TV Special accomplishes a "Manchurian Candidate"

[Martin White]

Here in the UK, there is a well known magician, hypnotist and illusionist called Derren Brown. I believe he's done some work in the States but I'm not sure how well known he is. He has done some really intriguing TV specials, including one where he conditions three people into each committing an armed robbery using a toy gun. Unknown to the subjects, the security guard was fake and the area was under the control of the TV people, including a real police cordon.

Recently, Brown did a TV Special called The Assassin, in which a subject is controlled into shooting a well known UK personality, Stephen Fry. The trigger for the shooting is, intriguingly, a woman in a polka dot dress. The gun was fake, and Fry was in on the stunt, but the subject knew none of this.

You can see the programme here http://www.channel4.com/programmes/derre.../episode-1 (I'm not sure if this link works outside of the UK).

This is interesting in that it appears to prove that a Manchurian Candidate is indeed a realistic thing, and not as outlandish as some would have you believe.

I hope people find this interesting.

thanks

Martin

[Jan Klimkowski]

Welcome Martin

Derren Brown's film is indeed pretty astonishing.

There's a brief DPF thread on it here.

There are numerous DPF threads on this subject matter. See for instance the MK-ULTRA Iceberg.

[Lauren Johnson]

Recent Discovery Channel TV show mimics the Daren Brown show. Was the show on the up and up? Note that an expert on false memory implantation at Harvard is on the staff as well as someone from a "Super-Max" prisons and hospitals for the criminally insane. Apparently, their subject was an actor according to a commenter. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4961273/) Is the intended audience being educated or is it a target in some way?

Q: Are there any famous claims of brainwashing?
A: In 1972, kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst claimed at her trial that she was brainwashed into committing crimes alongside her abductors. And in 1968 Bobby Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, who claimed he was brainwashed into killing Kennedy.

Q: What was the goal of the Brainwashed episode of Curiosity?
A: The objective was to take mentally healthy, law-abiding citizens and program them to shoot and kill complete strangers using brainwashing.

Q: Who conducted the Curiosity brainwashing experiment?
A: Overseeing the experiment were: Dr. Cynthia Meyersburg, who has conducted multiple studies on false memory implantation at Harvard University; Dr. Mark Stokes, who studies the neuro-pathways of the decision making processes at Oxford University in England; and Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski, who works in "Super-Max" security prisons, and hospitals for the criminally insane.

Q: Who performed the actual hypnosis during the Curiosity brainwashing experiment?
A: The experts called on certified hypnotherapist Tom Silver to perform the hypnosis for the experiment. Silver has treated thousands of patients in more than 20 countries. He's been called in by law enforcement to conduct hypnotic interrogations, and he was recruited by the Taiwanese Secret Service to help uncover an international arms trading scandal -- a story only recently declassified.

Q: How many people applied to join the Curiosity brainwashing study as participants?
A: 185 people applied for the study.

Q: What's the first step in hypnosis?
A: The first step is to determine whether or not a subject is susceptible to hypnosis. Not everyone is.

Q: How did Curiosity's hypnotist approach candidates for the experiment?
A: Hypnotist Tom Silver hypnotized the subjects in groups of 10 at a time and then gave them a series of commands designed to test the depth of their hypnotic state.

Q: During Curiosity's brainwashing experiment, how long did it take most subjects to become hypnotized?
A: After five minutes, most subjects entered a hypnotic trance.

Q: How many subjects were found to be suitable for Curiosity's brainwashing experiment.
A: The team found that 16 of the original 185 applicants were susceptible to hypnosis. Of those 16, 11 passed the rigorous follow-up psychological evaluation.

Q: Which challenge did the Curiosity brainwashing subjects face first?
A: The subjects were tested to see how many would abandon social norms under hypnosis.

Q: How many Curiosity brainwashing subjects were able to abandon social norms under hypnosis?
A: Four participants in the experiment were able to abandon social norms while under hypnosis. These four "assassins" were able to move on to the next challenge.

Q: What was the first challenge faced by the remaining four Curiosity brainwashing experiment subjects?
A: The subjects were hypnotized and then submerged in an ice bath, but only after being instructed NOT to feel the cold of the water.

Q: How cold was the water used in the ice bath test during the Curiosity brainwashing experiment?
A: The water in which the test subjects were submerged was confirmed by a thermal imaging camera to be 35 degrees F (1.7 C).

Q: Were precautions taken to ensure the safety of the Curiosity brainwashing test subjects during the ice bath experiment?
A: The experiment team attached monitors to each person to ensure such critical things as their heart rate could be observed. An EMT was also on hand to ensure the participants' safety.

Q: Did any of the remaining four Curiosity brainwashing test subjects pass the ice bath test?
A: All but one of the subjects failed the test. None of the participants who failed lasted more than 18 seconds in the near-freezing water. The remaining subject lasted an astonishing 2 minutes. Had all four subjects failed, the experiment would have been over.

Q: Who was the final Curiosity brainwashing test subject still in the running to be hypnotized into being an assassin?
A: A man named Ivan, a 36-year-old corrections officer, was the last subject standing.

Q: How did the Curiosity brainwashing team go about staging an assassination for Ivan to attempt?
A: Outside the hotel, the team staged a velvet line at a service entrance. "Paparazzi" were staged along the velvet line, waiting for a "foreign dignitary" to emerge from the entrance. Large SUVs awaited the dignitary.

Q: What kind of weapon was Ivan given?
A: The team used an airsoft prop gun that fires no bullets but has the blast and recoil action of a real firearm. Everything about it would suggest to Ivan that it was a real, deadly weapon.

Q: How was Ivan programmed for the killing without tipping him off to what was about to happen?
A: Ivan was told he was not selected to continue in the program but that the producers wanted to see him for an exit interview. When he showed up for the interview, that gave Tom the hypnotist his chance.

Q: How did Tom's hypnotizing of Ivan proceed?
A: Tom induced a trance in Ivan and then gave him his instructions to assassinate the foreign dignitary as he is leaving the hotel. Tom also left Ivan with a key piece of information: A "trigger" signal that would cause Ivan to act out his commands at a later time. Later, Ivan, who thought he was going home after the exit interview, received the signal from a production staffer in the hotel lobby.

Q: Did Ivan carry out his assassination?
A: Yes. The experiment was a success, and Ivan carried out his instructions: removing the gun from a red backpack, waiting near the velvet rope line and "assassinating" his target.

[URL="http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/brainwashed-episode4-faq.htm"]http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/brainwashed-episode4-faq.htm


[/URL]

[Lauren Johnson]

I posted #3 not because I doubt the possibility of using hypnosis to create Manchurian Candidate. I am raising the possibility of spooky experts running this demo. False memories ... supermax prisons for the insane. If so, who and why is putting this story out?

[Adele Edisen]

If the link given by Martin White in his post above did not work for you, go to Youtube.com.

http://www.youtube.com

In the selection box write in "Derren Brown -the Experiments: the Assassin" or write in "Derren Brown" and then click on video film "Derren Brown - the Experiments: the Assassin" from drop-down list.

Adele

[Martin White]

You'll need to enter "Derren" not "Darren" by the way.....

:thumbsup:


Oops entered this before I noticed that Adele had edited her post..