See the full podcast series on con artist Chase Hughes
An episode examining the all-knowing-guru aspirations of the con artist Chase Hughes, and how his attempt to manufacture an illusion of deep authority and induce paranoia and confusion in his audience is similar to the strategies of other narcissistic false-gurus (e.g., Teal Swan, Keith Raniere, L Ron Hubbard, many more). This episode is focused on one person but it’s about something much bigger than one person: it’s about how false gurus build cults in the digital age. Towards the end there are quotes from former Chase Hughes customers and inner circle members who see Chase as doing highly unethical and harmful things.
This episode is only available on YouTube, not on audio podcast platforms. For a short essay about this topic, go here (I put that piece only on Aemula because I recommend people sign up for Aemula and support them; learn why).
TRANSCRIPT
Zach Elwood: What you’ll learn in this video will shock and disturb you…
(Chase Hughes clips…)
Dr. Phil: “I’m talking to Chase Hughes. You’ve looked at how a lot of these psy-ops that have been used in the military, have been used to break down uh the enemy in times of war, are actually being used for pretty clandestine ways to influence what’s going on in American society today.”
Shawn Ryan: “Kirk was just assassinated… So, I mean, is that a psy-op? Is the Epstein thing a psy-op? Ukraine? China?”
Chase Hughes: “All psy-ops.”
Chase Hughes on Joe Rogan: “it gets deeper… there are step-by-step programs they
have for creating a Manchurian candidate”
Chase Hughes: “the CIA is on record creating manchurian candidates that can assassinate quote american officials.”
Shawn Ryan: “Do you think we’re in a false reality?”
Chase: “I think this is a simulation. “while you are in the DMT state, you get to close to the wall and you can see code that looks kind of like alien writing…”
Chase: “This is reality being replaced layer by layer. There are six layers and you’ve only seen the first one.”
Chase: “There’s a reason that you wake up with dread and blame yourself for it. It was designed.”
Chase: “That is the program running.”
Chase: “Fear is the easiest way to control human beings.”
Zach Elwood: What you’ll learn in this video will shock and disturb you. Not because it exposes some secret, sinister government program. Not because it reveals some hidden psychological warfare system. But because it shows something much simpler.
It shows how paranoia is manufactured. It shows how a person can build influence and gain millions of followers by cultivating and spreading fear and paranoia. And make a lot of money in the process…
The disturbing thing about this is just how simple the equation is: Many of us are anxious, for understandable reasons. Just as many people have always been anxious. Our fear makes us easy to manipulate.
This video is about a man named Chase Hughes.
[clips of different podcast hosts mentioning Chase Hughes name… “the great Chase Hughes”]
But it’s about something much bigger than one person. It is about how modern cult leaders operate. How narcissistic gurus build power. How they make the world, and the people in it, seem alien and terrifying.
And how they position themselves as the solution. The key to the puzzle. Because once someone convinces you the world is full of hidden manipulation… that dark forces are shaping everything around you… And that reality itself is false… You’ll probably want to follow the person who claims to see through it all… who sees through the false, and threatening system around us. The one who can help guide you through this terrifying maze.
And that’s where the con begins.
So let’s look at how deceptive gurus try to manipulate you in the modern age…
Step One: Establish Authority
If you want to manipulate people… You first need them to look up to you. You need status. You need authority. You need mystique. That is true of cult leaders. And it’s true of con men. And many of these people share the same basic problem: They desperately want widespread admiration. But they haven’t done anything to earn that admiration.
So they manufacture it. They lie. They inflate their life stories. They exaggerate their experience. They claim to have amazing knowledge… mysterious powers.
[Chase Hughes quote about reading everything about people… having a super power…]
Narcissistic con artists and cult leaders often lie… but they’ll more often use ambiguous language to deceive… they’ll imply things that are not technically false… But are deeply misleading.
For example… Chase Hughes claims his behavior and psychology related work is “Trusted by elite military teams”… “Trusted by CIA operatives.”
On the surface, that sounds official. But note its ambiguity.
There’s no evidence his behavior and influence-related ideas have been used in any official capacity by military or government organizations. In fact, there’s much evidence against that claim.
