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102-686: It comprises four novels. Intervention covers the events leading up to Earth joining the Galactic Milieu, followed by the three books of the Galactic Milieu Trilogy – Jack the Bodiless , Diamond Mask and Magnificat – which together cover the events of Earth's membership of the Galactic Milieu. The series involves several religious and philosophical themes, including references to the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . The series begins with Intervention: A Root Tale to

204-643: A task force called the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) to investigate whether brainwashing or coercive persuasion did indeed control cults members. The Task Force concluded that: Cults and large group awareness trainings have generated considerable controversy because of their widespread use of deceptive and indirect techniques of persuasion and control. These techniques can compromise individual freedom, and their use has resulted in serious harm to thousands of individuals and families. This report reviews

306-573: A "canoeing accident" so that the Remillard family and the Magistratum of the Milieu believe them dead, and after many months in the wilderness, Rogi assists Teresa in the birth, and Jon Remillard, the future "Saint Jack the Bodiless", is born. Although Jack has the outward appearance of a normal human child, his intellect and mental prowess rapidly set him apart from the rest of humankind, as does

408-502: A Lylmik who was powerful enough even to freeze Marc in his tracks, as he had done many years previously when Marc was a boy. There they stay in exile, and the events of the Saga of Pliocene Exile take place. Marc Remillard survives all those years (thanks to his " immortality gene ", a trait shared by most members of the Remillard clan in differing degrees) and eventually evolves to the 3rd stage of mental evolution, where he brings purpose to

510-498: A Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? , describes the religious conversion process to the Unification Church (whose members are sometimes informally referred to as Moonies ), which had been one of the best-known groups said to practice brainwashing. Barker spent close to seven years studying Unification Church members and wrote that she rejects the "brainwashing" theory because it does not explain why many people attended

612-625: A U.S. Army officer who specialized in military intelligence and psychological warfare during the Second World War and the Korean War) depict brainwashing to remove memories of traumatic events as a normal and benign part of future medical practice. Brainwashing remains an important theme in science fiction. A subgenre is corporate mind control , in which a future society is run by one or more business corporations that dominate society, using advertising and mass media to control

714-749: A chart copied from a 1957 Air Force study of "Chinese Communist" brainwashing techniques used to elicit false confessions from American POWs during the Korean War. The report showed how the Secretary of Defense's 2002 authorization of the aggressive techniques at Guantánamo led to their use in Afghanistan and in Iraq , including at Abu Ghraib . In 1983, the American Psychological Association (APA) asked Singer to chair

816-481: A disembodied brain . The second book deals mainly with Dorothea MacDonald on the Scottish world of Caledonia. Dorothea lives with her father and her brother amid several step brothers and sisters. Dorothea's mother and other relatives are killed in an attack by the entity known as Hydra, a "metapsychic entity" that Fury uses as an assassin . Hydra consists of four (formerly five) metapsychics who can mind-meld into

918-536: A first for man and most aliens, although it is revealed in the Saga of the Pliocene Exile that the Shipspouses of Lene had this ability. Marc, previously totally chaste, falls madly in love with Cyndia Muldowney, the daughter of Rory, an opponent of Paul's, and the two marry. After several events, Denis manages to briefly gain control from his Fury persona, and communicates with Cyndia. He reveals that

1020-400: A job as a hotel manager, where Denis can visit during the holidays. Rogi worries about Denis's education, as his local school is not challenging, but Don does not see education as something to invest in for his children - especially for Denis. Rogi learns of a Jesuit monastic school and manages to get Don to allow him to send Denis there. This leads to Denis attending Dartmouth College due to

1122-470: A mental laser to put Victor into a vegetative state . Rogi never understood how he could have overcome such a powerful metapsychic as Victor, until the Family Ghost reveals decades later that he assisted. As the Milieu trilogy proper begins with Jack the Bodiless , humankind, led by the Remillard family, is awaiting acceptance into the Galactic Milieu. With Earth's government being overseen by one of

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1224-463: A new mind into that resulting void", was not so successful. Controversial psychiatrist Colin A. Ross claims that the CIA was successful in creating programmable so-called " Manchurian Candidates " even at the time. The CIA experiments using various psychedelic drugs such as LSD and Mescaline drew from previous Nazi human experimentation . In 1979, John D. Marks wrote in his book The Search for

1326-462: A new program for "special students". He becomes prominent in many fields, particularly psychology and the understanding of "metapsychic" abilities, eventually becoming the "Grandfather of Metapsychology". Subsequent research yields results in many places in the world and Denis organizes yearly meetings within the secret metapsychic community. At the same time, Victor is plotting with the sociopathic gangster metapsychic Kieran O'Connor to bring down

