SCI/TECH: Mind Control by Remote

Japan's leading telephone company is developing a technology called galvanic vestibular stimulation that basically uses low voltage electrical current applied from the back of the ears through the head from side to side to influence movement and reaction to stimulus.



I find it quite interesting that a telephone company is developing this technology. Talk about the perfect mind control device, just put it inside a cell phone. Nearly everybody has one glued to their ear these days, what better way to deliver the zombie-go signal to the masses?

Very interesting.

This is more about controlling physical action, not mental processes - which is what I think of when I think about mind control. But still, great find!

soficrow
This is more about controlling physical action, not mental processes...

Im not sure I see a difference. Let say a person receives a message, "Pull the trigger" to initiate an assassination. Is this control of a physical action or a mental process?
.

Thanks for the up soficrow.

This story hints at a scary reality that may await us, for all I know may be in play to some extent right now. I mean, look at voter apathy. Voting is the biggest right, responsibility, and privilege of living in a democratic society, and look at voter turnout numbers in the US. It is shameful. Why do people feel an aversion to voting? I don't know, but it sure makes it easier to control elections!

That is just taking this tech one step further. Isn't the goal of mind control really physical action control, either induced or impeded action? Who knows what they're trying to feed us over the airwaves besides cell signals? You can bet if they are using this to influence actions, it is something that would be rejected outright through any other medium. Or palm reader, for that matter.

maybe it's just the cynic in me, but i see nothing that is genuinely good coming from this technology,

except for 1 sweet & rosy response, the 4 replyies [at link] would all be cynical too.

1950-ish SciFi stuff...
how about the new crop of Tweens, swarming like a army of lemmings
on the Malls, with the folks DebitCards in hand- - or- - - ->

imagine future Iraqi insurgents, or suicide bombers...being compelled to adjust their course to a new target site...

note: i didn't read in the article that the stimulation works well enough to guide/impel a subject along while blindfolded.
-> maybe that kinda data is classified, and this novelty demonstration was just an amusing introduction ( remember the frog in the pot of water fable)

df1

Let say a person receives a message, "Pull the trigger" to initiate an assassination. Is this control of a physical action or a mental process?

Good question.

Not much difference, IMO - although there is some distinction between what we think we think, and what we do. ...NYT had a great article a while back called "The Second Brain" or something like that - it was about how the digestive system affects/controls mental processes at a chemical level and via the parasympathetic nervous sytem. I also like the theory that the body is just one whole big brain. Makes sense to me.

St. Udio - I do see a possible positive effect. Motor control is affected in many people with brain damage, esp in the brainstem. I'd be curious to hear if this technology can impact involuntary muscles (lungs, digestion).


brain burp - forgot a word



[edit on 26-10-2005 by soficrow]

Not even a link to my thread where I covered it?

www.abovetopsecret.com...
25-10-2005 at 08:20 PM

Tsk tsk.

Originally posted by soficrow

St. Udio - I do see a possible positive effect. Motor control is affected in many people with brain damage, esp in the brainstem. I'd be curious to hear if this technology can impact involuntary muscles (lungs, digestion).

i know first hand about brainstem brain damage...
but the potential for remedy is far from what this intresting galvanic stimulation or whatever could do.

see, in many brain injury victims the pathways in the brain that once sent messages to the muscles are severed or made dead-ends....

it seems this stimulus electrode thingy merely impells a muscle to respond.
much like scratching a dogs belly & watching as Fido goes into a 'involuntary' scratching session with their back leg....harmless fun.
But, the scratching back leg of Fido would not happen if Fido's brain synapse system within the brain, did not send messages down the nerves and to the muscles.
That's what some brain injuries do, and one needs therapy to assist in re-creating those neurological pathways which send messages to the affected muscles...in the meanwhile there's a malady called being 'hemi-plegic'

i still might-could, someday be a beliveable body-double for a Frankenstein
walking figure...& maybe doing a 'Mister Roboto' dance act to boot
now that'd be a good payday, eh?

Originally posted by St Udio

i know first hand about brainstem brain damage...

I'm sorry. I have a brainstem lesion, but it mostly affects involuntary muscle function. Sounds like what you have going on is different.

but the potential for remedy is far from what this intresting galvanic stimulation or whatever could do.

see, in many brain injury victims the pathways in the brain that once sent messages to the muscles are severed or made dead-ends.... would not happen if Fido's brain synapse system within the brain, did not send messages down the nerves and to the muscles. ...re-creating those neurological pathways which send messages to the affected muscles

But maybe this doesn't just hijack those pathways, but actually replaces them? (I don't know, and don't know how it might be developed either)

i still might-could, someday be a beliveable body-double for a Frankenstein
walking figure...& maybe doing a 'Mister Roboto' dance act to boot
now that'd be a good payday, eh?

