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Mind-altering 'brain weapons' no longer only science fiction, say researchers(theguardian.com)
16 points by ifh-hn a day ago | 9 comments
  • Terr_16 hours ago

    > the brain itself could become a battlefield

    That echoes me of one of my favorite games, and I think the intro is funny enough to be worth sharing.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TpVWggFz_D4

    ____

    For those who dislike video:

    > "The human mind: Six hundred miles of synaptic fiber, five and a half ounces of cranial fluid, fifteen hundred grams of complex neural matter... A three pound pile of dreams."

    > "...But I'll tell you what it really is. It is the ultimate battlefield--and, the ultimate weapon. The wars of this modern age--The Psychic Age-- are all fought somewhere between these damp, ... curvaceous undulations."

    -- Coach Oleander, Paychonauts

  • Reubend18 hours ago

    I don't know what the book describes, but I'd like to hear more specifics. Until then, I'm going to assume that it's sensationalist hogwash.

    > The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition, induce compliance, or even in the future turn people into unwitting agents.

    Disrupting cognition is easy. But as far as I'm aware, we don't have any drugs to "induce compliance" and we're miles away from being able to turn people into "unwitting agents" purely on the basis of neuroscience.

    • throwawayqqq1118 hours ago |parent

      Combine a chemically impaired memory and the current media landscape to get neat little dystopia.

      We already could have unknowingly produced and consumed such neuro modulators simply by selecting for consumer return. Frightening thought, because it fits the current reality timeline.

    • blackoil13 hours ago |parent

      Looking around. I don't know what feels worse; a drug that induced compliance or world is in general this stupid.

    • 18 hours ago |parent
      [deleted]
  • tetris1118 hours ago

    If I've learned anything about human nature, its that we will regulate ourselves after the event and not before.

  • conartist620 hours ago

    "We are entering an era where the brain itself could become a battlefield"

    I think we entered that era, um, prior to recorded history. Not so much just now.

    • bigbadfeline9 hours ago |parent

      +1 for being the first one aware of reality.

      It was amusing reading about chemicals and what not for something that has been done like forever, long before chemistry or neurology existed.

  • silexia11 hours ago

    Technology has now far outpaced mankind's ability to wield it safely. The Unabomber was right it appears.