Issue 17: Focus On Mind Control
“Almost all people are hypnotics. The proper authority saw to it that the proper belief should be induced, and the people believed properly.” ― Charles Fort
Mind control, Manchurian candidates, MKUltra, conspiracies, cold war spy stories: these all may seem to be fringe or outdated rabbit holes down which to lose ourselves, yet in a way the history of the internet - which now underpins our entire modern society - is the history of paranoia.
The precursor to the internet was ARPANET, whose origins were deeply intertwined with the Pentagon's interest in solving potential communication problems during a nuclear war, as a more survivable command-and-control system could help stabilize nuclear deterrence.
The engine driving the military-industrial complex inexorably forward has always been innovation impelled by a (often well-justified) paranoia about what our enemies might be developing, and a desperate need to get there before they do.
The tech thus created is repurposed in times of relative peace towards broader societal ends, a lot of which is in turn driven by the needs of capitalism.
Thus we now have the ‘surveillance society’ and ‘cognitive capitalism’. I say ‘relative peace’, because in a way modern hyper-connected society is now permanently on a war footing, at least cognitively. The amount of disinformation we are constantly being bombarded with in order to modify our behavior is reminiscent of the ‘information wars’ which have raged in parallel with past kinetic (people actually dying and getting injured) wars.
Cognitive capitalism must be viewed as a form of mind control due to its emphasis on shaping and controlling individuals' thoughts and behaviors to maximize the production and exploitation of knowledge and intellectual property. This is evident in how cognitive capitalism promotes the commodification of knowledge, privatization of intellectual property, and the promotion of corporate ‘McMindfulness’ practices and self-regulation to adjust individuals to the demands of a capitalist economy.
Such practices are often used to help workers cope with stress and improve their ‘productivity’. These techniques are commodified and sold as products or services as a way of capitalizing on the growing interest in mindfulness and meditation. They are used as a way of psychologizing and medicalizing social problems and diverting attention away from the structural issues that are the real source of much anxiety and depression.
There’s nothing wrong with mindfulness per se, of course. It’s just that cognitive capitalism takes meditation (and now psychedelics), strips away all the context and tradition, and repurposes what could have been a liberating technology into another commodity designed to reinforce dominant power structures. Much the same has happened with the internet itself; despite its origins in Cold War paranoia, it could have been used to undermine, rather than prop up, cognitive capitalism.
The focus in this issue is on various forms of mind control: whether relatively indirect like cognitive capitalism, or much more obvious as in propaganda or brain implants.
By the way, you can now join our Elevator chat. Give it a go, we promise to reply.
Table of Contents
Events
Links
Interview with Anna Lutkajtis: On mysticism, meditation and mental health
Taylor Swift, Pop Culture, and Satanic / Illuminati Mind Control
Internal Family Systems, Unattached Burdens, and spirit possession
Discarnate Entities: Demons, Unattached Burdens, and Intersubjective Parasites
Dr. Nathan Hawkins explains Idealism
Are we enslaved to one side of the brain?
Focus On Mind Control
Brainwashed by Daniel Pick | Book review | The TLS
The FDA Didn’t Inspect Neuralink Before Granting Human Trial Approval
How capitalism captured the mindfulness industry | Meditation | The Guardian
WE DON'T MAKE PROPAGANDA! THEY DO! - The Consilience Project
How to Destroy ‘Surveillance Capitalism’
Former Scientologist Exposes Inside Secrets
New Brain Cap Lets People Play Video Games With Their Minds
Nuggets From The Archive
DR. RUPERT SHELDRAKE on Rethinking Consciousness
Gary Habermas on the Scientific Evidence for Near-Death Experiences
Consciousness, qualia, and internal monologues
CBC Massey Lectures - Cura's Gift
The Physicalist Worldview as Neurotic Ego-Defense Mechanism
Events
EMBRACING OUR EMERGENCY
Daniel Pinchbeck’s Liminal Institute presents this online course (which started last week, but not too late to sign up) on confronting the ecological emergency, how we can prepare ourselves, and what positive impact we can still have, even though the emergency itself seems to be baked-in at this point.
