The notion society has a right and duty to influence or outright control individuals for the "common good" was a pet peeve of Patrick McGoohan, creator and star of the 1960's sci-spy-fi cult TV classic
The Prisoner
In allegorical fashion, with "The Village" as a dubiously idyllic backdrop, episodes explored various ways mass deception can be promulgated by society using both hard ("natural") and soft ("social") scientific methods -
Pledged to this effort, scientists and medical staff operate a horror chamber in The Village where folks deemed "Unmutual" undergo major mind numbing procedures to treat their severe mental "illness" (chronic non conformity).
Aside forced psychoactive medicating, extensive 're-education' and ECT for extreme cases, Villager conditioning is done by way of "The Tally Ho" (the sole newspaper) and the one and only
and omnipresent Village TV channel.
Along with spoon-fed propaganda and "fake news" 24/7/365, surveillance by The Village security arm, Control, is everywhere and relentless - "
We want
information," those in charge say, and by hook or crook they'll get it -
Since
The Prisoner first aired, not only has 50 year old fiction become fact, applied science took The Village up to 11 and global, with eyes-glued tech addicted masses spied on by their I-Phones AND satellite eyes in the skies.
In place of pharmaceuticals, electronic mind-state alteration. In place of ECT, "shock and awe" social media. In place of "The Tally Ho" and Village TV? A lopsided MSM, telling you what to think with a menacing intimidating tone.
And now, it's not just those in charge: government
or business; Facebook, its users, its hackers,
everybody wants information. Data privacy is a joke! No one's life is immune from intrusion by anyone with a desire to CONTROL
BEWARE devoted yet passive information consumption - Next to "The Idiot Box" as a means to a end, mass deception efforts see today's pervasive "It's on the Internet, it must be true" attitude as an absolute brainwashing boon -
To quote a line from
The Prisoner, while not inherently good OR evil, "The trouble with science is it can be
PERVERTED." To escape the worst of the Digital Age's influences folks need unplug, speak up, ask questions, and THINK.
"The science is settled!"
WTF!? Since when is science settled? Like all there is to know is now known? Fighting climate change isn't science, it's a means to a end: Buy in, and join the Orwellian hive-mind,
or be labeled "Unmutual!"
The good news is even for folks long accepting the terms of their intellectual captivity, the capacity to break free of false Collective beliefs with full-on eyes-wide awareness may exist, IF there remains
any remnant of reality in their being -
In any case, knowing the perverted possibilities, it behooves folks to greet any extreme promotion of science applied for "the common good" with the greatest of caution, at the
very least, if not with outright deep suspicion...
Well, I guess that settles THAT?! ANYhoo, that's all from Yours Truly for now folks -