Does mind control work?

There is an interesting phenomenon in the area of conspiracy theories around mind control. There are a great many theories relating to the CIA experiments under the auspices of project MKULTRA in the 1950's and '60's, and equally as many, if not more reports that these experiments were terminated in the 1970's primarily because they were demonstrated not to work. A number of leading psychologists have stated that mind control to the extent that a subject can be made to act against not only their own morals and ethics, but the basic underlying biological drives of personal survival is impossible, and that this is the key reason for debunking the conspiracy theories. However, there seems to be something of a problem with this contention. It is generally accepted that there are certain situations that can create an aberrant psychological state that allows for some extreme behaviours outside the ethical standards expected by society. There are three key examples that we should perhaps consider in this field.

We have the situation of the psychological profiling of serial killers. Here those same psychologists who suggest that there is no truth in mind control are seen to suggest that environmental conditioning can be a key factor in psychological change and in the development of psychopathy and sociopathy. The classic case of the abused child who progresses through hurting and killing animals through a fascination with death to becoming a killer is well documented but little is done to compare this to the known techniques of mind control including physical and psychological abuse, to children as well as adults, sensory deprivation, psychological profiling and psychoactive pharmaceuticals. If it is possible that serial killers can be created by environmental conditions, is it not also possible that the same process could be replicated deliberately? The counter argument would be that serial killers are initially neurologically atypical in that they have an underlying neurological condition that is triggered by the abuse leading to the end result. However, it is also possible that such neurological conditions could be induced, as evidenced by cannabis psychosis and the long term effects of LSD and MDMA creating schizophrenia like conditions.

We must also consider the case of religious martyrs and particularly the recent phenomenon of suicide bombers. Here we see the deliberate suppression of a basic biological drive, the drive to survive to the extent that individuals willingly give up their lives as human bombs. Again there is a counter argument that in general these individuals are driven by religious conviction and out of desperation, but these are known mind control techniques. The origin of the US experiments was a response to the supposed Chinese use of mind control during the Korean War, one of the techniques being to manipulate US prisoners of war by engaging with them in a friendly fashion and gently converting them to the Chinese way of thinking, so here we see that the possibility exists that individuals can be controlled beyond the normal limits of biological drive.

Related to this but distinct is the documented phenomenon of the Helsinki syndrome were the victims of kidnapping develop a sense of understanding and sympathy with their captors, to the extent that they actively fight alongside their kidnappers when attempts are made to rescue them. Again this is acknowledged by the same psychologists that dismiss mind control yet the techniques used are readily replicated in controlled conditions. So, we have a situation where we are told that mind control by government agencies is impossible yet the techniques that could be used to achieve it are accepted in other aspects of psychological study. It is quite clear that mind control is possible, to a far greater extent that is accepted by the main stream. The big question is, is it being used?