The Wounded Healer: Self-Assessment & Shadow Work for Offering Psychedelic Care with Daan Keiman
Wed 8th May 2024, 7pm – 9pm BST (UTC +01:00). Online.
Keiman will examine the concept of offering psychedelic care to others through the myth of Chiron, the wounded healer. By delving into this story, insights are gained into the crucial phase of self-awareness necessary for supporting individuals on psychedelic and healing journeys, as encapsulated in the Delphic oracle's directive to "know thyself." Without a deep understanding of one's own psyche, there is a risk of inadvertently causing harm to those seeking assistance.
Writing Through It | GGN (May 6th)
Starts May 6th 2024.Online.
"Writing Through It" is an 8-week online writing experience presented by the Good Grief Network. It offers participants a space to delve into their thoughts and emotions during chaotic times. Through three prompts weekly, individuals can explore creativity, self-expression, and connection with others in a private digital circle. This program encourages reflection on navigating challenges without seeking solutions, fostering curiosity, art-based activism, and authentic storytelling.
Primal Gathering
In person at Selgars, Devon, UK. May 14th - 19th 2024.
The goal is to bring people together to learn how to naturally build, forage for food, and plant their own food.
Links
Interview with Anna Lutkajtis: On mysticism, meditation and mental health
This interview with Anna Lutkajtis, a PhD candidate at The University of Sydney, discusses her research on mysticism, psychedelics, and mental health, focusing on the adverse effects of meditation and mindfulness often overlooked in Western psychology. Lutkajtis explores the connection between psilocybin, mysticism, and healing, highlighting how psilocybin-induced mystical experiences can have therapeutic benefits and lead to profound changes in self-perception and anomalous experiences akin to shamanic or near-death encounters. Her research aims to contribute to the understanding of the phenomenology of the psilocybin experience and advance psychedelic research by shedding light on the therapeutic potential of these substances.
Taylor Swift, Pop Culture, and Satanic / Illuminati Mind Control
Daniel Pinchbeck finds himself revisiting a "Satanic/Illuminati counter-narrative" surrounding Taylor Swift and mainstream pop culture, inspired by the website Vigilant Citizen. He explores this perspective without entirely buying into it, but wondering what it means for society if the narrative has any truth in it. The theory suggests that various cultural phenomena reflect the agenda of a "hidden in plain sight" elite group with alleged ties to Satanism, pedophilia, and human sacrifice. It is undeniable that the symbolism of, for example, ‘Project Monarch’ has been recycled many times in pop culture. But how much of this is a pushing of the envelope and winking at conspiracists, and how much is a genuine reinforcement of evil, whether conscious or unconscious?
Gail Bradbrook - A Personal Story of Psychedelics, Ceremony and My Journey in Extinction Rebellion
Gail Bradbrook shares her personal journey with psychedelics and ceremony within Extinction Rebellion, highlighting the significance of civil disobedience and the essential systemic changes needed to combat the ecological crisis. She discusses the transformative power of psychedelics particularly in her own journey to finding the ‘keys for social change’. Bradbrook also reflects on the role of self-work, intention setting, ceremony, and connection to nature in fostering personal and social transformation, advocating for mass debt refusal and strategic non-violent actions to instigate meaningful change and acknowledging the role of compassionate anger in driving societal progress.
‘Like a film in my mind’: hyperphantasia and the quest to understand vivid imaginations | Psychology | The Guardian
Hyperphantasia is a term describing extreme mental sensory imagery, with interest in it growing significantly in recent years. Researchers use tools like the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire to assess individuals' vividness levels. William Blake's intense imagination probably exemplifies hyperphantasia. This condition (or gift), more common than previously thought, may impact creativity and mental health. It certainly provides the inspiration for many works of art.
