Brainwashing the science of thought control by Kathleen Taylor [blackatk].pdf

Author:unknow
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 10: The power of stop-and-think

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts

Charles Darwin, Descent of Man

As previous chapters have suggested, influence attempts come in many vari- eties—and do not always succeed. A sufficiently motivated person can often stop and think before succumbing, recalling their reasons not to buy, not to believe, and thereby resisting the influence attempt. In the case of brainwashing, how- ever, the pressure is overwhelming. Somehow a brainwasher must be able to bypass his victims’ self-control so that they can no longer stop and think. To understand how this could happen, we need to understand how brains imple- ment stop-and-think capacities. The area of cortex most intimately involved with stop-and-think is the bulge which lies immediately beneath our foreheads: the prefrontal cortex, or PFC for short.

Managing the brain

Researchers studying the PFC often compare its function to that of the chief executive of a big company. The analogy is meant to relate to leadership (and I will pursue the management metaphor later in this chapter), but I think it can be taken further. Both PFC and CEO have a hint of glamour, excitement, and power. Both consume large proportions of overall (metabolic or financial) resources relative to other brain areas/company employees. And in both cases most of us don’t have the least idea what they actually do.

The prefrontal lobes are located at the front of the brain.1 Crowning a cortex greatly enlarged in human beings compared with our nearest primate relatives, they are the most mysterious and intriguing of all brain areas. Anything humans

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