'STORIES FROM MY LIFE, CHAPTER TWO' BY JOHN MCAFEE

by John McAfee

Monday, June 22, 2020

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Part 1

In 2003 I took an interest in Neurolinguistic Programming - a relatively new science of the mind upon which most developed nation governments now base their propaganda engines.

Neurolinguistic Programming, or NLP, is based on the work of an American psychiatrist and researcher named Milton Erickson from the 1950's. He is legendary among his peers and those who knew him - for his near mystical capability to control the actions and mental states of those around him. A simple handshake with the man, when he wished to show off, was enough to freeze a person in their tracks for up to two minutes.

There is a story told by John Bateson who was having dinner with Erickson in San Francisco. He reached for his water glass. He was unable to touch it, no matter how hard he tried. Erickson laughed then said "now you can have it". Bateson was then able to get the water.

Bateson said:

"How he did that I don't know. It was something he might spend 20 minutes to half an hour setting up while he was talking about other things".

There are hundreds of similar stories from hundreds of different people. A colleague of his once said: "He's scary. Everyone's afraid of him".

In any case I had taken virtually every NLP course and had exhausted the available knowledge. All that was left were the exclusive courses taught at the Milton Erickson Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Problem was - you had to be an M.D. to qualify for the courses.

I never let trivialities interfere with my objectives so, in 2005, I set about meeting the qualifications.

A small amount of research uncovered a Doctor John J. McAfee, M.D., a gastroenterologist in Carson City, Nevada. I called his secretary pretending to represent a national registry of physicians and enquired about his education and training. I discovered that he graduated from the University of Colorado's School of Medicine in 1982.

And close enough in age to work with.

I then called U.C.'s Medical School and asked for a copy of "my" transcripts to be sent to my Rodeo, N.M. address (where I was living at the time). It arrived less than a week later.

I was not worried about the difference in middle initials (mine is D). A trivial problem.

I then contacted the Milton Institute in Phoenix and asked for the application papers to be sent to me. They came, I filled them out, included the transcripts and copies of my driver's license and other IDs. I counted on the fact that no one would pay attention to the different middle initials.

No one did.

I got accepted. The main course started in two months.

I then began a crash course of medical knowledge on Google.

Trivial, really.

A smattering of Latin and crude understanding of the digestive system should suffice I believed.

However, as Shakespeare observed, "the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray".

This one certainly did.

Part 2

SO … I'm all primed with medical terminology, the proper paperwork, the proper clothes (I wore a three piece suit) and, I believed, the proper attitude.

I go to Phoenix, register, fill out the forms and am ushered into the class, where, for a few months I will journey down the road of knowledge with about 15 other MDs, most of who were psychiatrists.

The first day went reasonably well, I thought. The breakout session with one Egyptian psychiatrist seemed to draw a skeptical look but I discounted it.

The second day required us to talk about examples of difficult patients we had had. I demurred, saying that, even in the presence of other medical professionals I did not feel comfortable talking about my patients.

On the third day I was confronted at lunch by five of my classmates, led by the Egyptian Psychiatrist, who demanded to know where I was practicing and how long I had been practicing.

Seems that practicing physicians can somehow recognize other practicing physicians - like gangsters who have robbed banks can recognize other gangsters who have robbed banks. Something I had not considered.

I was now on high alert and recognized my situation. I might even be guilty of a felony for impersonating a medical professional. I had submitted my real driver's license and address so running was not an option at this point. I was in the melee - fortunately, not a new situation for me.

I have learned through experience that when you are caught, a story as close to the truth as circumstances will allow is a person's best hope.

Without hesitation, the following story flew from my lips:

"Well, you will hardly believe this, but …

When I finished medical school I went for further training in epidemiology (I was assuming no one would check this - which, fortunately, they did not).

Before I could set up practice, a new thing called computer viruses emerged. Recognizing that my knowledge of disease transmission might make me a fortune in this new arena, I abandoned medicine, partnered with a programmer, and formed McAfee Anti-virus."

I stopped and waited for a response -- seemingly forever.

Finally, the Egyptian said: "Damn!!! Did you get lucky!!"

From there on, it was smooth sailing. I was the most popular student in the class and I learned what I sought -- something my fellow students missed entirely.

Read Chapter 1 of 'Stories From My Life' by John McAfee here.