Brainwashing: The Science Of Thought Control - Couverture rigide

Taylor, Kathleen

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0192804960 ISBN 13 : 9780192804969

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2005

Synopsis

The term 'brainwashing' was first recorded in 1950, but it is an expression of a much older concept: the forcible and full-scale alteration of a person's beliefs. Over the past 50 years the term has crept into popular culture, served as a topic for jokes, frightened the public in media headlines, and slandered innumerable people and institutions. It has also been the subject of learned discussion from many angles: history, sociology, psychology, psychotherapy, and marketing. Despite this variety, to date there has been one angle missing: any serious reference to real brains. Descriptions of how opinions can be changed, whether by persuasion, deceit, or force, have been almost entirely psychological. Brainwashing, Kathleen Taylor's fascinating and informative voyage through the subject, combines the latest findings in social psychology and neuroscience to investigate the incredibly complicated workings of the human brain. In elegant and accessible prose, and with abundant use of anecdotes and case-studies, she looks at the history and myth, psychology, neuroscience, and politics of how we humans manipulate each others' minds.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Throughout history, humans have attempted to influence and control the thoughts of others. Since the word 'brainwashing' was coined in the aftermath of the Korean War, it has become part of the popular culture, served as a topic for jokes, and been exploited to create sensational headlines. It has also been the subject of learned discussion from many disciplines: including history, sociology, psychology, and psychotherapy. But until now, a crucial part of the debate has been missing: that of any serious reference to the science of the human brain. Descriptions of how opinions can be changed, whether by persuasion, deceit, or force, have been almost entirely psychological. In Brainwashing, Kathleen Taylor brings the worlds of neuroscience and social psychology together for the first time. In elegant and accessible prose, and with abundant use of anecdotes and case-studies, she examines the ethical problems involved in carrying out the required experiments on humans, the limitations of animal models, and the frightening implications of such research. She also explores the history of thought-control and shows how it still exists all around us, from marketing and television, to politics and education.

Biographie de l'auteur

Kathleen Taylor is a research scientist in the Department of Physiology at the University of Oxford. She has been long-listed for the 2005 Aventis Science Book Prize, and short-listed for the MIND Book of the Year Award, and in 2003 she won first prize in both the THES/OUP Science Essay competition and the THES Humanities and Social Sciences Writing Prize.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0192804960
• ISBN 13: 9780192804969
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 352
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible