The Instability of Truth: Brainwashing, Mind Control, and Hyper-Persuasion

An acclaimed historian of science uncovers the hidden history of brainwashing—and its troubling implications for today.

Because brainwashing affects both the world and our observation of the world, we often don’t recognize it while it’s happening—unless we know where to look. As Rebecca Lemov writes in The Instability of Truth, “Brainwashing erases itself.” What we call brainwashing is more common than we think; it is not so much what happens to other people as what can happen to anyone.

The ...