Mind Control via Precise Thought Insertion
Nov 5, 2004, 3:56p
Alarm, wake up, take shower, brush teeth, put in contacts, put on clothes, put on shoes, pack bag, drive to the train, take the train to the shuttle, take the shuttle to work, do work, read email, go to meetings, eat lunch, go to meetings, read email, do work, leave work, take shuttle to train, take train to home, drive home, take off shoes, take off clothes, consider dinner, make dinner, eat dinner, read, write, talk, listen, take out contacts, brush teeth, jump into bed, check alarm, sleep...
That's what I do on an average weekday (weekends are a bit more varied).
But what do I think about during all that time?
On any given day, we each have 57,600 seconds (960 minutes) of time to use the most powerful tool known to human beings - our conscious minds. That means we can have several thousand thoughts during the day. What do we think about during each of those seconds? How many of those thoughts are shared with others?
Seems to me that our thoughts behave like leaves blowing every which way in the wind. One second, they're flying in one direction, only to be deflected by an up-swell to jetty off on another current. So the question on my mind is, what is the wind?
The wind can be almost anything from our surroundings: the roses outside the window, the black Mercedes that just drove by, the tightness in our shoulders, the dog barking outside. Each of these stimuli may introduce a new thought into our heads, which may set off a chain reaction of relationships and other new thoughts. Thoughts inserted in this abstract way will be different across different people. The roses may remind me of American Beauty (the movie) but may remind you of last Valentine's Day. And there isn't any clear actor who is doing the actual thought insertion.
There is one thought-insertion mechanism that is particularly precise and powerful: language. Whether written or spoken, language is the most effective way to achieve precise thought insertion and thereby mind control, for what is our conscious mind but a series of conscious thoughts?
During any given day, an individual is exposed to hundreds of advertisements - on billboards, magazines, TV, radio, newspapers, Internet, mail, email, and every other medium I've missed. The principal purpose of these ads is to get us to think or act in a specific way. The most reliable way to do this is to insert thoughts inside our heads, and achieve subtle mind control.
As you read this blog, the thought-stream in your head is dictated precisely by the text on this page. In effect, I, as the author, am inserting thoughts inside your head and controlling your mind, if only for brief periods of time. If you really listen to someone when they speak, your thought-stream is again dictated precisely by what the speaker is saying. What happens to those thoughts after they get inside is of course dependent on the individual's unique state of mind. And the insertion may be less precise if the individual is distracted, sleepy, unfocused, or day-dreaming.
Note that writing also provides positive feedback to the author's mind, because as he reads and revises his writing, his thoughts get repeatedly inserted and refined in his mind. Note also that art also functions to insert thoughts, though not very precisely.
Nonetheless, in the vast majority of people, language is the most effective way to achieve mind control through precise thought insertion.
Is there any way to block or slow-down such thought insertion? People commonly use a couple techniques: skimming instead of reading the text on a page or not really listening when someone speaks. Both of these techniques blur the thought-insertion and reduce its effectiveness. Advertising, esp. written advertising, is more difficult to blur. Just by reading the billboard, you've given up control of your mind for a few seconds.
Effective personal mind control that is immune to insertion of specific thoughts is hard to achieve. I'm not advocating that we should have closed minds, but rather ones that are selectively, consciously open. I've found that meditation and exercise can help hone one's personal mind control.
I guess in it's young state our minds aren't actually solely our own but a shared space for communication and influence. As we learn, age, and grow, it becomes more important to understand the thought insertion effect if we want to regain control our minds as our own.
Read comments (1) - Comment
a wandering wondering mind
- Aug 22, 2005, 10:39a
so you mean to say, anything out there beyond the periphery of my head is attempting to control my mind?
a curious observer is not a slave of the object being observed. your thoughts evoke paranoia :)
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