Philosophy Now Forum

Martin Peter Clarke wrote: ↑Sat Sep 13, 2025 10:27 am
“This concern with the basic condition of freedom -- the absence of physical constraint -- is unquestiona­bly necessary, but is not all that is necessary. It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free -- to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel, and act as the representatives of the national State, or of some private interest within the nation, want him to think, feel, and act. There will never be such a thing as a writ of habeas mentem; for no sheriff or jailer can bring an illegally imprisoned mind into court, and no person whose mind had been made captive by the methods outlined in earlier articles would be in a position to complain of his captivity. The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The vic­tim of mind manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

popeye1945 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 14, 2025 12:56 am

Martin Peter Clarke wrote: ↑Sat Sep 13, 2025 10:27 am
“This concern with the basic condition of freedom -- the absence of physical constraint -- is unquestiona­bly necessary, but is not all that is necessary. It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free -- to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel, and act as the representatives of the national State, or of some private interest within the nation, want him to think, feel, and act. There will never be such a thing as a writ of habeas mentem; for no sheriff or jailer can bring an illegally imprisoned mind into court, and no person whose mind had been made captive by the methods outlined in earlier articles would be in a position to complain of his captivity. The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The vic­tim of mind manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Is this not an example of deception rather than the creation of reality through fiction? The plasticity of the human mind is truly a wonder, making us the most adaptive organism on the planet and also the most vulnerable to being manipulated by our own kind. Mental simulations are a double-edged sword. I am by no means greatly knowledgeable of the topic at hand, but I thought it a rich ground to explore. Governments till the soil of this realm in manipulating the public through the knowledge of what is imagined can have the same effect as what is. The American government has created a mythology about itself that it sells as its history; probably, other governments also do this. The generational effects on Americans, I believe, have had an epigenetic effect on their people since the country's inception, creating a global monster. I hope this opinion does not sidetrack the dialogue. The age-old tradition of storytelling falls into this realm, and advertising, making our social environment extremely complex and mostly unknown to the man on the street. When thinking about the public's awareness, I am reminded that whatever an organism finds in place upon its arrival, it takes as perfectly natural and collectively passes it on to the next generation either through the family factory system of osmosis or epigenetics, compounding the complexity ever more. It seems not many people are interested in the workings of the mind and how fiction and imagination work. What do we tell ourselves, and what does the media play upon us, steering our psyches where.

popeye1945 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 29, 2025 8:46 pm

popeye1945 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 14, 2025 12:56 am

Martin Peter Clarke wrote: ↑Sat Sep 13, 2025 10:27 am
“This concern with the basic condition of freedom -- the absence of physical constraint -- is unquestiona­bly necessary, but is not all that is necessary. It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison, and yet not free -- to be under no physical constraint and yet to be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel, and act as the representatives of the national State, or of some private interest within the nation, want him to think, feel, and act. There will never be such a thing as a writ of habeas mentem; for no sheriff or jailer can bring an illegally imprisoned mind into court, and no person whose mind had been made captive by the methods outlined in earlier articles would be in a position to complain of his captivity. The nature of psychological compulsion is such that those who act under constraint remain under the impression that they are acting on their own initiative. The vic­tim of mind manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free. That he is not free is apparent only to other people. His servitude is strictly objective.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Is this not an example of deception rather than the creation of reality through fiction? The plasticity of the human mind is truly a wonder, making us the most adaptive organism on the planet and also the most vulnerable to being manipulated by our own kind. Mental simulations are a double-edged sword. I am by no means greatly knowledgeable of the topic at hand, but I thought it a rich ground to explore. Governments till the soil of this realm in manipulating the public through the knowledge of what is imagined can have the same effect as what is. The American government has created a mythology about itself that it sells as its history; probably, other governments also do this. The generational effects on Americans, I believe, have had an epigenetic effect on their people since the country's inception, creating a global monster. I hope this opinion does not sidetrack the dialogue. The age-old tradition of storytelling falls into this realm, and advertising, making our social environment extremely complex and mostly unknown to the man on the street. When thinking about the public's awareness, I am reminded that whatever an organism finds in place upon its arrival, it takes as perfectly natural and collectively passes it on to the next generation either through the family factory system of osmosis or epigenetics, compounding the complexity ever more. It seems not many people are interested in the workings of the mind and how fiction and imagination work. What do we tell ourselves, and what does the media play upon us, steering our psyches where? Come on, people, is no one interested in the imagination?