It is charged that police detectives have worked false "confessions" out of suggestible criminals in this way, by keeping hammering away at them until their wills are worn out, and they would say "Yes !" to escape further questioning, like the girl who finally accepted the lover's repeated proposal in order to get rid of him. This firm, decided, authoritative statement or demand, when allied to the law of repetition, has caused much mischief in the world, and many have "given in" to it, to their sorrow. I trust that these warning words will save some other trouble of this kind. When the law is once understood it is comparatively easy to escape the suggestion. The strength in the suggestor of this kind lies. in the ignorance of the person suggested. Forewarned is forearmed, in this case.

I have heard of business men who would instruct their clerks to ask questions of their customers in this way: "You like this pattern, do you not?" or "This is a beautiful shade, is it not?" etc., etc., etc. Do you see the point? The statement is made first, and the question is asked right on top of it. Isn't it easier to say Yes! than No! to this kind of a question? (See there, now, I asked the question in that way, myself, although I had no intention of doing so. I took my own suggestion.)

In this connection I may add that it is a well known psychological fact that, when two persons are conversing, the one standing, or sitting higher than the other, has the advantage of a certain positive attitude or position. And the person seated below the speaker is forced into a relatively passive or negative condition, or position. That is, everything else being equal, the person elevated will be positive to the other, and the one seated on a lower level will be passive, relatively. The raised platform of the teacher, speaker, preacher, etc., has a good psychological basis. And the power that a lawyer feels when "talking on his feet' to the jury seated in front of him is a manifestation of a law that he may not be aware of - but the judge has the best of the lawyer, for the latter must look up to him when he talks.

Try the experiment of practicing the above position with some friend, first one being seated and then the other, and see how you can actually feel the difference between the two positions. The raised position of clerks in the large stores, and the low seats so accommodatingly placed for the customers, have good reasons. If you ever feel that some one is placing you in a negative or passive condition, rise to your feet, and you will feel doubly strong and forceful. This is a little hint that may be worth many times the price of this book to you, some of these days. Look over the foolish things that you have been talked or influenced into, and see if you were not seated and the other person standing, or seated higher than you. This is a little thing - but it works big results, sometimes. Better heed it.

There is a great difference in the suggestibility of persons, some being almost immune from suggestion, while others are so suggestible that they have but to be told a thing in a positive, forceful, confident, authoritative tone and manner, to accept the suggestion, particularly if it be repeated several times. They will likewise readily absorb the suggestions of imitation and association. But I have told you about this elsewhere in this lesson. Study those around you, and you will soon discover the different degrees. The hypnotic "subject" is at the extreme negative end of the scale.

I now wish to call your attention to what may be called "future-suggestion," or, as the hypnotists call it "post-hypnotism," etc. Future suggestions are like seeds planted in the mind, which grow, blossom and bear fruit at some future time. The hypnotists produce this phenomena by giving the subject, while in the hypnotic condition, the suggestion that at a certain time, either in a few minutes, or hours, or days, he will do certain things, or feel certain things. But the newer school of psychologists have discovered that these future suggestions may be made in the ordinary receptive state, just as is the case with any of the other forms of mental suggestions, and the result will be the same as that obtained by the hypnotists, in spite of their theories and methods.

I do not purpose going into detail regarding this class of phenomena, because all that is necessary to be said can be comprised in the following two statements: (1) That, generally speaking, all the phenomena of the ordinary Immediate mental suggestion may be produced as future suggestion; and (2) that all the phenomena of future-suggestion, produced by the suggestor upon another person, may be likewise produced by auto-suggestions, that is, by the person inducing suggestions in himself.

Many foolish suggestions are given in everyday life along the lines of future suggestion, and alas! many of them are accepted carelessly, owing to a lack of knowledge of the principle. How many times has it been said to an impressionable young bride, "Never mind, you'1l grow tired of him after a while," etc. Or to a man, "Wait until the novelty wears off and you'll see how sick of the job you'll get." Or, "You'll lose your interest and enthusiasm, by-and-by." Or, "You'll find him out after a while and will see that he's not what he seems." And so on - you may add to these instances from your own experience. And too often these suggestions are recalled and have a tendency to cause the person to "make them come true." Many fortune-tellers' prophecies have been made come true in this way by impressionable and ignorant people. I have given you a key to this principle now - heed the lesson! If you feel that an attempt at future impression is being made on yon neutralize it with a mental "No, I won't"! That is the antidote for the bane.

The second principle in the statement made several paragraphs further back - i. e., that all the phenomena of future suggestion may be duplicated by auto-suggestion, or suggestions made by oneself - is true and worthy of consideration. You make up your mind that you must awaken to catch a train at four tomorrow morning and you awaken in time. You have set your mental alarm clock. If you have an engagement at three this afternoon you may set your alarm as follows (talking to yourself, of course): "Now, see here! Remember that you must see Smith at three this afternoon - three, three, I say! Remember now, three, I say"! And if you impress it sufficiently strong upon your mind, a little before three you will begin to feel uneasy, and then suddenly your Smith engagement will "pop" into your mind from your sub-conscious region, and you will reach out for your hat and overcoat. Mental alarm-clock, remember! That tells the whole tale.

You see, the experimenter giving future suggestions simply sets the mental alarm-clock going along the lines of suggestion. He makes the mental suggestion and attaches it to the mental alarm-clock - when the alarm goes off the suggestion emerges into the field of consciousness and acts just as if it had been freshly made. That's the whole story in plain, homely terms.

But don't be frightened, you timid people. Remember this, that you will not accept a future suggestion unless you would also accept a present suggestion - the degree' of "suggestibility" is the same in both cases. The only reason a future suggestion has the advantage over a present one is that it is more subtle, and people are not as much on guard about future things as they are about things to be "done right now." You will resent a suggestion that you "Do this thing right now," while you pay but little attention to the earnest suggestion that "in a year from now you will feel so-and-so about this matter," and dismiss the subject with a shrug of the shoulders, instead of saying, at least mentally, "No, I won't"! The present suggestion is apt to attract your attention the more forcibly, because it is more apparent - while the future suggestion is more "insinuating." But now that you know the facts of the matter you may laugh at them both, and take the sting out of them by your little "No, I won't"!

And, just one word more. If you feel that you are harboring any future suggestions made on you in the past, but upon which the alarm has not yet gone off, you may kill them by direct self-suggestion, or autosuggestions to the contrary. That is, you may say "I shall not act upon any adverse suggestions that; may have been made to me - I will them out of my mind - I kill them this moment by the power of my will." And at the same time make a mental picture of the suggestion being obliterated by the action of your will, just as the chalk mark is erased from the blackboard by the passing over it of the eraser. Try this plan and be free!