‘Don’t drink the kool-aid’

I used to think this was a way to warn simpletons against scams

But I’ve just gone down a rabbit-hole on Jonestown

What made 909 people -knowingly- drink poison?

Lessons on how a mind virus can infect almost anyone—and turn fatal: Briefly: Jim Jones was a charismatic preacher who believed in socialism and anti-racism.

In the 1970s, he found fertile ground for his social gospel in California, where he soon drew thousands of followers.

A political activist, he won the support of the Mayor of SF and elites.

Paradoxes of storytelling:

1. The paradox of censorship: The more authorities try to suppress a story, the more irresistible it becomes. 2. The paradox of expertise: The more a storyteller knows about a subject, the worse he usually is at talking about it.

71 yrs ago, Allen Dulles, launched the CIA's mind control program MKULTRA.

In 1953, Americans were shocked by Soviet/Chinese brainwashing of US soldiers in Korea.

The response: a top-secret, and ultimately twisted, effort to "control human behavior."

This is the story: The CIA, founded 1947, had two missions: stop attacks on USA, and halt Communism's advance.

Two years later, the USSR blew up its first nuke, catching the CIA by surprise.

By 1954, a secret report urged: US must give up fair play & learn to 'subvert, sabotage, and destroy.'

How do you incubate a mind virus? How do you cause a culture to self-destruct? In 1984, this KGB defector exposed the 4-stages identified by Soviet intelligence as the necessary steps to cause the psychological implosion of American society.

Stage 1: Demoralization (15–20 yrs) 85% of KGB action was not spying, but ideological warfare. The aim was to change Americans’ perception of reality so that “no one is able to come to sensible conclusions.” This loss of reality then weakens the family, community, country — and the self.

Marshall McLuhan, who died in 1980, was one of the most prophetic thinkers of last century.

When I wrote about him a year ago, I was stunned at the viral response.

The editors at @TheFP asked me to go deeper—and my amazement grew.

Here are 6 astonishing things McLuhan got right about our world: We live most of the time outside our bodies.

"When you’re on the telephone, or on radio, or on TV, you don’t have a physical body," he says here in 1977.

"You’re just an image on the air. When you don’t have a physical body you’re a discarnate being. You have a very different relation to the world around you."

By spending most of our time online, we relate to the world not as creatures of flesh and blood—but as floating images.

Two years ago I quit alcohol.

It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

If you’re thinking about quitting, here are 11 things I wish someone had told me long ago: 1. When you quit, you will feel better. But the better you feel is only partly about health.

It is also moral.

You will prove yourself capable of one hard thing, and that will become the foundation of so much more.

I just had my 12th wedding anniversary. Here are 12 reflections on marriage: Miscommunication is inevitable. It’s how you handle it that matters.

I just turned 39. Here are 39 things I wish I’d known 19 years ago: Get out of Washington, DC as fast as you can.

How do you make people join radical movements?

Perhaps the best answer comes from Dostoevsky's forgotten masterpiece, Demons

Sentenced to death for conspiracy, he knew the lure of radicalism—and saw the madness to come

28 insights on how brainwashing really works: Attract followers not with logic, but with raw feelings.

Sentimentalism—playing upon soft-heartedness—disarms people's rational defenses.

You must persuade purely through emotion. Amplify feelings of resentment and injustice.

What can an unfree society teach you about freedom?

In 6+ years living in China as a journalist, I was informed on, spied on, tailed when traveling.

This is nothing compared to what Chinese go through if targeted.

Here are 14 lessons—and warnings—that many need to hear: People will adapt to oppression sooner than they will rebel.

It's human nature to seek the path of least resistance.

There's a reason that subversives tend to be social misfits.

Why do bright people convert to a self-destructive ideology?

It's happened before.

One of the best analyses is the 1953 book, Captive Mind.

Ask yourself if any of this familiar: The author, Nobel-winning poet Czeslaw Milosz saw the change firsthand

After the war, Polish elites were subjected to Soviet power

Many embraced Stalinism

Milosz was stunned to see patriotic men go from battling Germany to renouncing hopes of independence

How does it happen?

