Debi Pearl's new book - Create a Better Brain

[hoipolloi]

As of a year or so ago, Shoshanna was a Sapphire-level ambassador:

As I said previously, their downlines must be huge -- if the handy Reddit chart is correct, they may be pulling in close to $600K a year between them.

[dripcurl]

So assuming the figures on the pie chart are the current highs in each rank, James could be clearing between ~173k and ~419k a year? Damn. A weirdly wide range, but still a pretty penny on the low end of that IMO. So, Shoshanna could be earning the same? Crazy.

 

FYI - I did not see @hoipolloi ‘s post until after I posted the above. I am so frustrated that these people get to piggy back off of the clout of her parents, whose biggest accomplishment is an abuse manual, and they are becoming millionaires by shilling crap with nonsensical woo.

I hope survivors of the Pearl Method file a class action suit against Debi and Michael.

 

Edited September 4, 2019 by dripcurl

[JermajestyDuggar]

10 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

As of a year or so ago, Shoshanna was a Sapphire-level ambassador:

As I said previously, their downlines must be huge -- if the handy Reddit chart is correct, they may be pulling in close to $600K a year between them.

And almost everyone else is not earning anything close to that. I would feel guilty as hell if I was pulling in 6 figures and most of the people I roped in weren’t making anything close to that but doing similar amounts of work.

[hoipolloi]

8 minutes ago, dripcurl said:

I am so frustrated that these people get to piggy back off of the clout of her parents, whose biggest accomplishment is an abuse manual, and they are becoming millionaires by shilling crap with nonsensical woo.

This is exactly how the Easlings worked this scam. Of course, downlines become monsters that consume all in the vicinity, including Shoshanna's sister, Shalom, who is allegedly an Emerald ambassador.

Re: income levels. It's not easy to discern from Plexus' own materials how much someone might earn. For instance, here is a recent if not current compensation plan. Good luck figuring out how much you might bring in. You can see, though, that it takes a fuck of a big downline to get to the upper levels that James & Shoshanna appear to have reached.

[dripcurl]

The Easlings are “giving away” an $8000 travel voucher, because Plexus. Apparently, they are able to do “network marketing how it should be done” and they have “spectacular residual income”. Gag.

[Howl]

MLM = Pyramid scheme

[thoughtful]

Here are some Amazon reviews of Debi's book:

Spoiler

I would like to thank Debi Pearl for this very informative manual to create a better brain for me and my children. I had the pleasure of reading an early copy, and I did so several times. It is science presented in a fun, fast paced way that makes reading and learning a breeze. I’ve already begun implementing some of the practical ideas she suggests in order to promote a healthy, happy brain and I see it working! For example, Debi discusses the value of music, especially classical which helps engage both sides of the brain at once thereby increasing the neural pathways for learning and retaining information. That’s easy! I have 7 young children, so easy is good! I went to the local thrift store and bought 25 classical CD’s for $16. The kids and I have had a great time listening to them all and deciding on our favorites. Debi also reminded me of the value of listening to the Bible on CD. I have Alexander Scourbys KJV edition and I’d just kinda forgot about it. Well, it’s back out again! The kids love to listen as they fall asleep. Oh, and Debi discusses how important it is for the very young especially to wake up in a calm, happy environment and to go to sleep that way too. I have so many responsibilities and distractions that honestly my little ones don’t get all the bedtime hugs and kisses and prayers that the older ones enjoyed. I’d just lost my way a little in that area. Debi’s book guided me back. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of what we already know. And seeing the science behind it, helps me to be more committed than ever before. We all want the best for our children and knowledge is motivating. I have found all of Debi Pearls books, including Create A Better Brain Through Neuroplasticity to be a blessing to me, my husband and my children. We are happy and healthy because we have applied the biblical knowledge that Mike and Debi write about. And I’m grateful that they stay committed even in the midst of persecution.

Don't blame me for that being one paragraph -- that's how it was written!

Spoiler

I have only read the first chapter as pre release and I am so excited about this book!!! It isn't like this is the first time we have heard about the complex and intricate design of the brain and how much we DON"T know! We are all learning things at an accelerated pace now! This book gives hope to so many who have any sort of brain issue and frankly, that is prob all of us! Especially autistic, brain injured, ADHD, and the myriad of other brain issues that we are finally finding out more about and what we can do to help! I believe we are on track to understanding more than ever before...and I highly rec this author and this book! ?

Prob all of us!

In better news, Suzanne Titkemeyer has weighed in:

Spoiler

Right now four chapters of this book are up on the author's website No Greater Joy. I have been reviewing those chapters on my site No Longer Quivering. A few things leap out. The author only has a slight grasp of what neuroplasticity actually is, does not understand what a MRI machine does, thinks all ailments mental and physical can be cured by positive thinking and that a child's IQ can be raised by positive thinking. The greatest irony is in the author's previous works focusing on abusing children, something that has been scientifically proven to cause lower IQ and brain damage in children. Do not buy.

