Suggestibility and Receptivity: From Mechanicalness to Consciousness

G. I. Gurdjieff spoke often about how “suggestible” we are, and wrote in Beelzebub’s Tales that this is “the most terrible” of our “abnormal being-particularities.” Suggestibility depends in large part on self-love, vanity, self-calming, likes and dislikes, and the beliefs and attitudes we have about what does or does not make something valuable.

Anyone who has ever worked consciously on themselves with others can see this particular feature of our psyche not only in other people but especially in oneself. One can see it in relation not only to our habits as consumers, but also to many of our actions, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and judgments, especially those with which we are the most identified. One sees it very clearly in politics and religion. One also sees it in relation to so-called spirituality. If someone we believe in (including ourselves) makes a suggestion, we most often take it seriously with little objective reflection. Those practicing self-observation will notice how frequently they are slaves to their own suggestions, whether positive or negative.

Behavioral scientists have recognized for some time the power of suggestibility to shape what we think, feel, and experience, but it has not been until recently that they have devised objective experiments to actually measure this in an objective way. Recent research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, for example, shows that people who pay more money for the same item derive more pleasure from it. The experiments demonstrated that the part of the brain that makes judgments about pleasure, the medial orbitofrontal cortex, actually becomes more active when people pay more money for something.

In one experiment, for example, the researchers–California Institute of Technology neuroeconomist Antonio Rangel and Stanford University economist Baba Shiv–had people evaluate two bottles of wine: one that cost $10 and one that cost $90. What the volunteers who drank the wine didn’t know is that both bottles contained the exact same wine. When people drank the bottle that cost $90 they all called that bottle “better.” And their medial orbitofrontal cortex became far more active than when they drank from the bottle that cost $10.

In another experiment, volunteers were given an “energy drink” that was said to boost “mental acuity.” Some of the volunteers were asked to pay full price for the drink ($1.89), while others got it at a discount (only 89 cents). The researchers told the volunteers who received the discount that it was the exact same drink (which it was) and that the discount was made possible because of a “bulk purchase” of the product. After drinking the product, volunteers were given a test in which they had to unscramble specific words. Those who paid full price were able to unscramble twice as many words as those who received the discount.

There are many profound questions that this research raises, and I’d like to “suggest” one for us to ponder: What is the difference between suggestibility, which shapes so much of our lives in such an unconscious way, and receptivity, which is needed to learn anything new? How can we tell the difference experientially?

In my own life I have felt this question often, especially when reading books to which I am attracted or taking part in activities involving spiritual teachings that seem to resonate with what I have experienced or believe to be true. We hear from others by word of mouth or book reviews or some other way that “so and so” is an “awakened being,” a wonderful Buddhist, a great Christian, a nondual master, and so on and thus well worth reading, and so we open the book eagerly already believing that what we read will be the truth, or at least close to it. This, of course, is suggestibiity, and advertising agencies and public relations agencies and “leaders” of all kinds are well aware of its importance in selling consumer products, political candidates, social attitudes, spiritual teachings, and just about everything else in modern life. For more on the power of public relations, for example, read my essay Propaganda in a Democracy.

Of course, one does not always need to read books, listen to music, and so on that come with great reviews or endorsements. My main teacher in the Gurdjieff work once said to a few of us that you can pick up almost any book, and that if you are receptive, able to listen, you will find at least one thought or insight in the book that is just what you need to hear. And throughout my life I have found this to be true not just in relation to books but also in relation to movies, television shows, and other media (even those that my friends criticize).

We have to remember that every human being–famous or not, awakened or not, a great teacher or not–is capable of great insights and that if we are listening, if we are receptive, we may hear exactly what we need to hear to help us awaken from our sleep, which, of course, is supported by our suggestilbilty.

What does it mean to be receptive? It means to welcome new impressions, ideas, or information consciously. It means to listen without arguing and without immediate referral to the concepts, beliefs and attitudes that condition us and form the basis of our self-image. It means to be interested in what is true, to be impartially attentive to what is happening right now, even if it means becoming conscious of our suggestibility.

Whether we are suggestible or receptive something is imprinted on us and in us. In the case of suggestibility, the impressions we receive are imprinted unconsciously, mechanically—they are received through and in relation to personal prejudices and conditioning and carried out or reacted to without any real question or attempt to understand in the context of the wholeness of our life. In the case of receptivity, we listen without “credulousness,” from not knowing, and thus have the impressions at our disposal—not mechanically linked with our beliefs and attitudes, but consciously linked with our underlying wish to truly verify and understand.

A great practice is to attempt, as sincerely as possible, to differentiate between suggestibilty and receptivity, between mechanicalness and consciousness, in the course of your daily life. I am interested in hearing any impressions you have as a result of this effort.

Copyright 2009 by Dennis Lewis