[Chase Hughes answering question about getting deep into behavior and psychology work professionally: “I wouldn’t say it was ever in a professional way…”]
Maybe a few military people bought his products. Maybe a single CIA employee once attended a seminar. That might be enough for Chase, if he was pressured in a legal setting, to say “see, my work was used and ‘trusted by’ such people.”
Diary of a CEO: “and who exactly have you worked with?”
Chase Hughes: “lots of government agencies, uh notably I’ve worked with intelligence agencies. I’ve worked with the psychological operations Department the US Army which is the Special Operations Command. I’ve trained a lot of the US Navy leaders nowadays.”
Again… The deceptive impression Chase seeks to create is that he did psychology- or behavior-related work with those agencies. But Chase was a Navy quartermaster; someone dealing with ship operations and equipment. But if pressed… he might say “I did sometimes work with intel officers and other such people.” Maybe he even trained some group on something related to ship navigation or equipment.
Chase’s pattern of deception about his life and products goes back years. In 2008, Chase was trying to fool people into thinking his vitamin supplements were technologically advanced and widely used…
[quote from his old Redshift vitamin supplement website claiming it was used by “all branches of armed forces”]
Maybe Chase had a few friends in different armed forces branches take his vitamin supplement, so he could say “see, I wasn’t lying; it is used by all branches of the armed forces” Or maybe it was just a straight-up lie.
But in any case, ambiguous language is a con man’s best friend. And ambiguity is constant in Chase Hughes’ storytelling.
He refers to military work. Psychological operations. Intelligence environments. Dangerous situations. Life-and-death scenarios. But the descriptions are vague. Hard to pin down.
[Morgan Nelson clip saying that Chase is a black beret, a special forces member, and an intelligence expert, with Chase talking about the dangers of his work]
[Chase Hughes life story interview, where he says none of his deployments were combat deployments]
One convenient thing about claiming intelligence work. Espionage. Classified operations. Is that it’s all…Secret. By definition.
Do you know about the case of Wayne Simmons? Simmons was a guest on Fox News for more than a decade, claiming to be a CIA operative and intel expert. But he was a fraud.
[Wayne Simmons clip of some sort…Include info about him being on Fox News for years]
Even those who suspected Simmons was a liar may have wondered, “maybe I can’t find details about him working with the CIA because his work was just so secret.”
Sometimes the claims are so vague and ambiguous that you are left doing the work. You fill in the blanks. You imagine something elite. Something impressive.
[clip from Chase talking about how ambiguous language: “And the more vague I am with some details, the more you’re going to insert your own details into what I’m selling, or pitching”]
And of course, in many cases, the claims are simply false.
[Chase’s claims of being a neuroscientist, and having studied post-grad at Harvard and Duke]
This is especially true for Chase’s early claims, when his quest for attention and fame was more desperate and less careful.
[onscreen text: various false claims from Chase’s early site:
Claims: “his behavioral analysis of political debates and televised crime testimonies have become the new benchmark for over 29 United States media outlets.”
“The Behavioral Table of Elements … is being employed by government and corporate agencies nationwide, including the US government and FBI.”
“His published works on cult victim deprogramming and neurology-based hypnosis have changed the way many forensic and psychiatric practitioners conduct business.”]
One of the many areas he lies about is what’s possible with reading behavior and influencing others. He makes grandiose claims that fly in the face of basic facts of psychology and behavior.
[clip of Chase claiming he has a “superpower” of reading people]
This episode won’t be a full cataloging of Chase’s many lies and exaggerations. If you’re interested in more detail about his deceptions, go to whoischasehughes.com and look at the links there.
Do you know who Frank Abagnale is? His memoir was the basis for Steven Spielberg’s movie Catch Me If You Can.
Many people still believe this story is real. A brilliant con artist. A master manipulator. A good guy who never really hurt anyone.
So the legend goes.
But those are all lies. Frank Abagnale was not a genius fraudster. He was a small-time criminal whose crimes were not impressive. The truth is that he simply made up large swaths of his life. Bald-faced lies.
The truth about Abagnale’s life and his many lies are detailed in the 2020 book The Greatest Hoax on Earth. Yes, Frank Abagnale was a successful con artist; he conned people into believing he was an amazing con artist.
Most people just trust that people are who they say they are. This is how Abagnale succeeded in this con. Deception researcher Tim Levine calls this the Truth Default Theory. By default… we believe… unless we have a good reason not to. We’re just not used to people who lie so directly to us about so many things; we don’t have good defenses for it.