And some wag left this great comment under one of the positive reviews:

Spoiler

God's word on neuroplasticity -- delivered through the Bible?

Pfft! I'd rather hear what God has to say about Keynesian economics, or the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, or subscriber trunk dialing.

By the way, I have to wonder if the similarity between this book and Build a Better Brain: Using Neuroplasticity to Train Your Brain for Motivation, Discipline, Courage, and Mental Sharpness, by Peter Hollins, goes deeper than the titles.

 

[hoipolloi]

7 hours ago, dripcurl said:

The Easlings are “giving away” an $8000 travel voucher, because Plexus. Apparently, they are able to do “network marketing how it should be done” and they have “spectacular residual income”. Gag.

The Easlings are nothing but fucking scammers, riding high on a MLM wave.

Would be interesting to have a breakdown on just how much per person the chumps in their downline are contributing to the Easlings' "blessings" and "gifts." Reminds me a lot of a classic cargo cult.

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by hoipolloi

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

36 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

Reminds me a lot of a classic cargo cult.

I had read a little bit about cargo cults years ago, so I enjoyed reading the Wikipedia page you linked to. I was interested to see that there are still some cargo cults existing, including the Prince Phillip Movement, which "...is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe, who believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort to Queen Elizabeth II, is a divine being." Learn something new on FJ every day!

[Curious]

On 8/6/2019 at 8:04 AM, quiversR4hunting said:

I wonder what other "habits" she lists in the book. I really hope someone from here takes one for the team and buys it, shares the contents and reviews it for all of us

I just started reading this thread, but if no one has taken one for the team, I think FJ can scrounge up enough money to buy the book.  I will send it to a member who volunteers to read it or I can do it myself if no one wants to put their brain in that much danger.

On 8/6/2019 at 1:14 PM, Loveday said:

Yep. I've made the mistake of taking it without food, back when I first started on it. Oy vey, was I ever sick. But even with food, the regular Met just didn't set right with me, I always had to stay home in the mornings until things settled down in the bathroom department (TMI, I know!). The XR helps a lot; except for minor discomfort now and then, I can generally get on with my day. 

My mother is one of the lucky ones who doesn't seem bothered by it at all. She takes 500 mg twice a day, and has no problems. I'm grateful for that, because she has a lot of other health issues and doesn't need this one! 

I was up to 2000mg (1000 twice a day) by my new endocrinologist and was a little scared how I'd react to that large a dose, but it hasn't seemed to make any difference in terms of side effects.  

I was on 1000mg ER for several years before that and didn't have any problems with it, but I think I'm on the regular now.  I'm not sure tbh.

[Curious]

On 8/27/2019 at 3:27 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I doubt doctors could say definitively that Janessa’s strokes were caused by plexus. However if you have 12 children with no sign of stroke and then your 13th has a stroke and it’s the only pregnancy where you took plexus, most people would say, “maybe there’s a link. I’d rather be safe than sorry next time.” But Jill won’t do that. No way. 

Tossing this around it seems like logically and statistically you would have higher odds for a child with some kind of birth defect or some kind of issue.   It also seems like the more kids you have the higher those chance would be because the older you are with each subsequent pregnancy.   So given that, you would think the pregnancies that are later down the line would be the ones you would want to be the most careful about because you are "tempting fate" at that point.

Drinking something for weight loss while pregnant seems like a major no-no even before you consider the ingredients it contains.

[Curious]

8 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

 

Well, at least they admit they wouldn't be where they are without all the suckers team members in their downline.

Ok it looks like no one has taken one for the team yet, so FJ will cough up the dough to buy a copy of this swill.

If you want to be the lucky one to receive the copy post here. If more than one person wants a copy, after checking funds, I will either do a random draw for one person or maybe give copies to all the victims that want one.

 

[JermajestyDuggar]

6 hours ago, Curious said:

Well, at least they admit they wouldn't be where they are without all the suckers team members in their downline.

Ok it looks like no one has taken one for the team yet, so FJ will cough up the dough to buy a copy of this swill.

If you want to be the lucky one to receive the copy post here. If more than one person wants a copy, after checking funds, I will either do a random draw for one person or maybe give copies to all the victims that want one.

 

I feel like everyone reading this thread simultaneously said to themselves, “not it!” 

[quiversR4hunting]

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I feel like everyone reading this thread simultaneously said to themselves, “not it!” 

Haha!

I did read Lori's first book and gave almost a chapter by chapter review. I did tell @Curious if there are no other takers, I can take one for the team. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

Haha!

