I enjoy reading books that are off the radar. And by that I mean of books that are not on popular best-seller lists or books praised by celebrities and people with big followership. This doesn't mean these books don't rise to the level of 'quality', if I can put it that way, that I expect from reading a book.
In fact, the opposite may be true, as I seem to kindof validate that with every book I read. One of these is Brainwashing, a book written by Kathleen Taylor, who is a Research Scientist at the University of Oxford, in the department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics.
She published this book in 2004, so, by some means, it's an oldie. The title should be self-explanatory in terms of the contents of the book.
There are many aspects of thought control and brainwashing that are indepthly elaborated, such as:
- hard brainwashing by torture, with many historical examples
- more soft brainwashing through persuasion, often implemented with marketing purposes
- brainwashing by culture, religion, and politics
- the neuroscience of thought control and the brain changes that accompany different relevant tactics
- most importantly: how to counteract the different forms of brainwashing.
One of such important countermeasures for brainwashing (at large) is the ability to stop-and-think. In other words, it deals with invoking awareness in situations that appear to be persuasive. This is one theme or strategy that I've encountered in different books that deal with the subject of mind change. And I kindof dislike the fact that it's being packed and sold as mindfulness 'non-sense' meditation, which, in my view, takes a lot from its power.
I'll probably deal with self-awareness in another post, but until then, if this book, sounds or looks appealing to you, grab yourself a copy.
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Cristi Vlad, Self-Experimenter and Author