I recently read a report credited to the WEB pioneer, London born Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
The report indicated that a few people with deep personal issues, can spread those beliefs very easily by making them very believable.
This can happen with just one person making a statement, which then becomes a deep seated belief in others.
In 2004, the British Sunday Times published the following :-
“Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who champions the alleged link between measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism in young children, stands discredited for misleading his medical colleagues and The Lancet, the professional journal that published his findings.“
Wakefield had published that giving the MMR injection was the cause of autism. that there was a link between the two.
His research was flawed.
He did not disclose the fact that countries that did not give the MMR injection to children had just as high an incidence of autism in the population as those countries that gave MMR.
He did not disclose that he was being funded by people who were seeking evidence to use against MMR vaccine manufacturers.
He did not disclose that symptoms of autism showed themselves at the same age as MMR was given.
He made an assumption that A caused B.
In NLP terms, Cause and Effect.
The result was that parents did not allow their children to have the MMR injection, and incidents of measles, mumps and rubella increased.
THE END OF THE WORLD. Yes, recently we were to expect the end of the world with the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) particle accelerator on the Swiss French border, which would create a black hole swallowing up the Earth.
Some people believed it. Others who did not believe still had the seed of doubt planted in their brain, “perhaps it is the end of the word“.
There have been many cult religions, where followers or believers, follow the teachings of one person, as if what is being said is nothing but the truth. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project in Jonestown, in the USA Waco.
Misinformation, wrong beliefs can sow those seeds in others.
A fellow trainer Jonathan Altfeld on his first visit to London told me his father had said to him, not to travel to London as it was a bomb site. His father had been in London during World War 2, and that was his belief of what London was like.
Another trainer friend Jill Lawday had been told not to travel to Turkey by her family, as the country was lawless, a dangerous place to be. She found as I have that it is one of the most pleasant countries in the world, and the people kind and considerate. OK, I have had the apartment is was staying in broken into, and I have been taken advantage of, lost money, but perhaps that was my fault, and will happen anywhere.
I was in contact with a friend who will be traveling for the first time to the UK and London, and they stated to me that they have their umbrella ready for the trip.
Where has that idea come from?
One person who had an experience of visiting London and it rained, presupposes (NLP Meta Model term) that it always rains in London. They then spread the news of their belief, and others take it up, and spread the misinformation.
Annual average rainfall in London is around 600 mm, compared to New York at 1173 mm, Jerusalem at 450 mm, Beirut at 600 mm, and Istanbul which is 650 mm.
From the Mayor of London’s web site it is stated:-
“London receives less rainfall per head than cities like Madrid and Istanbul, and our average annual rainfall (just below 650mm) is less than Addis Ababa (1200 mm).“
Be prepared, yes. I have been very wet in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia during a heavy rainstorm. It is very rare that I need an umbrella in London as I do in any country I travel to.
We need to remember one persons understanding or Map of the Territory is not the truth, but a representation of the truth or reality, and certainly not ours.
Anyway, my friend, when I meet you in London soon, I hope you do not have your umbrella with you. If you do, I will hit you over the head with it.
Try it, you might like it.