And once popularity is established, the con and lies become even harder to dislodge. For example, because Steven Spielberg made a movie based on Abagnale’s life, many assume the story must be real. Surely someone like Spielberg would have vetted such claims before making a movie, right?
But the truth is, many people don’t vet.
In the same way, popular podcasts like Joe Rogan and Diary of a CEO have promoted Chase Hughes without seeming to care about his many lies. Also, many people seem more focused on getting clicks and attention with exciting content; the truth seems to take a backseat. Maybe that was a factor in Spielberg’s decision, too; I don’t know.
What this means that if you can fool a few influential people, and get them to promote you… You can borrow credibility… at scale. You can start building the snowball of influence, and get that ball rolling. And that will convince others, who convince others, and so on and so on…
[clips of Chase Hughes on Diary of a CEO, and Joe Rogan…]
Keith Raniere, of NXIVM, knew all about borrowed authority.
[clip from documentary The Vow about his impressive feats and abilities]
Most of his claims of impressive accomplishments were complete fiction. Raniere tried very hard to arrange an audience with the Dalai Lama. He knew that proximity to respected figures helps establish credibility. It didn’t matter what the Dalai Lama actually thought about Keith; the association would be worth its weight in gold.
L. Ron Hubbard did the same thing. He exaggerated his military story. He painted himself as a heroic, accomplished war hero. But that was completely false.
[clip from documentary Going Clear about his lies about military accomplishments, and his major mistakes in military]
Then he wrapped Scientology in military and naval imagery. Icons and symbols associated with seriousness and respect. Because appearance matters. Image matters. And for many people…The image is enough.
As Frank Abagnale shows us, once an impressive story spreads… It sticks. Even when the con artists’ many lies are exposed…The myth, the legend, can be firmly planted and hard to dislodge.
And the con artist keeps running…trying to stay one step ahead of the truth.
Step Two: Seem Deep and Wise
If you want to be perceived as an all-knowing guru…
You must appear to possess hidden knowledge.
But first… You just need to know some things. You don’t really need to know much. Just enough to sound competent. And the truth is: that’s a very low bar.
Any self-respecting con artist…can read a few Wikipedia pages. Pick up a few terms. A few basic facts. And suddenly… to someone who doesn’t know that domain… they can sound like an expert.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth… It’s just very easy to impress people. It’s easy to say things that sound impressive. It’s even easy to do things that make people think you are impressive.
This is especially the case for wide-open areas like psychology, where sometimes someone just talking to someone else about their problems can lead to improvements… or at least seem in the short term to lead to improvements.
[clip of Chase Hughes trainer Kisma Orbovich, kismaawake.com, praising Chase’s Avery program as possibly one of the greatest transformational tools in the world]
This is also the case for philosophy and spirituality, where there are just so many ideas and concepts and observations one can talk about… so many things one can say that can sound wise… or at least wise enough…
The placebo effect plays a big role here, too; if we think someone is powerful and wise, we will sometimes fool ourselves into believing they have helped us in major ways….
[clips from The Deep End, praising Teal Swan]
And once you see this basic fact, that it’s just easy to impress people, So many cons and frauds start to make more sense. Seeming smart and wise is the easy part. Impressing people is the easy part. The more difficult parts of becoming a faux guru come next…
If your ideas could be explained simply… if they could be contained in a short pamphlet… Nobody would need you. So you make the ideas seem complex. You stretch them out. You layer in terminology. Your own philosophy, your own frameworks… your own acronyms…
[clips of various models and acronyms from Chase Hughes, including acronyms from his pick-up artist book The Passport]
Those last two quotes come from Chase’s 2007 pick-up artist book The Passport.
All these intricate-sounding concepts can easily sound advanced and sophisticated to people. But if you slow down, and think about what’s actually being said…You’ll notice that many of the ideas are extremely simple. But the simple ideas are wrapped in deep-sounding language
[Chase Hughes: “So there may be a benefit to spending time with nature, but I think there’s a deep and pathological flaw in that way of thinking. We are viewing ourselves as separate from nature to begin with.”]