What LSD Does to the Brain
This video explores the impact of LSD on the brain, covering dosages, metabolites, and affected receptors. LSD, classified as a schedule one drug in the US and measured in micrograms, exhibits varied effects based on dosage: small doses can enhance creativity and productivity, while larger doses induce psychedelic experiences like visual hallucinations, synesthesia, and heightened pattern recognition. Administered orally or intravenously, LSD interacts with serotonin receptors, with higher doses potentially leading to ego dissolution, dilated pupils, and nausea.
Internal Family Systems, Unattached Burdens, and spirit possession
The Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, a popular modality among underground psychedelic guides, is based on identifying and accepting different parts of oneself to heal wounded parts. Jules Evans explains here that according to some IFS practitioners such as Bob Falconer, author of the book The Others Within Us, sometimes malevolent entities or demons, referred to as Unattached Burdens (UBs), can be encountered, particularly during psychedelic experiences. This has proved controversial, as claims have been made that the therapist is engaging in suggestion to the client and implanting the idea that demons do exist whereas in fact, if anything, they should be taken more as a metaphor.
Discarnate Entities: Demons, Unattached Burdens, and Intersubjective Parasites
Peter Limberg also uses his newsletter to look into the concept of "discarnate entities," exploring the idea of beings existing outside human bodies and minds that can interact and potentially harm individuals. He discusses the prevalence of these entities in shamanic and psychedelic contexts, drawing parallels across different cultural traditions and terms used to describe them, such as demons, jinn, and other similar entities. Limberg presents various perspectives on these discarnate entities, including the notion of "unattached burdens" from IFS and "intersubjective parasites" from post-rationalists such as Evan McMullen, aiming to provide a multifaceted understanding of these phenomena.
The Case for Idealism: Truth, Facts, and Existence
A video in which Dr. Nathan Hawkins explains Idealism, its philosophical history, and how it fits in with other traditions such as Platonism.
Casting Out The Darkness
This post by Val Smith recounts her personal healing journey and emphasizes the controversial yet essential nature of embracing a victim state as part of the healing process. Smith describes a transformative moment of divine connection and self-realization, highlighting the profound impact of experiencing concentrated love and motivation. She stresses the importance of fully inhabiting a victim state to eventually transcend it, advocating for a deep emotional engagement with trauma as a crucial step towards healing and personal growth.
Does dream inception work? - Big Think
Kristen French explores the concept of dream inception and a project called Dreamfall, founded by the poet and MIT-trained science writer Will Dowd, who lost his ability to read due to binocular vision disorder. He uses the Dormio device to simulate reading through dreaming by listening to unfamiliar poem lines as seed phrases to influence dream content. The project aims to understand the intersections between the initial poem lines and dream experiences, highlighting the unpredictable and creative nature of dreams that resist our attempts at controlling them. Dowd emphasizes the distinct differences between the immersive experience of reading and the mysterious, author-less realm of dreaming, fostering humility and a deeper appreciation for the enigmatic subconscious realm within dreams.
Are We Enslaved to One Side of the Brain? - The Sickness of Modern Man
This video essay from Academy of Ideas discusses Iain McGilchrist’s theory of how society's excessive reliance on the left hemisphere of the brain is normalizing a pathological way of existence, shaping our identities and perceptions of the world. McGilchrist emphasizes the importance of the bipartite nature of the brain for survival, describing the need for a balance between the functions of each hemisphere in mental processes and attention. Yet the modern shift towards apparent left hemisphere dominance, influenced by the reductive-materialist paradigm of science, impacts our personalities and experiences, with habits, societal trends, and technologies playing a role in reinforcing this imbalance. “Technology is one expression of the desire for power and control over the world, which is of course the primary motivation of the left hemisphere, in which it repudiates the right hemisphere on which we rely for our sense of depth in every sense of the word.”
