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October 20, 1957 - Image 6

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Page Six

THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE

Sunday, October Wit?, 1957

Page~ ~~ ,_ Six THIHGDIY AAIESna, coe ,15

Brainwashing
BRattle for the Mind' Tells How It's Done

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BATTLE FOR THE MIND. By how r (1a t i v e Iy uncomplicated'
William Sargant. Garden physiological aiid mechanistic
methods - rather than intellee-
City, Nw York: Doubleday ual persuasion - can be used to
& Company, Inc., 1957. 263 orce the human mind to seject
pp. $4.50. old beliefs and behavior and sud-
denly grasp new ones which it
By JOHN B. DALBOR had previonsly thought to be fllse
I HAS BEEN over four vears and pernicious: This can occur
ssce the end of the Korean in reli ions conversions, police
ar, asnd the memory of it is fad- confessions. and psychiatric treat-
sno.fcst for most Americans. Occa- ient, as we as political brain-
sionally one of the GI "turncoats" washing.
returns to the United States, and The author cites case after case
ts is npoa lyraseoofie of tse to show that any nervous system,
leadig contros ersies to have come sihen put under enough strain and
out of this sar-brainwashing. fatigue will eventually crack, and
the brain will pass into a state of
Most Amiericans fail to realize increased suggestibility.
Ilsess ila sates slt concession of Dr. Sarant's theory of stress,
lsuppist loal and itellient b r e a k d o s n, suggestibility, andj
Amesricin soldiers by the Chinese conversion-occurring es en when
Comrsnists represents one of the the individual fights desperately
crcst polentii dsssigers to the to retain his serenity and integrity
W est iin itoseresit Cold War 5wi-h is based on the experiments with
the Soviet sphere. Little but Ois- does conducted by the famous
information has been published of Russian scientist Pavlov.
exactly how thisamazing feat was
accomplished, and even less of a APPARENTLY canine behavior
satisiactory nature has been done bears a greater and more dis-
about it. turbing similarity to human be-
Public condemnation of these havior than most of us care to{
unfoitunate figures is vehement admit. In fact, Dr. Sargant says
and widespread, yet there have that the remark "Men are not
been few concrete findings on dogs" becomes at times almost
which to basesthe' cries of right- irrelevant. In his own words "The
eous indignation. The Army policy possible relevance of these experi-
of c si'lcsstion through court mar- ments to sudden religious and poli-
tial sened 'inadequate as a solu- tical conversion should be obvious
tion to the problem at the time, even to the most skeptical: Pavlov
but now it appears downright ri- has shown by repeated and repeat-
diculous in the light of some very able experiment just how a dog,
unusual theories presented by a like a man, can be conditioned to
British psychiatrist. hate what it previously loved, and
Dr. William Sargant, in his lat- love what it previously hated. Sim-
est book, Battle for the Mind, con- ilarly one set of behavior patterns
tends that the more intelligent, in man can be temporarily re-
"normal" and loyal an individual placed by another that altogether
is, the greater chance he has of contradicts it; not by persuasive
being converted or brainwashed indoctrination alone, but also by
to accept ideas which are often imposing intolerable strains on a
diametrically opposed to the ones normally functioning brain."
he fervently held before with great The first reaction of anyone who
conviction, strongly holds o u r traditional
Western beliefs is apt to be one of
USING A Q U I T E convincing scorn and rejection when he reads
body of scientific and psychia- of how most of these theories are
ric evidence, the author shows based on experimentation witha

animnats. Yet the aut lor counters,
inc :itostrently correctly so, that a
loie part of1the world's popula-
tion is not only being reindoc-
trinated but has had its whole
medical system reoriented along
Pa-lovian lmes - partly because
the mechanistic and psysiological
approach to what is more com-
monly regarded in the West as the
proince of philosophy and rei-
Igioi has achieved such politically
elaonveinient results.
Dr. Sargant condemns Western
psychologists, psychiatrists, a n d
physicians for having too Ion"
underestimated the physiological
aspect of the human brain and
nervous system and for having
dallied for centuies with irrele-
vant philosophical and metaphysi-
cal considerations which have re-
sulted in shamefully little progress
in our struggle to know the human
mind and cure its ailments. If
medicine had refused to compare
human and canine glandular and
digestive systems, he says, it would
still be in the same backward state
as modern psychiatry.
rrHE AUTHOR insists that fur-
ther research on the available
means of resisting political con-
version is needed in the Western
world. We cannot always oppose
powerfu psysiological and mech-
anistic techniques merely by a
placid intellectual acceptance of
religious or philosophical doctrine.
He makes a charge, obviously
directed at American authorities
for their handling of the brain-
washing cases: "Some statesmen
and Service chiefs seem to believe
that, given the necessary patriot-
ism and proper training, a decent
man can resist every assault made
on the fortress of his integrity,
whether by fascists, communists,
or any other deluded outlaws:
which is quite untrue."
This theory of conversion and
thought control through purely
physiological and external means
can become quite terrifying if one
meditates on all its many implica-
tions. However, Dr. Sargant wisely

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takes great care to assure the
reader that his purpose in pro-
pounding these theories is cer-
ELIGIBLE TO JOIN ? tainly not to advocate the adop-
tion of such procedures, but almost
solely to analyze them in order to
comprehend them b e t t e r and
Fridy ad Saurdy Nihtsthereb' resist them.
Fiday and Saturday Nights We are told how during World
War II, as a psychiatrist visiting
civilian and military victims of
. * Members and Guests battle fatigue and hysteria, Dr.
I J 34EsnetSargant noted that the ailments
314 East L berty and methods used to cure them
FLOOR SHOW TONIGHT Ma Lou bore a remarkable resemblance to
ryPavlov's experiments with dogs.
CLUB OPENS 1 1:30 A.M. FOOTBALL SATURDAYS. These findings have been largely
FREE BUS SERVICE TO AND FROM STADIUM. iaored in the Western world due
BUS LEAVES AT 1:00 P.M. to a lack of good translations of
Pavlov's writings and the tradi-
tional repugnance in our culture
for dealing with human psycho-
logical problems through research
on animals.
TO COATS! TE W A R T IM E experiments
witnessed by the author en-
abTedspsychiatrists later to connect
Topcoats! Topcoats! such seemingly unrelated pheno-
mena as Pavlov's neurotic dogs,
John Wesley's mass conversions in
IEngland during the 18th century,
We have them in Tweeds, and Chinese Communist - brain-
washing of American servicemen,
Cheviots, Gaberdines. Dr. Sargant also employs his
Get yours at - Pavlovian theories to e x p 1 a i n
many ancient Biblical conversions,
which all seem to have occurred
Alligator Coats .« .. . $34.75 suddenly and only after stress and
a great deal of violent resistance
A. Wolff Tweeds ..... $45.00 on the part of the individual, such
as the case of Saul on the road
Imported Harris Tweeds $55.00 to Damascus. Jonathan Edwards'
Calvinistic conversion campaigns
With or without zip-in linings in Puritan NewEngland is also ex-
plained along these lines, as well
as Wesley's amazing success in
WAL K A FEW STEPS England a century later.
AND SAl1E 1 DLAiS BhHe also applies his theories to
the way that apparently sincere
confessions are often obtained
Open till 9 P.M. Mondays from innocent people. not only
behind the Iron Curtain but in
our own police stations. Physio-
logical and chemical cures fax
forms of insanity and combat fa-
tigue are also cited, and similar
i --Wevidence is presented to explain
N 11the mysterious efficacy of native
witch doctors and Voodoo prac-
titioners.

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