Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change

Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change is a 1978 book which describes the authors' theory of religious conversion. They propose that "snapping" is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a cult or new religious movement, or leaves the group through deprogramming or exit counseling. Political ideological conversions are also included, with Patty Hearst given as an example.[1]

Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change
Paperback edition
AuthorFlo Conway
Jim Siegelman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectReligious conversion, Mind control
Publisher1st ed. Lippincott,
2nd printing Dell,
2nd ed. Stillpoint Press
Publication date
1978 ( 2005 )
Media typePaperback
Pages380 ( 365 )
ISBN0-397-01258-6 (1st ed.);
ISBN 0-440-57970-8 (2nd printing);
ISBN 0-9647650-0-4 (2nd ed.)
155.2/5
LC ClassBF698.2 .C66

Two editions of the book were published, the first (1978) by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins;[2] and reprinted in 1979 by Dell Publishing;[3] and a second edition (1995) by Stillpoint Press, a publishing company owned by the authors.[4][5]

Concept

Conway and Siegelman describe snapping as:

an experience that is unmistakably traumatic ... Sudden change comes in a moment of intense experience that is not so much a peak as a precipice, an unforeseen break in the continuity of awareness that may leave them detached, withdrawn, disoriented – and utterly confused.[4]

Snapping has been said to create the effect of an entirely new person, often completely different and unrecognizable.[6]

Information disease

Conway and Siegelman further proposed that a disorder which they named "information disease" was caused by alteration of the neurological pathways of the brain by group indoctrination and mind control activities.[7]

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gollark: <@!257604541300604928> explayn
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gollark: If you have a good and simple design for some sort of interesting market mechanic I could integrate it in AutoBotRobot.
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References
  1. The A to Z of New Religious Movements, George D. Chryssides, Scarecrow Press, Jan 1, 2006, page 301
  2. Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1978). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. Philadelphia: Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-01258-6.
  3. Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1979). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. New York: Dell. ISBN 0-440-57970-8.
  4. Siegelman, Jim; Conway, Flo (1995). Snapping: America's epidemic of sudden personality change. Stillpoint Press. ISBN 0-9647650-0-4.
  5. Stillpoint Press; 20 Park Ave., New York, NY, United States,; Corporate officers: Siegelman, James; Conway Flo. Source: Company Intelligence Database, Thomson Gale;
  6. Undying Love: The True Story Of A Passion That Defied Death, Ben Harrison, Macmillan, Feb 15, 2001 page 26
  7. Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy, William F. Williams, Routledge, Dec 2, 2013, page 319


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