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Chapter One So, what are the implications of this factor of human consciousness? (By the way, this is also the reason why most therapy to stop bad habits does not work - they attempt to operate against a “belief system” that is imprinted in the subconscious that this or that habit is essential to survival.) One of the first things we might observe is that everyone has a lifferent set of beliefs based upon their social and familial different their social familial set different set of beliefs based upon their social and familial conditioning, and that these beliefs determine how much of the objective reality anyone is able to access. In the above story, the objective reality is what it is, whether it is truly objective, or only a consensus reality. In this story, there is clearly a big part of that reality that is inaccessible to the subject due to a perception censor that was activated by the suggestions of the hypnotist. That is to say, the subject had a strong belief, based upon his choice as to who or what to believe. In this case, he had chosen to believe the hypnotist and not what he might be able to observe if he dispensed with the perception censor put in place by the hypnotist who activated his “belief center” - even if that activation was fraudulent. And so it is with nearly all human beings: we believe the hypnotist - the “official culture” - and we are able, with preternatural cunning, to deny what is often right in front of our faces. What is most disturbing in the case of the hypnosis subject described above is that he is entirely at the mercy of the “Invisible Man” because he chooses not to see him. Is it possible that - in a similar way - we are under the control of a “hypnotist” who does not have our best interests at heart? Let’s face it: we are all taught to avoid uncomfortable realities. Human beings - faced with unpleasant truths about themselves or their reality - react like alcoholics who refuse to admit their condition, or the cuckolded husband who is the “last to know”, or the wife who does not In States of Denial: Knowing about Atrocities and Suffering'”, Stanley Cohen discusses the subject of denial which may shed some light on the context in which we find the “alien phenomenon” situated. Denial is a complex “unconscious defence mechanism for coping with guilt, anxiety and other disturbing emotions aroused by reality”. Denial can be both deliberate and intentional, as well as completely subconscious. An individual who is deliberately and intentionally denying something is acting from an individual level of lying, concealment and deception. I don’t think that we are dealing with this 162 notice that her husband is abusing her daughter. '7 Cambridge: Polity Press; Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2001