Focus On Mind Control
Brainwashed by Daniel Pick | Book review | The TLS
The Times Literary Supplement’s Catherine Humble reviews Daniel Pick's book "Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control". Pick's work is an exploration of the history of mind control, focusing on the Cold War era and the influence of psychological techniques on politics and society. The book sheds light on the manipulation of minds through propaganda, psychological warfare, and the impact of these practices on individuals and societies, offering a critical analysis of the power dynamics and ethical implications of mind control techniques throughout history.
The FDA Didn’t Inspect Neuralink Before Granting Human Trial Approval
US Congressman Earl Blumenauer has raised concerns about the FDA's approval process for Neuralink's human trial, accusing the FDA of failing to inspect Neuralink's facilities before granting approval for the brain-computer interface implant. Blumenauer highlighted issues with record-keeping and quality control in Neuralink's animal experiments, questioning the FDA's decision to allow human trials despite these concerns. The FDA responded, stating that it conducted an inspection after granting approval and found no violations that would compromise the trial's safety.
How capitalism captured the mindfulness industry | Meditation | The Guardian
The secular practice of mindfulness has become susceptible to questionable applications, now denounced as "McMindfulness". This term emerged in response to the misappropriation of mindfulness for self-serving purposes that contradict Buddhist and Abrahamic teachings, which emphasize relinquishing ego-attachment and practicing compassion. McMindfulness psychologizes and medicalizes social problems, transforming them into issues of personal control over emotions, rather than a path to universal love and awakening, and also reinforces the capitalist logic of every person as an atomized ‘individual’, denying the original teachings’ emphasis on interbeing and compassion.
WE DON'T MAKE PROPAGANDA! THEY DO! - The Consilience Project
The Consilience Project doesn’t do short articles! But they are always worth a read. This one explores the complex and nuanced concept of propaganda, acknowledging that even educational content can be perceived as covert propaganda due to the inherent epistemic asymmetries and suspicions surrounding information sources. They use a multi-faceted definition of propaganda, distinguishing it from related phenomena like disinformation and advertising, and highlighting the potential for institutions as diverse as the New York Times and Fox News to be viewed as producing different forms of propaganda. The article cautions against falling into a "vicious cycle of epistemic suspicion" that undermines the possibility for genuine education, emphasizing the need to carefully examine the nature and intent of various information sources.
How to Destroy ‘Surveillance Capitalism’
Cory Doctorow, who famously coined the word ‘enshittification’, examines the pervasive nature of surveillance capitalism in this book - which is reproduced in full here - arguing that it is not the result of a misstep but rather the intended system functioning as designed. He explores strategies to dismantle this exploitative model of data extraction and monetization, emphasizing the need for collective action and systemic change to challenge the entrenched power structures underlying surveillance capitalism.
Former Scientologist Exposes Inside Secrets | Honesty Box
Would an issue about mind control be complete without an exposé of Scientology? Of course not. This one had some nuggets that surprised even us. They really are fuckwads.
New Brain Cap Lets People Play Video Games With Their Minds
Researchers have developed a wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) in the form of a cap lined with electrodes that can detect brain waves, allowing users to play video games using only their minds. This non-invasive BCI is designed to be more accessible and easier to use than previous BCIs, which often required extensive calibration or invasive surgical procedures. The device was demonstrated at the SXSW festival, where volunteers were able to control hand and arm rehabilitation robots within minutes, showcasing the potential for this technology to assist people with disabilities in their everyday lives.
Nuggets From The Archive
DR. RUPERT SHELDRAKE on Rethinking Consciousness: Setting Science Free
In this video, Sheldrake challenges materialist science's limited conception of consciousness, and advocates for a paradigm shift towards a view of the universe as interconnected and alive rather than mechanical. He critiques the physicalist perspective for its exclusion of consciousness, purpose, and intelligence, instead proposing a more holistic approach that recognizes living organisms as such, rather than machines, and views the universe as an expanding organism. Sheldrake emphasizes the importance of integrating consciousness into scientific frameworks and calls for a departure from Eurocentric biases in the history of science to foster a more globally inclusive perspective.