The mind can move more gracefully than the body might imagine.

...I don't know about this technology either. And know that lots of things are promised that never materialize. Personally, I have more faith in one's power over one's body, even at the cellular level, than I do in what's pawned off on us as science and medicine.

Originally posted by soficrow
But maybe this doesn't just hijack those pathways, but actually replaces them? (I don't know, and don't know how it might be developed either)

To answer.......it doesn't replace the pathway(s). Once a synaptic path has been severed (due to trauma, illness, lesion) it is severed. What could happen is if the electrical stimulation is reminescent enough to an earlier experience (kind of unlikely due to modality and somatosensory application) a new pathway could be encouraged to just re-branch the old and the new. Our brains work by association. That means all new experience relates to previous encounters. If all experience is retained and a break in communication occurs, than a rerouting of the electro-chemical reactions would be the answer....

But if it were that simple......the key term in that paragraph is 'electro-chemical.' Specifically 'chemical.' The brain interprets good and bad experience based on the chemical(s) that is induced by the given experience. What we have termed 'emotion' is really just our intellectual interpretation of the various chemical reactions occuring in our bodies (and all the levels within that spectrum.) Direct electrical stimulation in an as previously un-utilized region (head) counts as a new experience where our neural synapses are concerned....and due to personal experience, the institution of that kind of stimulus could either be positive or negative.....so the recreation of broken neural circuitry via this method is entirely sketchy in my book.....

And thus we arrive at my problem with this whole new direction for applicable tech......even if we consider that the motivations are completely benign (entertainment application), then you have the institution of another part of the body being interacted with for the association of pleasure...or enjoyment. It's going to be a subtle physiological stimulus that will end up taking the time and attention of many individuals. And on a generational scale, especially if broader more general applications are found (think television), then you have the potential for future inclinations to be biologically capable of only interacting with these experiences.....and the problem with that is the experience is entirely subjective We are a social animal and personal endeavours and enjoyments are great, but not to be raised upon......unless you buy into the class distinctions and want the capacity of others deciding your inclinations.....(that last sentence is a discussion all its' own......)

At any rate........for what it's worth....there's my two cents.....

Dulcimer,

My apologies for not adding the link, and thank you for doing so. You deserve the credit for bringing this story to the forums.

Memoryshock,

Thanks for the great post in response to this thread.

Is this another step toward a matrix-like scenario where we are hooked-up to electronic stimulators via devices such as these and receive sustenance and waste evacuation similarly via the appropriate systems? All of us in our little cocoons on the couch being fed and watered like houseplants as we receive our daily dose of mind-numbing media. A sticky web it is.

I grew up in the High Desert of SoCal, and I spent nearly all daylight hours as a young boy outside engaged in physical activity of some sort, be it work or play. We had two TV channels. That just isn't the case for the most part with kids these days. The trend seems to be toward compartmentalization and disassociation from the natural environment and activities pertaining to it. I don't view this as a good thing, and I am grateful my son has inherited my love of the outdoors. He loves video games too, and I have played my share, but they are not the top priority they have become to such a prevalent degree in mainstream leisure time activities.

Originally posted by Icarus Rising
Is this another step toward a matrix-like scenario where we are hooked-up to electronic stimulators via devices such as these and receive sustenance and waste evacuation similarly via the appropriate systems?

We are more or less already there.....visual and audio stimulii account for much of our conscious interaction with our environment. In civilized nations, you also have the instilled routine of school, work, play and most of our entertainments reinforce the concept......the one where your life is fairly pre-determined along a general timeline. The great sociological acvhievement in my book comes from the many different genres that have been propagated and commercialized......(pseudo)punk, goth, professional, hip-hop, etc.....there is something for everyone and all you have to do is put on your cap for applicable interactions.....go to work and then dive into your social spectrum.....most people don't bother to educate themselves further about anything that doesn't directly relate to their lives and as such, they end up following any one of the myriad of carrots placed out for them. At least here on ATS, we have a group attempting to collaborate on information and learn more......but it is still a subjective experience....i.e. not immediately social....

Originally posted by IcarusRising
I grew up in the High Desert of SoCal,

I grew up in So Cal as well......

Originally posted by IcarusRising
The trend seems to be toward compartmentalization and disassociation from the natural environment and activities pertaining to it.

That is what I see too.