turn to history. The term was proposed by the German scientist and psychologist William Stern in 1903, in the work "Differential Psychology and its Methodological Foundations." According to his book, psychotechnology is an applied psychology that is designed to develop and improve psychological technologies aimed at changing the behavior and actions of people.
According to Stern, the main task of all psychotechnics is to help in choosing a profession, training highly qualified specialists. With the help of psychotechnology at that time, factors were studied that influenced the fatigue of workers in the course of work, on a person's ability to adapt to technology. After a while, with the help of psychotechnics, they began to study how advertising affects a person and his choice.
The article will discuss the meaning of the term, the types of psychotechnics, areas of application, the most common techniques and much more.
The modern meaning of the concept
In the mid-20th century, psychology as a science began to develop rapidly under the influence of many factors:
- The invention of psychedelic drugs.
- A request for staff development in business systems.
- Coming west of traditions from the east.
In the 60s there was a breakthrough in psychology. At this time, it became clear that there are already many methods that can change the state of human consciousness. It has been proven that from scanty doses of certain substances changes the person’s breathing, concentration, consciousness and worldview.
Then over the course of 50 years, many methodologies for changing consciousness have been created, which are essentially psychotechnics.
Areas of use
The term is widely used in humanistic psychology, which solves the problems of updating the human world and improving its level and quality of life at the expense of internal resources. To solve these problems, a huge number of effective psychotechnics were created.
Currently, they are used in medical psychiatry, which uses them to treat mental disorders and provide assistance to mentally ill people.
Social psychiatry is engaged in the social formation of a person, his interaction with society. For example, assistance is provided in choosing a future profession, in getting rid of fears or complexes, from drug addiction or alcoholism.
Psychotechnics is a kind of manipulation, a psychological impact on a person whose goal is to change perception and behavior. The German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg compared psychotechnics with mathematical problems. According to his theory, psychology can solve many practical and theoretical problems in the most diverse areas of human life.
The history of the development of psychotechnics in Russia
The widespread use of psychotechnics abroad prompted Russian scientists to develop this area of psychology in Russia. In the 20s of the XX century, psychological rooms, services and laboratories began to be created in the country, the activities of which were aimed at the study and development of psychotechnics. Their main goal was the rationalization of labor. A huge role in the development of this field of psychology was played by Lev Vygotsky. But in the 30s, the development and study of psychotechnics was practically stopped. This continued until the mid-80s, when this industry revived again. Psychotechnics have become popular not only in labor, but also in politics and economics.
In Russian psychology, the term is interpreted as follows: psychotechnics are methods of converting one psychological state of a person into another.
Origin of the term
The word "psychotechnics" came to us from the Greek language. It translates as "skill, skill of the soul." That is, psychotechnology is the art and technology of working with the human soul. If you look at this area of psychology as a science, then it is very young, and if you consider it as a technique of working with consciousness and soul, then it is already many millennia. The first to use these psychotechnologies were the priests of Ancient Egypt and the Yoga of India.
They used peculiar tricks (incense, lighting, the rhythm of music, dancing) to turn believers into unquestioning performers of their will. They also used hypnosis. If the hypnotized person was hypnotized, then after the end of the session he perceived the program being inspired as the goals of his whole life, he did not spare either himself or his relatives.
Psychotechnics as a psychological weapon
The application of techniques for influencing consciousness is not always aimed at the benefit of man. The military has always been interested in ways that could influence the mass of people. That is why great attention is paid to the development of psychological weapons, as well as the development of nuclear weapons. In the Pentagon, for example, there is the Special Intelligence department, which employs more than 70 of the best psychologists, psychics and clairvoyants. Several programs were developed at the CIA, during which, with the help of psychotropic substances and hypnosis, they changed people's minds and thoughts. Modern specialists in the field of psychotechnics are able to develop a "personal" program that will cause the necessary changes in the psyche of a particular person or provoke the development of the disease.
Unfortunately, there is no simple and effective defense against psychological weapons. Of course, there are techniques for blocking these programs and psychotechnics of influence, but they are available only to specialists of special services. It should be noted that a psychological weapon that is capable of driving crazy the masses of people if they do not want it has not been created. More precisely, nothing is known about him. Some scientists and psychoanalysts only make assumptions based on what is happening in the world, but cannot prove anything.