Sometimes wise-sounding words, when examined closely, contain little to no meaning at all. Gordon Pennycook and colleagues studied what they called pseudo-profound bullshit. They showed people sentences that sounded deep… but were actually meaningless. Things like: “Wholeness quiets infinite phenomena.” Just impressive-sounding words arranged into a sentence. In those studies, many people rated those statements as profound.
“Attention and intention are the mechanics of manifestation.” That was from a social media post by spiritual guru Depak Chopra.
There are many other angles to this. Did you know that research found that merely including a brain scan image can make people think that something is smarter and more credible?
We can be easily tricked into perceiving something as smart and wise, no matter how mundane or confusing or pseudo-deep it really is…
Chase Hughes: “In the mind, we suffer the elements of hidden psychopathy. Our bodies go through the same decay into a similar state of disease. And I call this biopathy. Biopathy just reflects any species that’s adrift from their origin. It forfeits the innate wisdom of biology. It’s a term that just the word itself just kind of captures the profound loss of an unspoken language. It’s maybe the primal dialogue between DNA and the earth.”
Clip: “Wow, that’s really deep, jamie…”
If you want to seem deep and wise, it helps to talk a lot. Hours of lectures. Endless explanations. When someone talks confidently for long enough…They can start to feel like an authority. The truth is that, if someone just acts confidently and talks a lot, many of us will seem them as legitimate and competent. In today’s digital age, a spiritual leader’s sermons mainly happen online. YouTube videos. Podcasts. Live streams for the leader’s “inner circle”
An aspiring cult leader aimed to constantly release material…Over and over.
[clip: Chase talking about, if he were a cult leader, he’d aim to produce regular content to regularly create dopamine in audience]
And now there are new tools to help one seem deep. AI can generate long, deep-sounding scripts… In seconds. The tools available to con artists and aspiring gurus… Have never been more powerful.
[Chase: Since I was like ten, I’ve been obsessed with ancient texts. And I do mean obsessed. I read them and still read them like people read data reports. I compare all the versions and the translations, line by line comparisons… These are texts written thousands of miles apart, thousands of years apart with no way to influence each other. And yet somewhere between the lines, they’re all whispering the exact same message.”]
Step Three: Cultivate Fear
Now here’s the important part. If you watch a few Chase Hughes videos, a pattern quickly emerges. The world is filled with hidden manipulation. Everything is psychological warfare. So-called psy-ops surround us. Many newsworthy events around us, maybe even most, are secretly engineered.
[example clips]
On top of that, the nefarious people secretly in control are using mind control tactics…They’re brainwashing people….
[clips of Chase claiming widespread brainwashing and Manchurian candidate killers]
It doesn’t really matter… that there is no evidence for such assertions. What matters is that it sounds credible and scary. And if someone claims a background in military intelligence and psy-ops, such stories can seem credible. There’s no evidence programs like MK-Ultra did anything impressive. Those operations were often immoral and creepy, yes, but they were ineffective in their attempts at gaining control of the human mind;
[clip from historian Stephen Kinzer, about how there’s no evidence of MK Ultra mind control experiments being effective]
You might be thinking: “We don’t know… maybe such things are possible. Maybe someone somewhere did amazing mind control things and we haven’t learned about it yet. ” That may be true. All sorts of things might be possible. But possibility is not evidence.
And it’s not a reason to believe specific claims— especially from someone with a history of deception.
And here’s the most important part: once you start to believe these wild and false stories of mind control and psy-ops and manchurian candidates are true…. It becomes easier to believe That Chase Hughes can do such things… The crazier his claims about the world are… The more credible his grandiose claims about his mysterious abilities become…
All the psy-op and brainwashing stuff is scary enough. But it gets even scarier. The guru informs us that we’re living in a simulation.
[clips about world being a simulation]
And this is not a metaphor…
[Chase: “This is not a metaphor”]
So many things around us, even things that would seem to most people quite banal and ordinary, are evidence of us living in a terrifying false world.
Chase Hughes: “How is Walmart a simulation?… It’s not just a supermarket. It’s what this book refers to as a hypermarket. Everything becomes a sign. Everything’s a representation of something else. The produce is clean. It’s uniform. It almost appears artificial. You go to a farmers market, vegetables don’t look like that. So what’s natural is made into something simulated to reconstruct our expectations. But why do we have that expectation? Because we saw it in the media which was a simulation of that thing.”
