|
Mind Control in the 18th Century |
|
|
Phrenology Today, even the least informed high school student knows that many functions of the brain are carried out by particular structures, and not by others. For example, the external part of the brain, called cortex, has regions which are responsible for different functions, such as the perception of vision and hearing, the control of movement and speech, as well as the higher mental faculties (cognition, planning, reasoning, etc.). This doctrine, which has been proved over and over again in this era where sophisticated equipments, supported by computers, are able to visualize with pinpoint precision where a given function is being performed in the brain, is called cerebral localizationism. But this was not so in the final years of the eighteen
century, the century of Illumination. Knowledge about the
brain was scanty and dominated by non-scientific
speculations. Objective experimentation with animals was
still rare, and one the most powerful methods of inferring
brain function, the observation of persons with
neurological disabilities due to localized lesions of the
brain, such as tumors, was still in its beginning stages.
The main source of knowledge about the brain were the
dissections performed on the dead bodies of animals and
humans. Localization of function in the brain could only be
glimpsed from the fact that there are many
different-looking anatomical structures in it, so that,
perhaps, they could be responsible for different faculties
of the mind. In this bleak scenario, enters the Austrian physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), who pioneered the notion that different mental functions are indeed located in different parts of the brain. This happened exactly 200 years ago, in 1796 ! As we will see, he was right on this notion, but totally wrong on the way it was achieved by the brain. As a result, he produced phrenology (from phrenos=mind, and logos=study) the first complete theory of cerebral localizationism This was surely a major feat. However, phrenology was later discarded and castigated by the scientific establishment as a crude form of quackery and pseudoscience. But his historical importance remains, so's the reason for the present article. The Theory Behind PhrenologyGall, in his noted work, "The Anatomy and Physiology of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in Particular", put forward the principles on which he based his doctrine of phrenology,. Firstly, he believed that man's moral and intellectual faculties are innate and that their manifestation depends on the organization of the brain, which he considered to be the organ responsible for all the propensities, sentiments and faculties.
Finally, Gall proposed that the external form of the cranium reflects the internal form of the brain, and that the relative development of its organs caused changes of form in the skull, which could be used to diagnose the particular mental faculties of a given individual, by doing a proper analysis. In fact, Gall's theory was built the other way round. He carried out numerous and careful observations and made many experimental measurements on the skulls of his relatives, friends and pupils. Later on, with the help of his associates, he did that on many persons with different personality characteristics. Gall thought that he was able to correlate certain particular mental faculties to bumps and depressions on the surface of the skull, its exterior forms or relative dimensions. Then, he mooted on the possibility that these external landmarks could be caused by the growth of internal brain structures, and that this growth was related to the development of the associated mental faculty. Thus, he was able to produce a complete and extensive theory to support his work, and to use it for practical applications in the mental sciences, by means of detailed topological maps. The most important collaborator of Gall was Johann Spurzheim (1776-1832), who later helped him to extend the so-called phrenological model and to disseminate it in Europe and USA. Phrenology's DestinyThe logical and easy-to-learn structure of the phrenological theory quickly captured the imagination of thousands of followers. The preciseness and scientific assurance of its terms and maps made headway in a time where the main enemies of rationalism were religion, subjectivity and autocracy. Due to this, Gall gained the support, if not the minds, of many important scientific and political figures in many parts of the world. He was their champion, in a terrain dominated by the teachings of religious philosophers. Eventually, phrenology was attacked by the scientific establishment, which could not corroborate Gall's theory with concrete findings. Already in 1808, the Institute of France assembled a committee of savants. led by Cuvier, who declared that phrenology was not to be trusted (some historians suspect that they also had no scientific evidence to support this claim, and that the conclusion was forced by Napoleon Bonaparte, who was furious because Gall's interpretation of his skull "missed" some noble qualities he thought he had...) Phrenology was equated to other forms of quackery, mainly due to the abuses in the hands of shady commercial entrepreneurs. Its demise happened in the final quarter of the nineteen century. However, it spawned many other scientific or pseudoscientific branches based on the quantitative analysis of facial and cranial features, such as craniology, anthropometry and psychognomy, many of which survived well into modern eras. Amazingly enough, there are still followers and believers of phrenology around.
More Resources
Center
for Biomedical Informatics Renato M.E. Sabbatini is a neuroscientist and specialist in Biomedical Informatics, with a doctoral degree by the University of São Paulo and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, Germany. He is the current director of the Center of Biomedical Informatics and professor of Medical Informatics of the Faculty of Medicine of the State University of Campinas, Brazil. Email: sabbatin@nib.unicamp.br Sabbatini, R.M.E. Phrenology the History of Cerebral Localization |
Franz Mesmer & Hypnosis What is the derivation of the word
"mesmerize" and what does it have to do with Ben
Franklin? Copyright 2002 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All rights reserved. Benjamin Franklin . Inquiring Mind . Mesmer PBS In the 1700s, Franz Anton Mesmer was born, marking a turning point in the history of mind control. Mesmer developed a technique called "animal magnetism" as a medical technique for treating a number of illnesses (primarily psychosomatic) which were not well understood at the time. Animal magnetism was quickly dubbed "mesmerism" and later morphed into "hypnotism." Mesmerism involved different techniques, including the placement or brandishment of literal magnets around the subjects, and the monotonous repetition of words and tones, which induced a trance-like state in its subjects.
Today, any respectable hypnotist will assure you that a person under hypnosis can't be induced to do anything they wouldn't normally be able to do. But then, it's not the respectable hypnotists that you have to worry about. Regardless of their protestations of harmlessness, the suggestibility of a hypnotized subject offers ample opportunity for the hypnotist to wreak havoc. Aside from the possibility of just ordering the subject to become a killing machine, which is not a reliable technique, one can plant suggestions that allow the subject to justify all manner of wrongdoing (i.e., "Jim is planning to kill you. He will kill you unless you kill him first. You had better kill him in self-defense."). Hypnotic techniques can also be used to plant "post-hypnotic" suggestions, in which a certain set of circumstances (such as the utterance of a "trigger phrase") cause the subject to act out a preprogrammed behavior. This is more popular as a Hollywood device than effective in the real world, but it can be done. The main problem with hypnosis as a mind-control technique is that it's pretty difficult to hypnotize someone against their will. That's why insidious megalomaniacs returned to the techniques used by the first Assassins — drugs — while inventing new and exciting ways to manipulate the masses in an economical fashion. |
| 1735 -
Conversion is a "nice" word for brainwashing...and
any study of brainwashing has to begin with a study of
Christian revivalism in eighteenth century America.
Apparently, Jonathan Edwards accidentally discovered the
techniques during a religious crusade in 1735 in Northampton,
Massachusetts. By inducing guilt and acute apprehension and by
increasing the tension, the "sinners" attending his
revival meetings would break down and completely submit.
Technically, what Edwards was doing was creating conditions
that wipe the brain slate clean so that the mind accepts new
programming. The problem was that the new input was negative.
He would tell them, "You're a sinner! You're destined for
hell!"
As a result, one person committed suicide and another attempted suicide. And the neighbors of the suicidal converts related that they, too, were affected so deeply that, although they had found "eternal salvation," they were obsessed with a diabolical temptation to end their own lives. Once a preacher, cult leader, manipulator or authority figure creates the brain phase to wipe the brain-slate clean, his subjects are wide open. New input, in the form of suggestion, can be substituted for their previous ideas. Because Edwards didn't turn his message positive until the end of the revival, many accepted the negative suggestions and acted, or desired to act, upon them. Charles J. Finney was another Christian revivalist who used the same techniques four years later in mass religious conversions in New York. The techniques are still being used today by Christian revivalists, cults, human-potential trainings, some business rallies, and the United States Armed services...to name just a few. Let me point out here that I don't think most revivalist preachers realize or know they are using brainwashing techniques. Edwards simply stumbled upon a technique that really worked, and others copied it and have continued to copy it for over two hundred years. And the more sophisticated our knowledge and technology become, the more effective the conversion. I feel strongly that this is one of the major reasons for the increasing rise in Christian fundamentalism, especially the televised variety, while most of the orthodox religions are declining. 1775 - Mesmer demonstrates the power of
suggestion to a German scientific commission, tells them anybody
can do it. 1791 - Frog muscle contracted when stimulated by electricity. Galvani, 1791; Volta, 1800; DuBoisReymond, 1848. "Vital spirits" are not essential for biological activities. Electrical stimuli under man's control can initiate and modify vital processes. |
|
Subhead
-
 Headline DATE © 2007 by The Phoenix Foundation Body text |
|
| Subhead
-
Headline DATE © 2007 by The Phoenix Foundation Body text |
|
Secondly,
Gall proposed that the brain is composed of many particular
"
Many
influential people flocked to Mesmer to be cured of all
kinds of problems, real and imagined. Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart was a follower of Mesmer, as was the French queen
Marie Antoinette. Mozart performed a musical play in
Mesmer's honor, and Mesmer frequently was invited to the
French court to perform for the queen. Because of his
popularity at court, Mesmer became quite a celebrity in
France and attracted a great deal of attention.
In
a hypnotic trance, the subject is prone to suggestibility.
They tend to believe what they are told and their senses will
malfunction to back up these suggestions. Mesmer primarily
used the technique to cure various stress-related illnesses
but it soon became clear that hypnotism could also be used to
make people do things they wouldn't normally do.
