Mind Control? Similar to Frank Sinatra’s ‘Manchurian Candidate’?

Mind control is frequently perceived as a remnant of the Cold War — reminiscent of ’60s films such as “The Manchurian Candidate” and “The IPCRESS File.”

However, Rebecca Lemov, an academic specializing in the history of science, contends in her newly published book “The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion” that it still exists. Aspects of coercion and persuasion, critical elements of mental and behavioral control, are present in cults, social media, AI, and even cryptocurrency culture, she asserts.

In this adapted discussion, Lemov reflects on the background of brainwashing, its persistence, and operational mechanisms.

---

What is the unifying theme linking brainwashing, mind control, and hyper-persuasion?

They are all interconnected. Brainwashing tends to draw the most focus because of its dramatic nature and headlines it generates.

This concept intrigued me two decades ago when I embarked on my dissertation research. After examining behavioral engineering, brainwashing appeared to me as the most extreme example of influencing someone to behave or think in ways contrary to their natural inclinations.

Mind control is an alternate term, yet it places greater emphasis on technological aspects. I coined the term hyper-persuasion to characterize a specifically targeted array of methods that can thrive in our contemporary media landscape. The commonality among them is the fusion of coercion and persuasion.

You mention that Korean War POWs in the early 1950s brought the notion of brainwashing back to the U.S. Did brainwashing exist earlier?

Prior to the Korean War, instances that could certainly be termed brainwashing occurred, tracing back to the ancient Greeks and various cult mysteries and transformations conducted under mixed circumstances of coercion and persuasion.

For example, one could examine the 1930s show trials in Moscow, where political adversaries confessed to heinous acts, or the 1940s incident involving Cardinal Mindszenty, a Hungarian war figure, who, after being arrested by the communist authorities, admitted to wrongdoing against the Hungarian populace and the church. He appeared altered, suggesting that something had transpired to him.

Mindszenty later recounted being subjected to sleep deprivation, possibly drugged, and famously remarked, which became emblematic of brainwashing, “Without knowing what had occurred, I had morphed into a different person.”

With the Korean War, U.S. Air Force POWs made confessions about dropping clandestine germ warfare in China and Korea, resembling Mindszenty in an apparent hypnotic state. This spectacle is depicted in the 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate.”

The situation escalated when 21 U.S. POWs held captive declared their preference to remain in China rather than return home. The then-CIA Director Allen Dulles asserted that these soldiers had been coerced against their will.

During this period, MKUltra, a clandestine CIA mind-control and chemical interrogation program, was initiated.

The case of heiress Patricia Hearst, who was kidnapped and indoctrinated by leftist extremists in the 1970s, rekindled public curiosity about brainwashing. Was it indeed brainwashing?

In the trial of Patty Hearst, famously dubbed the trial of the century in 1976, four prominent specialists advocating for her defense stated that her experience mirrored that of the POWs in Korea.

Many found it difficult to accept that she had been compelled to transform into a leftist radical since she was captured on film during a bank robbery with her captors. Yet she remarked, “I adjusted my thoughts to align with theirs.” That’s the irony of brainwashing. It conceals itself in plain view.

Some researchers argue that brainwashing is a mere construct, a response of hysteria. In his work “The Captive Mind,” Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz suggests that needing to modify your thoughts to align with a particular regime is self-brainwashing. He narrates how he ultimately could not conform, which led him to flee communist Poland.

In that sense, Patty Hearst, who was 19 when abducted, and faced physical abuse and indoctrination, couldn’t simply feign being a soldier. She had to genuinely become one. And that’s brainwashing.

In your book, you assert that social media, cryptocurrency, and other innovative technologies can lead to forms of mind control. In what way?

Social media platforms, AI companion bots, and crypto, within the cryptocurrency market, represent digital realms that often involve a highly targeted emotional connection, frequently accompanied by a coercive aspect.

When engaging on social media, we’re
“`

perpetually being subjected to communications and microenvironments, which mimic the process of indoctrination or mental manipulation.

Initially, both commence with a sort of destabilizing process or sequential shocks. If you’re endlessly scrolling through news, you experience consecutive shocks, leading to a state of disorientation, as we can feel inundated by these algorithmically curated bits of information that we willingly expose ourselves to, yet seem unable to stop.

The second element is environment regulation, which is a form of compartmentalization where you receive curated messages from specific sources.

This can lead to what I term hyper-persuasion, which emerges as a third type of indoctrination. The troubling aspect is that these new advancements are precisely tailored for you. For instance, AI chatbot companions might have your psychological profile gleaned from the internet or from data that you, along with many others, share online.

You have been instructing a course on indoctrination intermittently for two decades. What do you believe attracts students to this subject?

There exists a certain allure surrounding indoctrination and mental manipulation.

Some may have personal connections, such as a family member involved in a cult or even a past relationship that caused them distress. Occasionally, they pose inquiries about manipulative control. How does one find themselves in an abusive relationship? Or how do addictions contribute to this? There is also a broader intrigue regarding cults.

Today, students increasingly show interest in social media and its use of targeted algorithms, pondering how the continuous flow of seemingly insignificant choices we all make may have significant impacts.

Can anyone be vulnerable to indoctrination?

Research involving individuals who have undergone re-education indicates that their childhood guilt was exploited during their possible recruitment into a cult.

Many believe that indoctrination pertains to being coerced into believing something, or that it operates at the level of thought or ideas, but it often works more profoundly at the emotional level. This kind of engagement with the emotional aspect is what we frequently overlook — the manner in which they exploit unresolved trauma, which encompasses unprocessed, intense emotions.

Possessing intelligence does not shield one from indoctrination. We should not presume that only specific individuals are more prone to being indoctrinated. You might believe you are too astute, but since indoctrination unfolds at the emotional level, there is no safeguard against it.

What I have found beneficial is to become cognizant of the processes occurring at the emotional level. We are constantly receiving signals as we engage with social media or interact with groups that might seek to draw us into their communities. It’s useful to remain attuned to the physical signals, not just the concepts.