1428-542: A person to exploit this individual for sexual and financial reasons. Earlier scientific debates in the 1980s and 1990s about torture-based ritual abuse in cults was known as " satanic ritual abuse ," which was mainly viewed as a " moral panic ." Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics published by the Church of Scientology in 1955 about brainwashing. L. Ron Hubbard authored

1530-421: A powerful vampiric metaconcert when not leading their normal lives. After this, Dorothea realises that she is a latent metapsychic — one with inherent potential but mental blocks that prevent her using her powers, as opposed to the "operant" metapsychics. However, she starts to overcome her blocks and is able to use her mind to protect and heal herself. Meanwhile, Paul Remillard is preparing for Human entry into

1632-536: A rebel faction of the Concillium — those that do not wish to join 'Unity' with the other races and therefore with the Galactic Mind itself. The rebel faction determinedly opposes this as they believe humans will lose their individuality and privacy and will become thralls to the other races. Magnificat (novel) Magnificat is a novel by Julian May published in 1996. It is the third novel in

1734-440: A rebel faction of the Concillium — those that do not wish to join 'Unity' with the other races and therefore with the Galactic Mind itself. The rebel faction determinedly opposes this as they believe humans will lose their individuality and privacy and will become thralls to the other races. By this time, only two out of the original five Hydra units remain, Parnell Remillard and Madeleine Remillard — Marc's cousin and sister (it

1836-477: A recruitment meeting and did not become members nor why so many members voluntarily disaffiliate or leave groups. James Richardson said that if the new religious movements had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that they would have high growth rates, yet in fact, most have not had notable success in recruiting or retaining members. For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David Bromley and Anson Shupe consider

1938-420: Is a near-essential introduction to the Milieu trilogy as well as a balanced stand-alone work. Jack the Bodiless ( ISBN   0-679-40950-5 , New York: Knopf , 1991) is the first book of the trilogy proper, followed by Diamond Mask ( ISBN   0-679-43310-4 , New York: Knopf, 1994), and Magnificat ( ISBN   0-679-44177-8 , New York: Knopf, 1996). The series includes multiple references to

2040-490: Is a precocious child, and quickly learns to master many metapsychic faculties, greatly exceeding those of Rogi and Don, in addition to excelling intellectually. Rogi becomes like a real father to him, while Don is always out getting drunk at night. Rogi and Denis start to search for people with similar powers. Don becomes jealous of Denis's powers but, through Denis's young coercion, is rendered unable to hurt him. Meanwhile, Don and Sunny raise their nine other children, including

2142-574: Is a synchronized use of mental powers by more than one person, in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as when Jack and Dorothea tackle the geological problems of Caledonia. The ultimate extension of such collaboration is the mental Unity which the Lylmik are fostering in the galaxy. The book follows the Remillard family of New Hampshire from the years immediately after World War II through an increasingly turbulent world, in which various "metapsychic" humans manoeuvre in secret to direct

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2244-428: Is not able to probe her mind even when his powers are enhanced by the cerebroenergetic (CE) equipment that he has invented, although CE allows him to resist counterprobes. She even manages to slip into Denis's mind, but he quickly throws her out before she can find out much. Dorothea and Jack have a role in saving an inhabited planet from a diatreme eruption, using their paramount powers aided by CE. But her lower face

2346-463: Is revealed that the Hydra heads were the unborn children present at the vigil around Victor, where Fury corrupted their infant minds). One wet night, Denis' favorite daughter, Anne Remillard — a staunch loyalist and advocate of Unity — visits Rogi's bookshop. She has deduced that Denis is Fury. Rogi doubts this but when Anne is attacked and nearly killed, he realises that he must inform Jack and Dorothea of

2448-563: Is susceptible to such manipulation. Benjamin Zablocki , late professor of sociology at Rutgers University said that the number of people who attest to brainwashing in interviews (performed in accordance with guidelines of the National Institute of Mental Health and National Science Foundation ) is too large to result from anything other than a genuine phenomenon. He said that in the two most prestigious journals dedicated to

2550-571: Is terribly deformed in this heroic act, so after this she always wears a diamond -studded half-mask, and acquires her nickname "Diamond Mask". By the third book in the series, Marc has matured into a highly capable metapsychic and is regarded as a Paramount. Through manipulated dreams, Marc conceives an idea called 'Mental Man' which would create a new subspecies of Man called Homo [sapiens] summus . It would use selective breeding , surgical modification, mental training (through induced pain) and technological enhancement to create hundreds of humans with

2652-547: Is the ability to move physical objects through space metapsychically. Within the series, flagrant use of this power (especially amongst non-operants) is considered immensely juvenile and déclassé by most operants. Farsensing is the ability to communicate with others and to sense remotely via metapsychic means, much like telepathy , clairvoyance , or remote viewing . In Intervention , the ability of farsensing (initially called "ultrasensing") to locate hidden weapons becomes geopolitically important. Finally, Redaction provides