In 1991, the FBI ran a background check on a man being considered for President George HW Bush's Export Council.

His name: Steven Paul Jobs.

The FBI spoke to friends and peers who described darker aspects of his character.

Here's what you can learn from his FBI file: The interviews were conducted after Jobs left Apple Computer, during the period he ran NeXT.

When the FBI called, Jobs’ secretary told them they had to wait three weeks to interview him. He would not see them even for one hour.

This is stunning: A majority of Americans believe life today is worse than it was half a century ago.

What was different — and better— about the lives of people in 1973?

And what is worse about today? Americans' nostalgia for the past extends across groups, with varying degrees of intensity.

The CIA has long tried to use the media to manipulate the American public.

In this 1983 clip, ex-agent Frank Snepp explains the techniques the CIA used in wartime to mold the narrative at home.

1. Spreading Disinformation 2. Exploiting Leading Journalists

In Vietnam, says Snepp, the CIA courted reporters from the New Yorker and top newspapers to build trust.

Agents gave false facts wrapped in truth to create desired narratives.

70 yrs ago today, Allen Dulles, launched the CIA's mind control program MKULTRA.

In 1953, Americans were shocked by Soviet/Chinese brainwashing of US soldiers in Korea.

The response: a top-secret, and ultimately twisted, effort to "control human behavior."

This is the story: The CIA, founded 1947, had two missions: stop attacks on USA, and halt Communism's advance.

Two years later, the USSR blew up its first nuke, catching the CIA by surprise.

By 1954, a secret report urged: US must give up fair play & learn to 'subvert, sabotage, and destroy.'

How do you incubate a mind virus? How do you cause a culture to self-destruct? In 1984, this KGB defector exposed the 4-stages identified by Soviet intelligence as the necessary steps to cause the psychological implosion of American society.

Stage 1: Demoralization (15–20 yrs) 85% of KGB action was not spying, but ideological warfare. The aim was to change Americans’ perception of reality so that “no one is able to come to sensible conclusions.” This loss of reality then weakens the family, community, country — and the self.

How can you identify when a movement is verging on terrorism?

In his 2005 book on the psychopathology of terror, ex-FBI agent Joe Navarro defined "violence or the threat of violence intended to exact compliance from a population."

These are 7 warning signs to watch for: /1 Uncompromising Ideology

Terrorism emerges from rigid ideologies that reject accommodation. Alternative views are intolerable. Persuasive ideas or evidence do not shake beliefs and may harden them.

I love this thought experiment Marshall McLuhan proposes to novelist Tom Wolfe in 1970. What would happen if all the media—even and especially this platform—shut off for one week?

Stick around for his provocative explanation of why all news is fiction. “Most news is literally fake because it has to be made, then selected.”

News is a product that must be manufactured. Materials are selected from what is available. Then crafted to make an attractive item for sale.

I know this is true because I did it as a journalist.

Philip K. Dick, scifi visionary, died 41 years ago in a state of ruin. But his predictions of AI, predictive policing, and virtual reality have come uncannily true. In 1977, Dick reflects on his surprising emotion upon discovering he was being harassed by the FBI and CIA. If you found this interesting, please follow @bfcarlson for more on thinkers like PKD. And consider subscribing to my newsletter where I go deeper on how ideas of the past shape our future. Hope to see you there. Bfcarlson.com

Editing a dead author's beloved works to suit prudish tastes is not new.

In 1818, the Bowdlers sanitized Shakespeare.

At the time this practice was called "castration."

Henceforth it would be called Bowdlerization.

Here's what they found too scandalous to print: ROMEO & JULIET

Shaks: the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon
Bowdler: the hand of the dial is now upon the point of noon

S: Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessel are ever thrust to the wall
B: [CUT]

In the CIA interrogation manual, it lists coercive techniques used to break someone's will. They include:

- Isolation
- Dependence
- Inducing guilt
- Preying on fear
- Disrupting sleep
- Robbing basic dignity
- Depriving of natural light

Sounds like social media addiction. The source of these techniques is the KUBARK interrogation manual. Sensory deprivation from real world stimuli was found to be particularly effective in alienating someone from themselves and making them malleable to exploitation.