How Effective Could we Expect a Subliminal Programming Facility to Brainwash People be in the Near-future?

The current technology around this subject is somewhat hard to gauge. For obvious ethical reasons, there is not a lot of empirical precedents. Also, given that it's subliminal, it is by nature difficult/if not impossible to perceive for the targets. For these reasons, extrapolating into the future (50 years or so) seems quite challenging.

I'm trying to convey a dystopian near-future earth where people are forced to undergo weekly subliminal programming:

Platform: VR Headset, immersion chair set

Media: static, ultra-fast-paced video (chaos to the conscious mind, only registering with the subconscious)

Duration: Uncertain, 1-2 hours / week?

Age Group: People of all ages

Goal: to pacify people and implant social directives for them to live their life by. (who they can be friends with, what topics to talk about at lunch, ect)

Other notes May be used in conjunction with sedative medicines / hypnosis.

Effectiveness Metric Effectiveness is the feasibility of achieving the goal: pacification/instilling social directives. The goal is not to make them brain dead, although I don't know that much about psychology, maybe that is what would end up happening anyway.

So my question is, given what we know about the bleeding edge/ frontier psychology today, can my sci-fi plot hold up to a discerning reader?

In your answer you can include how far such a facility could brainwash someone. I realize we cannot 100% know, but thoughtful speculation is welcome. For example, you may gauge part of your assessment of the degree of brainwashing on a continuum -- would they wind up being total vegetables, or would it be more of a joke (no effect).

This will help me figure out how much creative liberties I need to take in order to fill the technological/psychological "gaps".

posted almost 7 years ago

Arash Howaida‭

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