2754-513: Is the leader of the Pro-Unity camp, and Jack decide to campaign against the rebels. As tension builds and several children start to co-adunate, the rebels' long-laid plans move into action. Marc has equipped hundreds of individuals with his CE devices, and his colleagues arm many ships. The rebels decide to demonstrate their power by destroying a planet — Molakar: the Krondaku planet from which

2856-408: Is the most powerful human metapsychic known at that time, who also has a genius-level intellect. Paul & Teresa started Marc's education while he was still in utero, which was by then becoming an accepted practice. Also born, at Victor's deathbed, was Fury. This is a sociopathic entity that has its own agenda for the Galactic Milieu and the Remillard family in particular. Fury in turn 'created' from

2958-429: Is unrelenting in its pace, as May hurries to get down everything that the reader wants to see happen, and yet it never becomes overly rushed." Brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow

3060-531: The Galactic Milieu Series . By the third book in the series, Marc has matured into a highly capable metapsychic and is regarded as a Paramount. Through manipulated dreams, Marc conceives an idea called 'Mental Man' which would create a new subspecies of Man called Homo [sapiens] summus . It would use selective breeding , surgical modification, mental training (through induced pain) and technological enhancement to create hundreds of humans with

3162-634: The First Marine Air Wing admitting to participating in germ warfare, United Nations commander General Mark W. Clark asserted: "Whether these statements ever passed the lips of these unfortunate men is doubtful. If they did, however, too familiar are the mind-annihilating methods of these Communists in extorting whatever words they want ... The men themselves are not to blame, and they have my deepest sympathy for having been used in this abominable way." Beginning in 1953, Robert Jay Lifton interviewed American servicemen who had been POWs during

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3264-674: The Korean War as well as priests, students, and teachers who had been held in prison in China after 1951. In addition to interviews with 25 Americans and Europeans, Lifton interviewed 15 Chinese citizens who had fled after having been subjected to indoctrination in Chinese universities. (Lifton's 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China , was based on this research.) Lifton found that when

3366-816: The United Nations NGO, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), prompted international awareness of human sex trafficking in her 1979 book Female Sexual Slavery . In his 1986 book Woman Abuse: Facts Replacing Myths, Lewis Okun reported that: "Kathleen Barry shows in Female Sexual Slavery that forced female prostitution involves coercive control practices very similar to thought reform." In their 1996 book, Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and

3468-459: The War on Terrorism , concluding that, in this context, thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. He also pointed out that in their efforts against terrorism, Western governments were also using some alleged mind control techniques. In her 2004 popular science book, Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control , neuroscientist and physiologist Kathleen Taylor reviewed

3570-607: The sociology of religion there have been no articles "supporting the brainwashing perspective," while over one hundred such articles have been published in other journals "marginal to the field." He concluded that the concept of brainwashing had been blacklisted . Eileen Barker criticized the concept of brainwashing because it functioned to justify costly interventions such as deprogramming or exit counseling. She has also criticized some mental health professionals, including Singer, for accepting expert witness jobs in court cases involving NRMs. Barker's 1984 book, The Making of

3672-525: The "Metapsychic Rebellion" causes considerable damage with such mental weapons, produced by brains amplified with cerebroenergetic (CE) equipment. Rogi possesses creative abilities, though unreliable ones, and these occasionally help him in moments of need. Coercion is the ability of metapsychic mind control over other people. For example, in Magnificat , Denis uses metapsychic coercion to manipulate Rogi to climb Mt. Washington. Psychokinesis (PK)

3774-661: The 1970s, reported on what he called " Nazi brainwashing" of the people of Belarus by the occupying Germans during the Second World War , which took place through both mass propaganda and intense re-education, especially in schools. Romanovsky noted that very soon, most people had adopted the Nazi view that the Jews were an inferior race and were closely tied to the Soviet government, views that had not been at all common before

3876-479: The 1980s there was a wave of 'brainwashing' claims, and then parliaments around the world examined the issue, courts around the world examined the issue, and reached a clear ruling: That there is no such thing as cults…that the people making these claims are often not experts on the issue. And in the end courts, including in Israel, rejected expert witnesses who claimed there is "brainwashing." For 20 years, starting in

3978-573: The Bodiless , where Teresa Kendall explains Christianity to her unborn son. Jack the Bodiless begins with a set of quotations, including the Spanish proverb "God writes straight with crooked lines." This proverb summarises the plot of the whole series, in which tragedies and disasters (particularly the Metapsychic Rebellion) result in ultimate good (particularly the repentance and transformation of Marc Remillard, through which

4080-505: The Galactic Milieu and a Vinculum between it and The Saga of Pliocene Exile ( ISBN   0-395-43782-2 , Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987). This was released in one volume in the UK, but in mass market paperback in the US as two volumes: Surveillance and Metaconcert . May calls Intervention a vinculum , or link-tale, between the Saga of Pliocene Exile and the Milieu trilogy proper. However, it

4182-516: The Galactic Milieu is formed). The Rebellion is thus a Felix culpa . Julian May's description of "metapsychic" abilities explicitly refers to the concepts of auras (particularly in Part III of Intervention ) and chakras (particularly in discussing the feeding of the "Hydra"). The Lylmik (LIL-mik) are the oldest race in the Galaxy, having been shepherded to mental Unity or "coadunation" by

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4284-519: The German occupation. Italy has had controversy over the concept of plagio , a crime consisting in an absolute psychological—and eventually physical—domination of a person. The effect is said to be the annihilation of the subject's freedom and self-determination and the consequent negation of his or her personality . The crime of plagio has rarely been prosecuted in Italy, and only one person

4386-414: The Lylmik to create the milieu. He thoroughly repents of his great evil, and becomes the enlightened leader of the same galactic society that starts the intervention, calling himself Atoning Unifex. Marc is evidently the Lylmik who appeared to his past self, and turns out to be the incorporeal "Family Ghost" who appears to Rogi for several years, driving him to finish his memoirs as a unique document of

4488-760: The Manchurian Candidate that until the MKUltra program was effectively terminated in 1963, the agency's researchers had found no reliable way to brainwash another person, as all experiments at some stage always ended in either amnesia or catatonia, making any operational use impossible. A bipartisan Senate Armed Services Committee report, released in part in December 2008 and in full in April 2009, reported that U.S. military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 had based an interrogation class on

4590-703: The Mental Man babies (which were created from Marc and Madeleine's sperm and eggs) have become hundreds of Hydra by Madeleine's influence. Denis D-Jumps inside the complex and destroys all the children. Marc is dumbstruck, yet finds a way to terminate the Hydra-infested project while retaining the possibility of a new start. He mind-lasers Madeleine, aided by the CE, and has her frozen so that her ovaries may be used. Denis travels to Mt. Washington , where he has manipulated Rogi using metapsychic coercion to journey to

4692-492: The Metapsychic rebellion is too near for Mental Man to be present to ensure victory. Cyndia discovers Marc's plans, is horrified, and decides to remove all available sources of the new Mental Man. She acquires a sonic apparatus that will render Marc sterile, and triggers it by a telepathic command. However, Marc detects this impulse, realises what the device has done, and kills Cyndia by reflex. Paul, father of Jack and Marc,

4794-421: The Metapsychic rebellion. Marc, according to the family tree, passes on to the next stage of existence / evolution leaving Rogi to be healed and back in a relationship with Elaine. Some of the Lylmik have human bodies now as well and the future of what happens next is, as yet, unknown. Paul Pettengale reviewed Magnificat for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall. Pettengale comments that "The book

4896-573: The Milieu and is in line to become the inaugural First human Magnate of the Concillium. When his rival's wife is killed after being shoved into a trash compactor in an apparent suicide disguising her murder by Hydra, a hold is put on Human entry into the Milieu for 1,000 Galactic Days. The Krondaku investigators suspect the Remillards to be involved. Dorothea turns out to be another Paramount, with incredibly strong redactive powers and resistance to metapsychic probes and attacks. Young Marc Remillard

4998-873: The POWs returned to the United States their thinking soon returned to normal, contrary to the popular image of "brainwashing." In 1956, after reexamining the concept of brainwashing following the Korean War, the U.S. Army published a report entitled Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War , which called brainwashing a "popular misconception". The report concludes that "exhaustive research of several government agencies failed to reveal even one conclusively documented case of 'brainwashing' of an American prisoner of war in Korea." The concept of brainwashing has been raised in defense of criminal charges. The 1969 to 1971 case of Charles Manson , who

5100-488: The Remillards. This line begins with twins Rogatien (Rogi) and Donatien (Don), whose mother died giving birth to them. They discover that they have unusual mental abilities (which admittedly turn out to be far less than those of later generations of metapsychics). Rogi is a milder mannered man, who becomes sterile through mumps . Don is distrustful and malicious, but handsome and charming, and steals Rogi's girlfriend Marie Madeleine "Sunny" Fabré. From an early age, Rogi

5202-561: The United States , Rita Nakashima Brock and Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite report that the methods commonly used by pimps to control their victims "closely resemble the brainwashing techniques of terrorists and paranoid cults." In his 2000 book, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism , Robert Lifton applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo and

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5304-518: The United States by using a brainwashed sleeper agent for political assassination. The concept of brainwashing became popularly associated with the research of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov , which mostly involved dogs as subjects. In The Manchurian Candidate the head brainwasher is "Dr. Yen Lo, of the Pavlov Institute." The science fiction stories of Cordwainer Smith (pen name of Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (1913–1966),

