Battle for the mind
by William Walters Sargant · first published 1957
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2015–2023first – last mentioned
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An attempt to explain "conversion", political and religious, in terms of Pavlovian psychology.
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…words." He fuggedaboudit. He forgot what his mind wanted to. The Nazis were not sorry for their genocide victims. They were only sorry for themselves that they had to be the bad guys. De Nile runs deep. Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brain-Washing (Sargant, 1957) says that you need total neurological collapse to convert someone. I guess this is why the book of Nash the mentally ill math genius has better…
on “I Was a Guard in the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment” ↗He bases some of this on a "description of Pavlov’s last work in a popular paperback, written by some Rockefeller-financed psychiatrist". This is probably Battle for the Mind [1] by William Sargant [2]. The Wikipedia entry on Sargant says things like "his reliance on dogma rather than clinical evidence have confirmed his reputation as a controversial figure whose work is…
on “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment (2015)” ↗I'm reading _Battle for the mind: a physiology of conversion and brainwashing_ (William Sargant, 1957). His conclusion is that only the psychotic insane soldiers (very few) during the world war could escape PTSD, if the stress was sustained…
on “Be not brave” ↗…Stress-influence tendency chapter (page 434 or thereabouts, I think), Munger mentions a "description of Pavlov’s last work in a popular paperback, written by some Rockefeller-financed psychiatrist". This is probably Battle for the Mind [1] by William Sargant [2]. The Wikipedia entry on Sargant says things like "his reliance on dogma rather than clinical evidence have confirmed his reputation as a controversial figure whose work is…
on “Ask HN: What essay/blogpost do you keep going back to reread?” ↗…been talking about, or can point to the particular papers by Pavlov, I'd like to know. [1] ""...popular paperback, written by some Rockefeller-financed psychiatrist, when I was trying to figure out.."" Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing - How Evangelists, Psychiatrists, Politicians, and Medicine Men Can Change Your Beliefs and Behavior - William Sargant [4] "In 1938 Sargant was awarded a…
on “Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger” ↗