Who is influenced by psychotechnics
Even the very first hypnotists (priests) perfectly saw that not all people succumb to the influence of psychological programs and hypnosis. Most affected are those who desire it, who believe in the hypnotist and are used to "go with the flow", who have no strong beliefs and are used to "go with the flow." It’s more difficult to work with skeptical people, but it’s impossible to work with strong, free, strong-willed people who are used to thinking and acting independently using psychotechnics.
Psychotechnics for the masses
But even a strong-willed and strong person, being in a crowd, gives in to the action of psychological programs and attitudes. Even ancient philosophers noticed that the crowd is like a herd moving in a single direction. A person in the crowd becomes easy prey for manipulators. A variety of psychotechnics and techniques are used to control the mass.
Psychotechnics used by special services
If a person has an idea of secret techniques, he will be able to resist them. Consider the most common and best psychotechnics, which from time immemorial have been used by special services to change the consciousness and will of people:
This effect on the consciousness of a person or group of people in various ways, as a result of which he (they) lose control of self-consciousness. A person under hypnosis begins to carry out the commands of the hypnotist and changes his behavior. As a rule, for therapeutic purposes, hypnosis is used in medicine. With its help, the pain threshold is reduced, people get rid of drug addiction and alcoholism. But hypnosis is not always beneficial. The technique of conversational hypnosis is used by gypsies. They speak up the “victim”, ask such questions that she becomes confused and enters into an easy trance. Then they give the will with a strong-willed voice and get the desired result, since a person in a state of trance cannot resist the will of others.
How to protect yourself from such hypnosis? The answer is simple - a smile and healthy skepticism. These two "weapons" are reliable armor from any impact.
Hypnosis is a psychotechnology aimed at controlling the human mind and will. It is from this point of view that he is interesting to special services. For example, the CIA, with the help of hypnosis, dreams of creating an “ideal agent”. Many terrorist organizations use this technique to create suicide bombers.
This is a form of hypnosis when, during a session, a certain command is suggested to a person. For example, he is offered to remember a certain musical motive, during the sound of which a person must perform certain actions, sometimes dangerous for his own life or those around him. When that motive begins to sound, the person carries out the command inspired by him.
Examples of zombies are many. These techniques are used by religious sects, firms and corporations, politicians, advertisers promoting a particular product. Zombies have become commonplace in the modern world.
- Psychotechnics of communication.
Each of us was faced with a situation where at the beginning of the conversation there is a clear confidence that we are right, but the interlocutor manages to change it with a couple of phrases. Only later, when the dispute is lost, an understanding comes of what had to be said in order to fend off the interlocutor's attacks. Why it happens? This is a kind of leverage on a person that you can educate in yourself.
There are certain "strings" in the soul of a person, yanking for which, you can force him to perform certain actions. You can manipulate these criteria:
- Curiosity.
- Guilt.
- Greed.
- Fear.
- Vanity.
- Patriotism.
- Masculinity or femininity.
- Sense of justice.
- Revenge.
- A pity.
There are not many of them, but the ability to act on them helps to subordinate any person to his will.
Auto-suggestion
Suggestion is a psychological influence on a person’s consciousness. At the same time, his psyche perceives all attitudes without evaluating and analyzing them. Self-hypnosis is a process of influencing oneself.
Similar psychotechnics were used in the training of intelligence agents. They are simple enough, so they can be used by everyone to change something in their life.
Psychologists say that approximately 90% of people do not live as they would like. Constant thoughts of the negative lead to the fact that the life of an individual turns into what he thinks. It's a vicious circle. Many books have been written about the influence of thought on reality. Negative thoughts spoil relationships, worsen health, spoil mood, and waste life energy.
You need to try to change your inner dialogue, worldview, worldview.
Self-hypnosis process technology
Conventionally, the process of auto-suggestion can be divided into 4 stages:
- The first is installation.
- The second is entering into a state of altered consciousness. There are many names for such a state, for example, “state of emptiness”, “change of consciousness”, “distracted attention”. Most often, this condition in psychotechnics is called "internal dialogue." That is, this is a conversation that we conduct daily with ourselves.
- The third stage is the perception of one's own attitude.
- Fourth - the return of one’s own consciousness to a normal state with an already established program of action.
Self-hypnosis truly works wonders. There are cases when people, inspiring themselves with certain attitudes, were cured of serious illnesses, got out of bed after serious injuries. We do not suspect what tremendous opportunities are inherent in our psyche. Using special psychotechnics, you can achieve a change in consciousness and gain access to the unique opportunities that are inherent in each of us.