5406-550: The United States, and at the actions of human traffickers . Scientific and legal debate followed, as well as media attention, about the possibility of brainwashing being a factor when lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was used, or in the induction of people into groups which are considered to be cults . Brainwashing has become a common theme in popular culture especially in war stories , thrillers , and science fiction stories. In casual speech, "brainwashing" and its verb form, "brainwash", are used figuratively to describe

5508-511: The Unknown , and The Fearmakers . Forbidden Area told the story of Soviet secret agents who had been brainwashed through classical conditioning by their own government so they wouldn't reveal their identities. In 1962, The Manchurian Candidate (based on the 1959 novel by Richard Condon ) "put brainwashing front and center" by featuring a plot by the Soviet government to take over

5610-743: The ability for mental healing, or can be abused for mental damage. Dorothea MacDonald has very strong redactive powers. These five mental powers can be latent , meaning that, while present, they cannot be consciously used. On the other hand, operant powers are available for conscious, controlled use. Powers can also be suboperant, which means they can only be used unpredictably and are often inaccessible. Treatment by operants can sometimes raise suboperant mindpowers to operancy. Higher capabilities within operancy include Master, Grand Master, and Paramount Grand Master levels. Jack, Marc, and Dorothea are all (eventually) Paramounts. Julian May describes collaborative as well as individual mental powers. A metaconcert

5712-432: The alien races (Simbiari) ultimately under the authority of the Galactic Milieu, harsh laws (including eugenics laws) are instituted, which fuels feelings of suspicion in both earth's normal and metapsychic population. Denis by now has fathered many children, the youngest of whom (Paul) is elected leader of Humanity. Marc, Paul's firstborn with his wife Teresa Kendall — a grandchild of Don's via Rogi's former lover, Elaine,

5814-651: The alien races, a number of other planets are also mentioned in passing. Julian May describes five categories of "metapsychic" powers in the series: creativity, coercion, psychokinesis, farsensing and redaction. Each of these powers is associated with a colour, as originally described in the Saga of Pliocene Exile . Creativity is the ability to create illusions and manipulate energy. In its strongest form, it can involve permanent changes of matter from one kind to another, as when Jack creates flowers from waste. The same level of power can also be used to create mental lasers, and

5916-399: The brainwashing defense undermines the law's fundamental premise of free will . In 2003, forensic psychologist Dick Anthony said that "no reasonable person would question that there are situations where people can be influenced against their best interests, but those arguments are evaluated based on fact, not bogus expert testimony." In the 1970s and 1980s, the anti-cult movement applied

6018-414: The concept of brainwashing to explain seemingly sudden and dramatic religious conversions to some new religious movements (NRMs) and other groups that they considered cults . News media reports tended to accept their view and social scientists sympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists , developed revised models of brainwashing. While some psychologists were receptive to

6120-418: The concept of brainwashing. In 1999, forensic psychologist Dick Anthony criticized another adherent to this view, Jean-Marie Abgrall , for allegedly employing a pseudoscientific approach and lacking any evidence that anyone's worldview was substantially changed by these coercive methods. He claimed that the concept and the fear surrounding it was used as a tool for the anti-cult movement to rationalize

6222-456: The concept, sociologists were, for the most part, skeptical of its ability to explain conversion. Critics of Mormonism have accused it of brainwashing its adherents. Philip Zimbardo defined mind control as "the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition or behavioral outcomes," and he suggested that any human being

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6324-739: The court that they intended to rely on an insanity defense , using the theories of brainwashing and the expert witnesses of Singer and Richard Ofshe to claim that the Church of Scientology had practiced brainwashing on him, which left him unsuitable to make independent decisions. The court ruled that the use of brainwashing theories is inadmissible in expert witnesses, citing the Frye standard , which states that scientific theories utilized by expert witnesses must be generally accepted in their respective fields. Since then, United States courts have consistently rejected testimony about mind control or brainwashing on

6426-475: The destiny of the human race. The Remillards play a central role in this story, though the narrator, Rogatien "Uncle Rogi" Remillard, is often an alienated observer rather than a central participant. At the same time, the earth is under surveillance by representatives of a galactic culture (the "Galactic Milieu" of the series title), who monitor the human race's fitness for admission into the wider galactic community. Interwoven with this narrative are glimpses of

6528-571: The early 1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Department of Defense conducted secret research, including Project MKUltra , in an attempt to develop practical brainwashing techniques; These experiments ranged "from electroshock to high doses of LSD ". The director Sidney Gottlieb and his team were apparently able to "blast away the existing mind" of a human being by using torture techniques; however, reprogramming, in terms of finding "a way to insert