[scary images of produce… twilight zone music….]
Chase Hughes: “So Disney World serves to camouflage that the rest of the world is also a stage. It’s also artificial. If you ask a random person to draw a picture of a princess, what will they draw? That’s our definition of real. That’s in your head. You define what a princess is based on a simulation…”
[Golden Girls: “ooh, I’m shaking”]
And it gets deeper. Even reality itself is false. The guru confidently proclaims that he has seen beyond the Matrix we reside in.
[clips about Chase Hughes hanging out with Danny Goler and doing DMT and claiming to see code that shows we’re in a simulation]
[clip from Diary of a CEO, with Chase saying that dreams may be one level of reality, this is another, and the higher level is what you see on DMT]
It’s one thing to believe we might be in a simulation; obviously, that’s an idea, it’s a possibility.
It’s another thing to claim to know it, and claim that you yourself have definitely seen beyond it. But such claims align with other grandiose and scary views that Chase trafficks in; whether we’re talking psy-ops, brainwashing, the news media, Walmart, Disney World, pretty much everything… the entire world is a false front, an illusion… where we are being controlled and manipulated by mysterious entities.
Chase Hughes: “Psychedelics can really just rewire someone’s brain so fast.”
Step Four: Become the Savior
As they seek to manufacture authority and nurture paranoia and fear…. The aspiring guru positions themselves as the solution. They are the spiritual guide… the modern day shaman. The only person who truly understands the confusing, often terrifying reality around us
[Teal Swan quote about mental epidemics, people feeling lost, and waking up to unconsciousness]
In Chase Hughes’ content, that message appears repeatedly. He has rare, amazing insight into psychology and influence. He can decode and predict human behavior in a nearly god-like way. He is unrivaled in his understanding of all psychological ideas. He sees beyond the false reality around us. He can help people navigate the confusion and become more happy and real versions of themselves. He can help people escape the evil Matrix.
[example quotes from his videos]
He also knows how to heal major diseases. He claims to have made unique breakthroughs using his own regimen of various drugs and compounds… which includes melatonin suppositories, methylene blue… and psilocybin, which is the active compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. He encourages his inner circle to take psychedelics, and also serves as a guide for them as they take their psychedelic journey
He is truly all-knowing, a master of all realms.
Once people come to see him as a true spiritual guru… A new dynamic emerges. Trust. Love. Eventually dependence. The people feel an overwhelming urge to seek out the guru’s wisdom, to be close to him.
This pull is strongest for the most vulnerable among us, those who have suffered the most….
[Teal Swan: “How many of you are depressed?” Many raise their hands]
As those in pain and those seeking secret knowledge strive to get close to the guru… The transformation is complete… A false prophet is born.
Step Five: Love Bomb
Another classic cult tactic. Love bombing. This is when leaders flood their followers with warmth, praise, and reassurance. They tell people they are special. That they are good. That they are noticing deep things. That they are close to the truth. That they are loved as they are. All this creates a bond.
In traditional cults this would often happen in person. Online, it happens through language. You can see versions of it in Chase Hughes’ content.
- “You are complete”
- “You were never missing something. You were taught to forget.”
- “You were never fully erased, only hidden.”
- “Here’s the truth they cannot delete. Behind that fog, you are still in there.”
- “Your real life is still here. It’s waiting for you under the noise.”
He seeks to communicate: The world out there and the people in it are scary and corrupt, seeking to control you. But unlike them, I care about you. I see you as real, as complete, as good. With me, you are safe. I am on your side. I care about you. I love you.
[Chase quotes…]
- “Love is the only thing that’s real.”
- “Love you, take care.”
- “Love you, take care…”
- “One love.”
- “Love ya”
Step Six: Always. Be. Closing
The deceptive guru will almost always be trying to get you into the funnel and sell you something.
Courses. Workshops. Training programs. Exclusive hangouts. Retreats. And these offerings are often expensive. Sometimes thousands of dollars. Sometimes tens of thousands. [clips of Hughes’ resort offering]
The money is nice. But it’s not the real goal. The real goal… is to be adored. To be seen as exceptional. Because there’s an emptiness inside. Living in the real world, for some people, can feel claustrophobic and terrifying. Being their actual ordinary self is too depressing, too stagnant; it feels like death. So they search for validation in dream worlds… worlds in which they’re an amazing genius, worshipped by all.