I did read Lori's first book and gave almost a chapter by chapter review. I did tell @Curious if there are no other takers, I can take one for the team. 

I feel like Katniss just shouted, “I volunteer as tribute!”

[hoipolloi]

57 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

I did read Lori's first book and gave almost a chapter by chapter review. I did tell @Curious if there are no other takers, I can take one for the team. 

Thank you!

For anyone who's interested Debi's first book (Created to Be His Helpmeet), a detailed review has been done quite well by Libby Anne at Patheos, among other places.

[Howl]

As noted by @thoughtful, "some wag left this great comment under one of the positive reviews"

Quote

By the way, I have to wonder if the similarity between this book and Build a Better Brain: Using Neuroplasticity to Train Your Brain for Motivation, Discipline, Courage, and Mental Sharpness, by Peter Hollins, goes deeper than the titles.

Hmmm, This commenter is strongly implying that  Debi Pearl plagiarized.  Might be worth a comparative reading! 

Edited September 8, 2019 by Howl

[dripcurl]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

Hmmm, This commenter is strongly implying that  Debi Pearl plagiarized.  Might be worth a comparative reading! 

I would love to do that once I have some extra funds!

[Sicily]

Abusing children damages the development of their brain. There's abundant evidence of that. Unfortunately I doubt Debi Pearl has put two and two together on this, despite researching and writing a book on neuroplasticity.

I doubt she considers her treatment of her children abusive, either. I just hope they are able to access good trauma treatment once they're out of her clutches (assuming they're able to access sufficient knowledge to understand that they've suffered developmental trauma and abuse at the hands of their parents to begin with).

[thoughtful]

13 hours ago, Sicily said:

I doubt she considers her treatment of her children abusive, either. I just hope they are able to access good trauma treatment once they're out of her clutches (assuming they're able to access sufficient knowledge to understand that they've suffered developmental trauma and abuse at the hands of their parents to begin with).

Debi and Michael's children are adults at this point. I don't know how out-of-date this is, but this is what their website says about them:

https://nogreaterjoy.org/about-us/meet-the-pearls/

Some of them have staunchly defended their parents, some don't say much.

More here, if you want to plunge down the rabbit hole:

https://www.freejinger.org/forum/262-pearls-anasts-to-beat-up-a-child/

[acheronbeach]

On 9/4/2019 at 3:40 PM, hoipolloi said:

As of a year or so ago, Shoshanna was a Sapphire-level ambassador:

As I said previously, their downlines must be huge -- if the handy Reddit chart is correct, they may be pulling in close to $600K a year between them.

Such an important ambassador that they couldn't spell her name right.  

 

As an aside, why do all these ambassadors look the same?  Bleached teeth, blouses with loud prints and Kendra Scott (or KS knockoffs) all around.  Is this what suburban American moms view as aspirational?  

[hoipolloi]

7 minutes ago, acheronbeach said:

Is this what suburban American moms view as aspirational?  

Must be. 

Hadn't heard of Kendra Scott but then I don't wear giant, clunky, badly designed earrings.

[acheronbeach]

59 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

Must be. 

Hadn't heard of Kendra Scott but then I don't wear giant, clunky, badly designed earrings.

I actually like KS.  The company was started by a single mom and has a corporate philosophy that's heavily into charitable giving.  I own a pair of abalone Diane earrings and I think they're striking for a more casual look.  

BUT... the fact that this is the image that Plexus promotes to me says a lot about the people they're targeting.  They're the type of people for whom a $60 pair of earrings is a sign of luxury and success.  IMO, it says that Plexus is aimed at people who don't have a great deal of discretionary income.  

[Sicily]

It's strange to me that some of these Christian fundies are giving some of their kids traditional Jewish names. I didn't realise Shoshanna was Old Testament as well as being Hebrew for 'rose', but Google has enlightened me on that score.

https://appellationmountain.net/baby-name-of-the-day-shoshanna/

Still, it's unusual for Christians to use Hebrew names. But I have seen it a bit among the fundies.

[Sicily]

8 hours ago, thoughtful said:

Debi and Michael's children are adults at this point. I don't know how out-of-date this is, but this is what their website says about them:

https://nogreaterjoy.org/about-us/meet-the-pearls/

Some of them have staunchly defended their parents, some don't say much.

More here, if you want to plunge down the rabbit hole:

https://www.freejinger.org/forum/262-pearls-anasts-to-beat-up-a-child/

I suppose that, if any of them have managed to pry themselves loose from the childhood brainwashing, it would be a huge deal to say something publicly, especially given that the parents are quite infamous. 

Thanks for the links and the info.

Edited September 10, 2019 by Sicily