6630-480: The entire population of two billion people. Jack telepathically asks his once-idolized brother, "What have you done?!" Jack and Dorothea manage to halt the rebel fleet, thanks to their ability to conjoin the powers of all the pro-Milieu operant humans. But these two and Paul die as a result. Many of the Rebels are also killed when their CEs overload, and Marc and a number of the leaders are badly hurt. The deaths of

6732-634: The entity known as Atoning Unifex. They created the Galactic Milieu, and in turn mentored the Krondaku, Gi, Simbiari, and Poltroyans. The Krondaku (krah'n-DAH-koo) are large tentacled invertebrate "monsters", the Gi (ghee) are feathered hermaphrodites with a well-developed aesthetic sense, the Simbiari (sih'm-bee-AH-ree) are green and slimy, while the Poltroyans are small purple humanoids who most resemble human beings both physically and mentally. Events of

6834-459: The evolution of brainwashing from its origins in the Cold War through to today's War on Terror. The author, Dominic Streatfeild , uses formerly classified documentation and interviews from the CIA. In George Orwell 's 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , the main character is subjected to imprisonment, isolation , and torture to conform his thoughts and emotions to the wishes of

6936-500: The experiences of Korean War POWs. (In 1996, Singer published her theories in her best-selling book Cults in Our Midst . ) Despite this defense, Hearst was found guilty. In 1990, Steven Fishman , who was a member of the Church of Scientology , was charged with mail fraud for conducting a scheme to sue large corporations via conspiring with minority stockholders in shareholder class action lawsuits. Fishman's attorneys notified

7038-625: The fact that his body begins to generate inoperable and incurable tumours that are slowly overwhelming him. Despite the fact that Jack possesses each of the five higher mindpowers (also known as metafaculties) at the highest known level (Paramount Grand Master), he is incapable of effecting change in his own physiology . The Lylmik, the oldest and most powerful of the alien races in the milieu, veto his euthanasia and leave it up to Jack. An attack by Fury on Jack as he lies in his hospital room leads to an evolutionary jump in which Jack discards his physical form and metamorphoses into his final state as

7140-482: The government with their metapsychic powers. This culminates in a showdown at the end of the book where Denis calls out to all the present and absent metapsychics of goodwill to join in a "metaconcert" against an attack by Victor and Kieran. The watching Milieu agents invisible in the sky hear this call, and the subsequent metaconcert, and therefore intervene. Victor, meanwhile, goes after Rogi who has learned too much. Through his metapsychic power of creativity , Rogi uses

7242-591: The grounds that these theories are not part of accepted science under the Frye standard. In 2003, the brainwashing defense was used unsuccessfully in defense of Lee Boyd Malvo , who was charged with murder for his part in the D.C. sniper attacks . Allegations of brainwashing have also been raised by plaintiffs in child custody cases. Thomas Andrew Green , in his 2014 book Freedom and Criminal Responsibility in American Legal Thought , argues that

7344-449: The history of mind control theories, as well as notable incidents. In it, she theorized that persons under the influence of brainwashing may have more rigid neurological pathways, and that can make it more difficult to rethink situations or to be able to later reorganize these pathways. In 2006 Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control ( ISBN   0-340-83161-8 ) is a non-fiction book published by Hodder & Stoughton about

7446-463: The idea that "cults" are brainwashing American youth to be implausible. Thomas Robbins , Massimo Introvigne , Lorne Dawson , Gordon Melton , Marc Galanter , and Saul Levine , amongst other scholars researching NRMs, have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, relevant professional associations and scientific communities that there exists no generally accepted scientific theory, based upon methodologically sound research, that supports

7548-486: The identity of Fury. The only opportune moment seems their upcoming wedding. After Rogi divulges the information on Fury/Denis to Jack and Dorothea, the Remillard dynasty assembles in order to ' exorcise ' Denis. Denis is tricked into making himself vulnerable, and they attempt to remove the Fury element of his psyche. This goes disastrously wrong, and Denis/Fury vanishes. He is later realised to have "D-Jumped" — teleported —

7650-420: The intervention was staged. Billions die in several seconds as the joined minds of the Rebels superheat the crust of the planet. A massive wave of metapsychic suffering and grief overwhelms the minds of the entire milieu. The response is not what Marc expects. Jack, Dorothea and his father, Paul, decide to confront him peacefully and will not let him take war to the galaxy. Marc decides to fight regardless, but

7752-543: The introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitudes, values, and beliefs. The term "brainwashing" was first used in English by Edward Hunter in 1950 to describe how the Chinese government appeared to make people cooperate with them during the Korean War . Research into the concept also looked at Nazi Germany and present-day North Korea , at some criminal cases in

7854-401: The last of their children, and when Marc farsenses emotional problems over her pregnancy he visits his mother to investigate. Upon learning of his mother's pregnancy, Marc takes it upon himself to hide Teresa and his future brother in the icy Canadian wilderness. Marc realises that Rogi is the only family member who would be empathetic enough to help, and recruits him for this purpose. Marc fakes