Gary Habermas on the Scientific Evidence for Near-Death Experiences | Mind Matters
In this episode of the Mind Matters podcast, host Andrew McDiarmid engages in a conversation with Dr. Gary Habermas about the scientific evidence for near-death experiences (NDEs). Dr. Habermas explains that while personal accounts of other realms cannot be independently verified, there is objective evidence rooted in this world that can indeed be confirmed and evaluated. He relays several examples of near-death cases with strong evidential support, including reports in the patient's room, reports outside the room, experiences relayed by blind patients, cases where other living people also experience the NDE, and cases of loved ones already dead who share unique information. After studying hundreds of evidential cases, Dr. Habermas contends that the evidence is both plentiful and varied, potentially satisfying even the most skeptical observers.
Consciousness, Qualia and Internal Monologues
Simon Roper, better known for his excellent video essays on linguistics, talks about consciousness, qualia, and internal monologues, examining how the brain processes colors and sensations. He explores the similarities and differences in consciousness and perception between animals and humans, considering as an example how the brain interprets colors as representations of wavelengths to create subjective experiences. While animals may share some color perceptions with humans, distinctions in consciousness perceptions exist, highlighting the complexity of defining and understanding consciousness. Internal monologues vary among individuals, influencing their conscious experiences, challenging assumptions about the relationship between sensory modalities and conscious thought, and revealing the selective nature of human awareness and cognitive processes.
CBC Massey Lectures | #1 Cura's Gift
In this podcast insecurity is identified as a prominent characteristic of our era by lecturer Astra Taylor. The writer and filmmaker from Winnipeg delves into the origins of rising inequality, declining mental health, the climate crisis, and the specter of authoritarianism within a societal framework rooted in insecurity. In her initial lecture, she examines both the inherent existential insecurity we face and the externally imposed manufactured insecurity that affects us from higher authorities.
The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It | Scientific American
The Scientific American article explains how the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Clauser, Alain Aspect, and Anton Zeilinger provided experimental evidence that the universe is not locally real, contradicting the classical view that objects have definite properties independent of observation and can only be influenced by their immediate surroundings. Their work on entangled particles demonstrated that quantum mechanics challenges the notion of local realism, revealing that particles may lack definite properties prior to measurement and can seemingly communicate with each other instantaneously, defying the speed of light limitation. This groundbreaking discovery has profound implications for our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality.
If you’re interested in this topic, maybe also check out this video by Sabine Hossenfelder, who remains unconvinced by the findings of the Nobel winners, and explains why.
The Physicalist Worldview as Neurotic Ego-Defense Mechanism - Bernardo Kastrup, 2016
According to Bernardo Kastrup, the physicalist worldview functions as a neurotic ego-defense mechanism because it allows individuals to avoid the anxiety and uncertainty associated with acknowledging the existence of consciousness as a fundamental aspect of reality. By reducing consciousness to a mere byproduct of physical processes, physicalism enables people to maintain a sense of control and predictability over their environment. Kastrup argues that this perspective is driven by a psychological need to deny the inherent mystery and complexity of consciousness, which can be unsettling and challenging to the human ego. Thus, according to him, the physicalist worldview serves as a defense mechanism that shields individuals from confronting the deeper implications of consciousness and its relationship to reality.
 | A guest post by
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Thank you for the following links:
1. The FDA Didn’t Inspect Neuralink Before Granting Human Trial Approval
2. Total Surveillance Society
Re: Neuralink — FDA seems to be ‘out of their league’ when it comes to staying on top of neuroscientific innovation. It’s sort of like the MDMA approval process which requires an understanding of psychedelics. It’s hard for FDA to regulate areas where they lack an expertise. And giving Neurolink a ‘go ahead’ shows how ineffectual our government agency has become as a safety oversight organization.
There is a LOT of interesting stuff in here!