They seek what has been called… narcissistic supply. They desperately need people who embrace and reflect back to them their grandiose delusions.
And actually, the money isn’t just a nice perk; it’s a powerful part of the strategy. Because once people pay…They tend to commit. Once people invest…They’re more likely to believe. The more is invested–whether that’s an investment of money, or just substantial time and attention–
the harder it is to step back. The harder it is to admit… “I was wrong.” Invested customers lean in. And rationalize. And defend. Even as the red flags grow.
That’s how people get stuck in such strange and dangerous funnels… traps that seem so obvious from the outside. The deeper in they go… the harder it can be to tell what’s real.
The Irony of Paranoia
There is a deep irony in all of this. Fear of manipulation can make you easier to manipulate. Fear of control can make you easier to control. If you start to believe that dark, all-powerful systems are controlling reality… You may become desperate for someone who claims to understand the system. You may run straight toward the person creating the fear in the first place. That is the trap.
And this basic idea is used by many gurus and leaders in what is called the “conspirituality” category: people who mix superficially positive seeming spiritual ideas with conspiracy-minded, paranoid thinking.
These people are plentiful; again, it’s easy to see why; the world is especially stressful these days; we have a hard time understanding the people and events around us; so many things seem alien and threatening. In our modern, highly mediated environment, we have an understandable craving for authenticity and realness. This is fertile ground for both spiritual and paranoid content.
But the truth of the world is far less dramatic and scary. Nobody is “in charge.” The world is not run by a tiny group of people enacting flawless psychological plans. The world is messy. Fragmented. Chaotic. Often incompetent. Governments and institutions, and the people in them, are clumsy. People disagree constantly.
People who do shady things… Struggle to keep them secret. Even small conspiracies fall apart. Leaks. Mistakes. Disagreements. In the modern world, recording and monitoring of all sorts are ubiquitous, making it even harder than in the past to get away with things. It’s hard enough to coordinate even a small plot… Now imagine trying to coordinate something massive. Involving many people. It’s far harder than people think.
Sure, some plots happen; there are always people plotting, but nothing close to the scale and success rate as people like Chase would have you believe.
But the paranoid view… feels good. It’s emotionally satisfying. It turns chaos… Into a dramatic story. It turns complexity… Into good versus evil. It makes you feel like you see the truth. Like you’re one of the few… Who really understands what’s going on. And it’s easy to look around and think… “Everyone else are being sheep. They’re so easily fooled.”
But sometimes when you think everyone else are being sheep, you’re the one being the sheep; you’re the one embracing a story that feels satisfying and that’s widely embraced by many people, but that is false and naive.
The truth is much simpler and more banal. The world is just a bunch of people…Doing people things.
The Real Psychological Operation
The real psy-op isn’t some huge malicious system. It’s not some shadowy mastermind group creating a false reality around you. It’s much closer than that. The call is coming from inside the house.
It’s the false expert content. The paranoid content. The guru content.
The formula is simple:
- Claim special knowledge.
- Amplify fear.
- Present yourself as the solution.
It’s not a secret intelligence program. It’s a sales funnel. And, for those unfortunate enough to be pulled in closer and closer to the guru’s orbit… his inner circle, it’s a manipulation funnel. A funnel of control. A funnel of chaos and disorder.
[planets spiraling around a black hole]
Critical Quotes About Chase
Many people have reached out to me with stories about their negative dealings with Chase Hughes. I’ll include a few relevant quotes here. These people all wanted to remain anonymous, mainly because they were afraid of Chase or his acolytes taking vindictive actions against them.
The following quote comes from a former member of Chase’s inner circle:
[“Chase profits from blatantly toying with very vulnerable people. His manipulations have psychologically and financially hurt people and that deserves to be answered for in court. It’s a full-fledged cult. Ironically, he is the dark and warped manipulator that he warns against!”
The next quote is also from a former inner circle member:
‘“Chase aims to get vulnerable people to purchase over-priced courses. Some people have paid $20,000 dollars and more to become so-called ‘masters of tradecraft.’ It’s appalling. He and certain members of his team are emotional vampires that not only suck the soul out of people in need, but suck the money out of their pockets, too.”