7956-514: The literature on this subject, proposes a new way of conceptualizing influence techniques, explores the ethical ramifications of deceptive and indirect techniques of persuasion and control, and makes recommendations addressing the problems described in the report. On 11 May 1987, the APA's Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) rejected the DIMPAC report because the report "lacks

8058-713: The mind". Meerloo's view was influenced by his experiences during the German occupation of his country during the Second World War and his work with the Dutch government and the American military in the interrogation of accused Nazi war criminals . He later emigrated to the United States and taught at Columbia University . His best-selling 1956 book, The Rape of the Mind , concludes by saying: The modern techniques of brainwashing and menticide—those perversions of psychology—can bring almost any man into submission and surrender. Many of

8160-415: The minds of five unborn metapsychic fetuses, a physical monster called The Hydra to do its bidding. Following a number of failed pregnancies Teresa has her reproductive license revoked (under the interdict, metapsychics must have permission to have children). Teresa then loses her ability to sing, and thereby loses Paul's attention. Sometime later Teresa regains her voice and becomes illegally pregnant with

8262-457: The monstrously evil second-born Victor, who terrorizes his younger siblings and suppresses their mental powers. Don focuses upon Victor as Denis grows up, seeming to shape him into a vigorous athletic counterpart to Denis's intellectual existence. The more sinister nature of Victor's influences becomes apparent in later volumes. Don reacts against Rogi's influence upon his children, but cannot overcome Denis's attachment to his uncle. Rogi leaves for

8364-511: The new Chinese social system. The term punned on the Taoist custom of "cleansing/washing the heart/mind" ( Chinese : 洗心 ; pinyin : xǐxīn ) before conducting ceremonies or entering holy places. The earliest known English-language usage of the word "brainwashing" in an article by a journalist Edward Hunter , in Miami News , published in 1950. Hunter was an anticommunist and

8466-479: The novels take place on several planets: Earth ; the Concilium Orb , an artificial planet constructed by the Lylmik, and the seat of the galactic Council; Hibernia , an Irish-dominated human colony; Caledonia , a Scottish-dominated human colony; Denali , a snow-covered planet popular as a holiday destination; and the cosmopolitan human colony planet of Okanagon . Apart from the home planets and colonies of

8568-531: The people of Okanagon, however, propel humanity into the state of mental co-ordination (called "coadunation") which is the precursor to a benevolent joining of minds across the galaxy which the member races of the Milieu refer to as Unity. After the rebel faction is defeated, their leaders flee through a unique one-directional gate in France 6 million years back in time, to the Pliocene period. They were aided by

8670-518: The persecution of minority religious groups. Additionally, Anthony, in the book Misunderstanding Cults , argues that the term "brainwashing" has such sensationalist connotations that its use is detrimental to any further scientific inquiry. In 2016, Israeli anthropologist of religion and fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute Adam Klin-Oron said about then proposed "anti-cult" legislation: In

8772-656: The powers — and disembodiment — of Marc's younger brother Jack. This project has been kept highly secret for several years, but peers and competitors of Marc begin to get suspicious. He develops several increasingly powerful CE devices. These amplify a human's inherent metapsychic ability by orders of magnitude. The CE device is discussed in the debates of the Concilium, and is deemed too dangerous to be generally used. Marc disagrees, his research continues in secret although outlawed, and culminates in devices capable of 600× amplification. Marc's increasing ambition draws him to side with

8874-599: The powers — and disembodiment — of Marc's younger brother Jack. This project has been kept highly secret for several years, but peers and competitors of Marc begin to get suspicious. He develops several increasingly powerful CE devices. These amplify a human's inherent metapsychic ability by orders of magnitude. The CE device is discussed in the debates of the Concilium, and is deemed too dangerous to be generally used. Marc disagrees, his research continues in secret although outlawed, and culminates in devices capable of 600× amplification. Marc's increasing ambition draws him to side with

8976-431: The rulers of the book's fictional future totalitarian society. The torturer representing the authorities says, "We make the brain perfect before we blow it out...Everyone is washed clean." Orwell's vision influenced Hunter and is still reflected in the popular concept of brainwashing. In the 1950s, some American films were made that featured brainwashing of POWs, including The Rack , The Bamboo Prison , Toward

9078-403: The scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur" and concluded that "after much consideration, BSERP does not believe that we have sufficient information available to guide us in taking a position on this issue." Joost Meerloo , a Dutch psychiatrist, was an early proponent of the concept of brainwashing. "Menticide" is a neologism he coined meaning "killing of

