Prison Within the Mind?

Intellectuals are naturally attracted by the idea of a planned society, in the belief that they will be in charge of it.
― Roger Scruton[i]

The human mind is an amazing thing and can be trained, even tricked into believing almost anything if the “Conditioners” (noted in the writings of the famous Christian writer C.S. Lewis) have determined it is to be so.[1]Equally, the mind can be trained, even tricked, into ignoring important things. Distraction by stimuli through artificial means can induce a state of introspection that is intense enough to focus people’s minds on their own thoughts so that they become oblivious to the world around them. 

The mind can also be focused on physical gratification of the senses to the point that a person becomes a sensate-oriented being. People totally immersed in physical and mental stimuli that constantly have their nerve endings buzzing will not be prone to intellectual activity and rational thinking.[2] Thus, they will be easily controlled, as the theme in the famous book Brave New World made clear.

Lewis likewise proposed this possibility in so many words when, in chapter 3 of his work The Abolition of Man, he noted that “Conditioners” will arise to shape our world through the people who have left their traditional moorings, which he called “the Tao” in his work. They,

will be armed with the power of an omnicompetent state and an irresistible scientific technique: we shall at last get a race of conditioners who really can cut out all posterity in what shape they please.[3]

The above two methods of “control” can be achieved through chemical stimulants, through sexual activity, or by surrounding people with cascading electronic stimuli. Their world is constantly bombarded with noise, visual stimuli, and sensations that keep them in a permanent state of distraction. Thus, and as suggested above, logical thought and reasoning are made extremely difficult. 

Sadly, modern media, both news[4] and entertainment add insult to injury by keeping people preoccupied to the point that slowly, over time, they are mind-jacked into a totally different state of consciousness without being aware of what has happened to them. They continue thinking that the world their minds live within is, in fact the world that really exists, and all is well as sensation leads to sensation. In the final analysis, it does not matter, as long as the people can be kept focused on themselves and the things that occupy their days, which stretch out as far as the eye can see, with one day blurring into the next, and who can say if 2+2=4 anymore? 

This is most easily accomplished throughout the country, as well as in other parts of the world, by using electronic media in public areas via large, bright electronic billboards, as well as handheld video screens. Everything from Tik-Tok,[5] Hollywood movies with their anti-Christian bias,[6] and Netflix trailers of vacuous movies or episodic series, with all of their glitter and glitz, to meaningless political announcements are broadcast minute by minute, with the screen never going blank. Thus there is never a time when there is not something flickering across the screens, whether large or small. 

The modern use of this persuasion technique disguised as entertainment was described in 1994 by Alan Watt:

Hollywood is the magician’s wand (holly-holy) which has been used to cast a spell on the unsuspecting public. Things or ideas which would otherwise be seen as bizarre, vulgar, undesirable, or impossible are inserted into films in the realm of fantasy. When the viewer watches these films, his/her mind is left open to suggestion and the conditioning process begins. These same movies, which are designed to program the average person, can give the discerning viewer a better understanding of the workings and the plan of the world agenda. “Be-aware.” Predictive Programming – The power of suggestion using the media of fiction to create a desired outcome.[7]

Sadly, there exists among people an ignorant bliss as to the effect upon American society of unlimited access to all ideas as expressed in this deluge of information, disinformation, and misinformation disguised as so-called “entertainment” found only one click away. The reality that people without the necessary discernment or understanding cannot determine whether said “ideas” be fool’s gold or the real thing is not an issue of concern among the populace (Proverbs 22:3). “It’s only a movie!” Or, “It’s on the news, so it must be true!”

Only God knows the future and how much time we have as a civilization, given the fact that our educational system and news media[8] are bound and determined to destroy the country through delusion, entertainment, and outright programming.[9] We must beware (I Peter 5:8), and not get caught up in the busyness, parties, lights, and gifts at this time of year. Let us remember the “reason for the season.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Christian Liberty Homeschools is willing to help you resist all the above influences by teaching your child to see the world as it is, and their place within it (Proverbs 3:5-6): www.homeschools.org

Books Worth Reading:

The Abolition of Man:

Brave New World:

Fools, Frauds and Firebrands – Thinkers of the New Left:


[1] https://mises.org/wire/when-private-sector-enemy

[2] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1995).

[3] https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/chapter-three-the-abolition-of-man/

[4] The media, concluded Tucker Carlson of Fox News, are “not here to inform you. Even on the big things that really matter, like the economy and war and COVID…their job is not to inform you. They are working for the small group of people who actually run the world. They’re their servants. They’re their praetorian guard. And we should treat them with maximum contempt because they have earned it.”

[5] https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/tiktok-is-built-like-an-indoctrination-machine-gop-senator-sounds-alarm-on-apps-impact-on-american-youth-5435002

[6] https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/even-leftist-rainn-wilson-admits-there-is-anti-christian-bias-in-hollywood/

[7] Alan Watts Explains Predictive Programming  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPacniJ0llE

[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-F2Be10Ink

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIo3TYDvFvA


Citations:

[i]  Roger Scruton, Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left (London, UK: Bloomsbury Continuum, 2015, 2019). 

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