The following quote comes from someone who purchased an expensive course from Chase:
“I fell for one of Chase Hughes’s fraudulent schemes—the ‘Avery’ program, where unlicensed coaches pose as ‘clinicians’ complete with white coats and medical intake forms. My assigned coach even suggested I take ketamine! Vulnerable people are being coerced into believing that rebranded, decades-old NLP and TRE techniques are some sort of ‘cure’ for complex psychiatric problems. When I complained about the $50,000 program being essentially worthless, a bait-and-switch, I was targeted with bullying, and they tried to use the service agreement I’d signed to silence me. I fought back and got my money back. If you’ve been financially wronged by Chase Hughes, don’t be intimidated. Demand your money back and, if it makes sense, report it to your bank as ‘fraudulent inducement’. File a formal complaint with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General (OAG). If necessary, speak to a Virginia consumer law firm. Remember that NDAs don’t protect wrongdoing and illegal activity. He’s afraid of legal scrutiny. I don’t often use the word ‘evil’ but what happened here borders on it.”
If you’ve seen the documentary Bad Vegan, you know of Sarma Melngailis. Sarma ran into major life problems when she fell under the sway of a manipulative abuser. I interviewed Sarma for this podcast. She wrote the following:
“For a documentary project, I was looking for an expert on the subject of manipulation and abuse at the hands of narcissists, or psychopaths. At first, Chase seemed perfect. After a little research, I realized he wasn’t who he said he was, and seemed to perhaps be manipulating and exploiting people himself. As someone who usually trusts what people say, this was scary, and another reminder to be careful what we take at face value.”
I’ll add that I myself have gotten dozens of emails from people trying to reach Chase Hughes. This is because I set up a site whoischasehughes.com, and some people mistakenly think that site is owned by Chase. Many of the messages I’ve gotten are from people in emotional distress; people who are seeking out Chase in desperation because they don’t know where else to turn. I’ll continue to add people’s quotes to the whoischasehughes.com site. If you want to leave your own public thoughts about Chase, there’s an active reddit thread that I recommend for that, and that’s linked from whoischasehughes.com.
About this video
Hi, I’m Zach Elwood. A few notes about this video.
I put more effort into the production of this than I usually do. I tried to imitate the flashy style that Chase Hughes uses. Now it wasn’t as good as Chase’s, of course; I don’t have the budget or the team of acolytes that he does, but I tried to make it a bit more engaging.
And this is another point about this: High production values can create an aura of truth. They can make ideas feel stronger. Many people will see sleek production values and think, maybe just unconsciously, ‘this guy has resources for a fancy production; he must be legitimate.’ Again, it’s all about establishing authority, as Chase will tell you.
Unlike Chase Hughes, I don’t have much to sell. I do have books on political polarization that I think relate to this topic. You can learn about them at american-anger.com.
With my work on toxic polarization, I try to show that the toxic political conflict and extreme thinking around us doesn’t come from evil masterminds secretly trying to divide us, but that it’s a result of ordinary and easy-to-understand aspects of human psychology, where group dynamics lead to more and more team-based thinking, and distorted, overly pessimistic views of each other, and so on. When you see start seeing things this way, you will also see that paranoid views of the world, like those Chase Hughes and others promote, can seem superficially depolarizing but in reality, ironically, they’re actually conflict-amplifying, in making people more pessimistic and more paranoid; all that pessimism and paranoid then gets channeled into the usual politically polarized ways. Anger and fear and us-vs-them mindsets are amplified, not reduced.
The psychology-focused view of the world and our divides that I share in my books is admittedly not as exciting as the paranoid views promoted by Chase and others, but it has the benefit of being true. And seeing the world in that way also happens to be much better for your mental health. So if you want a less paranoid and more true and human view of the world, check out the work I’ve done about us-vs-them thinking at american-anger.com.
I’d love to hear what you think of this style of video. If you’d like to see more videos like this — on social dynamics, manipulative rhetoric, and modern guru culture — let me know. Maybe you have some ideas on topics to cover.
Ok, thanks for watching. Stay skeptical out there. And watch out for Evergreen Girls.
[voice-over reads details about Chase’s “Evergreen Girls” program, https://web.archive.org/web/20160115183948/http://www.ellipsisbehavior.com/dangerous-girls.html ]