Ben Mack Comes Clean—An Effing Amazing Video
Posted Nov 09, 2007 16 comments
If you're familiar with the work of Ben Mack, this will be a revelation. Ben sits down with his friend Dave Lakhani
Big thanks to both Ben and Dave for providing this.
I know what you're thinking..."two old guys in a room with a mic?"...but don't sleep. This is valuable, useful, and applicable material and you need to beef up your attention span.
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Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.1. Ray on Nov 09, 2007 at 7:42 AM permalink
Should it ever be assumed two professional persuaders are “coming clean”? I’m guessing it shouldn’t, and I don’t mean that as an aspersion towards the parties involved. Mack is an interesting character, for sure.
2. John W on Nov 09, 2007 at 8:52 AM permalink
Watch and listen to Lakhani, that guy is a master of subliminal communication. He is the smoothest persuader I’ve ever seen. I saw him on stage recently and it was like being sucked in by a tractor beam. Unbelievably powerful. I’m not surprised that he got Ben to be so revealing. I would never let him have a go at me like that. He is also a master of NLP and it shows. Listen to his voice and pacing when he interviews or sells. The dude is wicked smart.
3. dc_ on Nov 10, 2007 at 4:57 AM permalink
very entertaining and interesting, thanks
4. kinkykoala on Nov 10, 2007 at 10:57 PM permalink
Dear Thirtyseven,
Had not heard about Mack or Lakhani untill this video ( meet Ben Mack is probably one of the few things I didn’t read on here ) and I had not heard about about “whatwouldbilhickssay” ...
I DO know something about Bill Hicks and this is not what he would say, it is what he DID said :
“If you’re in marketing or advertising : kill yourself ,there’s no rationalization for what you do, you are Satan’s little helpers. You’re the ruiner of all things good, you’re satan’s spawn filling the world with filth and garbage you’re fucked and you’re fucking us , kill yourself it’s the only way to save your fucking soul. Kill yourself and rid the world of your evil machinations.”
As always, Thirtyseven, you get the benefit of the doubt so I am forced to look into this before even claiming to have an opinion about the matter.
Love
5. Thirtyseven on Nov 11, 2007 at 6:35 AM permalink
Are all cops assholes? Are all teachers liars? Are all hippies stupid? Etc.
6. Erica on Nov 11, 2007 at 7:50 PM permalink
BILL ALSO SAID THIS:
The world is like a ride in an amusement park and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and around and around and it has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud. And it’s fun - for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question; is this real? Or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say, “Hey, don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because… this is just a ride.”
I THINK THAT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS JOKES, DON’T YOU???
7. kinkykoala on Nov 12, 2007 at 2:12 AM permalink
Dear Thirtyseven,
Just finished reading Poker Without Cards half an hour ago ( took me about ten hours and multiple re-reading and further in-depth research is vital ) and my brain is still sizzling from the intensity ...
This guy is truly extraordinary !
A million thanks for introducing me to his stuff.
Dear Erica,
You are right : “It’s just a ride” is his most important message, however, I don’t think Bill was joking when he did his marketing bit, he said so himself multiple times.
Love
PS Just as an indication of how this affected me : I’ve decided to squeegee(sp?) my third eye tomorrow for the first time in years. It will be a bumpy ride
8. John on Nov 12, 2007 at 6:50 PM permalink
We won WWII because Madison Avenue was on our side.
If they ran Auschwitz....there’d be ticket scalpers and fighting to
be first in line.
9. ALDEN TURNIPSEED on Nov 14, 2007 at 9:37 PM permalink
Ben Mack is a materialist manipulator for his own personal ends. He is a byproduct of an overdoting mother. His preference to eating is not remarkable nor is his self-acclaimed intelligence. Intelligence without character is meaningless. Whatever abilities he claims title to are mere physical attributes with no meaningful insight or wisdom. His claim to want to provide water to our world’s populations is about as sincere as Werner Erhardt;s dramatic ploy of feeding the world’s hungry. This messianism is apparent from the outset. His mother’s affections for having him blessed by some eastern avatar, as if this dolt were to be our next pariah. Practicing witchcraft along with HIS Crowley MagiK and his Bernay’s imitation to money marketing for the masses, makes one feel quite liberated, that is, liberally felt up. To put this porcine proletariat in front of the people is like asking the Queen to disrobe to display her new and improved couture of our Kulture Klub Kibbitsers.
10. Thirtyseven on Nov 14, 2007 at 9:57 PM permalink
Wow, that’s a pretty detailed analysis. Just curious: what are you doing with your life?
11. Jack Paar on Nov 14, 2007 at 9:59 PM permalink
Mack’s commented about his relative being accused of merely reading benign Marxist literature. These camel jockey’s that came to our shore, to the beacon of freedom and principles and rights upon which this great nation was founded, and rather than embracing the history of this nation and its people, by reading and broadcasting our great books, instead brought forth their revolutionary zeal and messianic neurotic temper with Marx, and Lenin and communism. Rather than help make this nation greater and support its identity by melding within the fabric of this state, they instead chose to overturn and incite and provoke at every street corner and every hamlet and every educational institution and every seat of governance they were able to control. Rather than lift up the heart of men, they chose to subvert the minds of men.
If these pumpkins were really noble, they would have become princes and the wise counsels that they like to profess to themselves and others. Instead they are frogs and toads that worm their way into our lives to disrupt, confuse and distort with their slimy lies and croaky deceptions.
What McCarthy did for this country was necessary. We need to do it again.
12. Ray on Nov 14, 2007 at 10:24 PM permalink
What’s more pathological, Jack Paar’s projection or his lack of brevity/coherence?
13. Terry Melanson on Nov 19, 2007 at 10:57 PM permalink
What TURNIPSEED said; or, at least the gist of it.
My impression of Mack is that he is disingenuous, perhaps a bit knavish; awkward; lacking street cred; likes the sound of his own voice; is adept at intellectual masturbation; and wishes he was as cool as RAW.
The whole field of these mystico-marketers is really unsettling - the exploitation of motivational techniques, materialism in the extreme, guru worship, semiotics and manipulation of religious inclinations.
I suppose it’s a good thing just knowing they are out there. So for that, thanks.
I agree with Mack that marketers are the witch doctors of Madison Avenue, as was articulated, using those exact terms, by Daniel J. Boorstein (c.’63) and John Anthony West (c.’93) before him.
14. phodecidus on Nov 21, 2007 at 8:26 PM permalink
"I’m hoping that by living openly and candidly the universe will reward me.”
That’s probably the only thing I’ve heard Ben Mack say that made me think, and even laugh a little bit.
15. Tom Visconti on Nov 29, 2007 at 10:04 AM permalink
Whats up with the “two old guys with a mic” comment?
Someones age determines if they have something interesting to say?
16. Thirtyseven on Nov 29, 2007 at 6:15 PM permalink
Here in the exciting world of the internets, there’s a million videos just like this created every day. And all of them fucking suck. This one didn’t. Hence my comment.
I will say this: as people get older and more set in their routines, most of their intellectual activity becomes a justification for their cowardice and failure. So yeah, I do tend to think older people IN THIS CULTURE have less to say. I also happen to live in Vermont, where most older people are the only ones with anything interesting to say.
Like I always find myself having to remind people, I actually don’t know the human race. I’ve met about 8 to 10 thousand of them, tops. Take any of my sweeping pronouncements for what they are: ignorance.