9180-500: The summit. Bad weather hits the mountain and Rogi is shepherded into a shack by his nephew. Denis persuades Rogi to kill him with his yogic technique, as he fears Fury will regain control. None of his children could manage that even though they have strong metapsychic powers, because children seem to have a block against using their powers to attack their parents. And as Denis regards Rogi as a father figure, he hopes that Fury cannot use his powers against Rogi. Rogi feebly manages to start

9282-414: The technique but cannot muster the power. However, Fury does regain control and tries to kill Rogi physically, since the mental block against using metapsychic powers against parent figures does indeed apply. This act of violence gives Rogi the necessary desperation to trigger his operancy, and he vaporises Denis, to his great grief. Marc in the meantime, continues his quest for Mental Man, but realises that

9384-470: The text and alleged it was the secret manual written by Lavrentiy Beria , the Soviet secret police chief, in 1936. When the FBI ignored him, Hubbard wrote again stating that Soviet agents had, on three occasions, attempted to hire him to work against the United States, and were upset about his refusal, and that one agent specifically attacked him using electroshock as a weapon. Kathleen Barry , co-founder of

9486-523: The three pacifists call out to all the metapsychics in the galaxy to help join in Unity and stop the Rebels. One of Marc's main allies is Patricia Castellane, the Dirigent (planetary leader) of the cosmopolitan planet Okanagon. During the attack, the rebels accidentally lose control of another explosive device and it explodes, setting off Okanagon's unstable crust. The resultant geological catastrophe kills

9588-542: The time after the main action of the series, drawing together threads from it and the Pliocene Exile series. Intervention climaxes with the Great Intervention, the revelation of this wider galactic society. This sets the stage for the more focused story May has to tell in the remainder of the series. This deals with the history of several family lines with strong metapsychic potential, especially

9690-533: The use of propaganda to sway public opinion . The Chinese term xǐnǎo ( traditional Chinese : 洗腦 ; simplified Chinese : 洗脑 lit.   ' wash brain ' ) was originally used by early 20th century Chinese intellectuals to refer to modernizing one's way of thinking. The term was later used to describe the coercive persuasion used under the Maoist government in China, which aimed to transform "reactionary" people into "right-thinking" members of

9792-463: The victims of thought control, brainwashing, and menticide that we have talked about were strong men whose minds and wills were broken and degraded. But although the totalitarians use their knowledge of the mind for vicious and unscrupulous purposes, our democratic society can and must use its knowledge to help man to grow, to guard his freedom, and to understand himself. Russian historian Daniel Romanovsky , who interviewed survivors and eyewitnesses in

9894-525: The work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin , including the concepts of the Omega Point and the Noosphere , which are applied to May's description of galactic mental Unity. The series title echoes Teilhard's 1957 book Le Milieu Divin . The Remillard family are Catholic , and on several occasions family members discuss their faith. The most notable example occurs in the first part of Chapter 24 of Jack

9996-703: Was alleged to be a CIA agent working undercover. Hunter and others used the Chinese term to explain why, during the Korean War (1950–1953), some American prisoners of war (POWs) cooperated with their Chinese captors, and even in a few cases defected to their side . British radio operator Robert W. Ford and British army Colonel James Carne also claimed that the Chinese subjected them to brainwashing techniques during their imprisonment. The U.S. military and government laid charges of brainwashing in an effort to undermine confessions made by POWs to war crimes, including biological warfare . After Chinese radio broadcasts claimed to quote Frank Schwable , Chief of Staff of

10098-473: Was arrested and charged with bank robbery and the use of a gun in committing a felony. Her attorney, F. Lee Bailey , argued in her trial that she should not be held responsible for her actions since her treatment by her captors was the equivalent of the alleged brainwashing of Korean War POWs (see also Diminished responsibility ). Bailey developed his case in conjunction with psychiatrist Louis Jolyon West and psychologist Margaret Singer . They had both studied

10200-409: Was ever convicted. In 1981, an Italian court found that the concept is imprecise, lacks coherence and is liable to arbitrary application. Recent scientific book publications in the field of the mental disorder " dissociative identity disorder " (DID) mention torture -based brainwashing by criminal networks and malevolent actors as a deliberate means to create multiple "programmable" personalities in

10302-490: Was said to have brainwashed his followers to commit murder and other crimes, brought the issue to renewed public attention. In 1974, Patty Hearst , a member of the wealthy Hearst family , when 19 years old was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army , a left-wing militant organization. After several weeks of captivity, she agreed to join the group and took part in their activities. In 1975, she

10404-441: Was visited by an entity he called "the Family Ghost", and it is this entity who commanded Rogi to write his memoirs . The Ghost first rescued Rogi as a child, and many years later rescued Don after Rogi tried to kill him in a rage for stealing his girlfriend. The Ghost tells Rogi that he is sterile, but would have an important role in guiding Don's key descendants. Rogi becomes close to Don and Sunny's firstborn child Denis. Denis

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