“Mind Control” is a fascinating subject and a personal interest of mine. Of particular interest is the aptly named MKULTRA program, a clandestine CIA operation portrayed subversively in Stanley Kubrick’s final magnum opus, Eyes Wide Shut, and revealed and confirmed in FOIA requests; the operation focused on altering, covertly and overtly (often un-willing) subjects mental states and brain functions via “sensory deprivation, torture, sexual abuse, psychoactive drugs and hallucinogens (LSD, etc)”… across ’80 institutions and 44 universities’ … while this may seem shocking to some, students of psychology will recall the Millgram and Stanford Prison Experiments…The CIA surely received some inspiration if not absolute guidance from the OSS’ importation of dozens of former Nazi Party scientists, confirmed in declassified FOIA documents as well.
Now that we have some proven background for nefarious uses of mind control, it is important to consider how future mind control programs might be (are?) being developed. Will they feature virtual reality labyrinthine pits of doom and despair? Will a localized fMRI imaging device read your mind, betraying innermost fears to your captors? Will EEG headband devices be used for a sort of electroshock therapy/stimulation, as they have been used before?
It is demonstrated that already EEG devices are being hooked up and successfully used to move robots, here is all that is needed:
“A NeuroSky EEG headband ($100 USD) and Arduino ($30 USD) are the most important components. A strong lithium battery powers the bot and two servos turn the wheels. The rest of the supplies are support components, like screws, plastic, wire, resistors, and LEDs.”
http://makezine.com/2012/03/05/make-a-mind-controlled-arduino-robot/
With wearable computing just around the corner, and already all the rage for geeks and future-ists, could “hacking into your brainwaves” by nefarious entities be one step closer to reality?
I really enjoyed your journal entry and I must admit; I hadn’t thought about any of this at all. Unfortunately, I’m sure we are well on our way…..
Thanks! Good intuition (that we are well on our way). This will start becoming more and more apparent. Orwell, Eisenhower, et al. are turning over in their graves, surely. But don’t take my word for it!
General Patraeus – “We Will Spy on you through your Dishwasher”
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/
We can HOPE that The Machine will grow so large, so ravenous, that it will consume itself: like some giant, mechano-electrical ouroboros.
Then again, this self fulfilling prophecy is already happening. One just has to observe.