The concept of scientific elimination of personal identity, or even its intentional control, has been deemed a future threat more dreadful than atomic destruction. Nevertheless, Dr. Jose Delgado contradicts these concerns in his 1969 book, Physical Control of the Mind: Toward a Psychocivilized Society. Delgado describes various applications of electric brain stimulation, ranging from enabling the blind to see to controlling criminals and dissidents from a distance. His invention, the "stimoceiver," could be remotely operated to deliver electric stimulation to a specific region of the brain. In a stunning display during the early 1960s, Delgado entered a bullfighting ring and stopped a rampaging bull in its tracks by pressing a button. While Delgado noticed that the wiring from the brain to the stimoceiver could pose a hindrance to grooming one’s hair, he saw enormous potential in his innovation.
However, modern-day conspiracists cite Delgado’s stimoceivers as evidence of their mind control theories. How far has mind control technology come since Delgado’s invention? In 2020, US scientists revealed that they could remotely control a team of rats from a laptop. Electrodes implanted in the rats’ brains can activate their pleasure centers and steer them to the left or right. A small receiver is attached to a backpack that the rats wear. While these robotic rats were presented as the latest advancement in biotechnology, the late neurologist, John Lilly, remembered watching a military movie in the 1950s of a phony donkey being steered remotely up a hill using electric brain stimulation.
These days, brain implants aren’t used for mind control but exist to help people paralyzed with injuries. Dr. Philip Kennedy of Neural Signals created an implanted device that allows JR, a 53-year-old paraplegic volunteer, to move a computer mouse with his thoughts’ power. A small antenna, linked to the implant, protrudes through the top of JR’s skull, wiping out the need for wiring.
Although we are getting closer to Delgado’s idea of a psychocivilized society, hair grooming might remain problematic for some time.
