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Have you ever thought about blocking painful memories from tormenting
your mind? Maybe you would be content if someone else opted to do
it for you. Experts said mind control has been becoming more clever
with each passing subliminal marketing message. The foundation of
our constitutional rights as U.S. citizens and freedom of thought
have been the most valuable of our legal freedoms, yet the most
underdeveloped.
Types of neurotechnologies available include:
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Several memory-enhancing drugs and other drugs made to help
or lessen painful memories from the past.
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Propranol, a medication used to treat high blood pressure,
was found to reduce the memory of horrific events such as a
plane crash.
Experts stressed the importance of giving people the choice to
take the mind-altering medication after a traumatic event. The example
they cited was the victim of a crime who might not want to remember
the details of the event, however may want to go to court to testify
against their attacker.
Potential coercion tactics in these neurotechnologies
include:
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Brain fingerprinting, a technology that picks up the P300
electrical wave transmitted by the brain when the subject is
shown images of crimes. This has experts worried that law enforcement
agents would use this as a coercive device used to penetrate
our own memory.
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Hypersonic sound, a concentrated beam of sound used to market
advertising messages in a very personalized and invasive manner.
There has already been a legal victory
over mind-control drugs as follows:
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A dentist was arrested and charged with fraud.
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While in custody, they accused him of being psychotic and
the U.S. government wanted to forcibly give him an antipsychotic
medication and told him it was necessary in order to get a fair
trial.
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The Supreme Court ruled that mental integrity was an interest
of the person, however they didn’t investigate the history
of the freedom of thought and how the future of freedom of thought
relied upon keeping integrity of neuroelectrochemical processes.
Experts believe the freedom of thought should be controlled by
the individual, not by the government. They also stated that individual
cognitive freedom has become the largest civil rights issue of this
century and their goal focused on rallying support from those who
believe firmly in freedom of thought.
New
Scientist April 22, 2004
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