# Concerning Mind Control & Foil Hats **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568 "2004-06-15T23:35:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/1 "2004-06-15T23:35:41Z")
Where are we (officially) as a culture with regard to transmitting, implanting or manipulating brain activity, on any level, by wireless remote control? I’d be referring primarily to broadcast transmissions. If it has been done & documented, or at least hypothesized & documented (apart from fiction), what method of broadcast would be used? Could one, for instance, transmit a beta wave signal with enough strength to interfere with the brain’s naturally occuring one? And if so, to what result? And then, if any of this has been done, would a thin sheet of metalic foil surronding the cranium be sufficient to block or significantly dampen the signal? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/2 "2004-06-15T23:40:54Z")
Clearly they’ve got to you. Be worried. Serious answer - no, nothing has been done, and a tinfoil hat wouldn’t help anyway. A lead sheeting hat would probably be the minimum necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/3 "2004-06-15T23:52:00Z")
The thickness of the metal is largely ireelevant, as long as it is _shiny_ - even metallised mylar works just as effectively against the mind control lasers. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/4 "2004-06-16T00:13:42Z")
you mean the 1920’s style mind control lasers? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/5 "2004-06-16T00:17:39Z")
fnord ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/6 "2004-06-16T01:54:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Where are we (officially) as a culture with regard to transmitting, implanting or manipulating brain activity, on any level, by wireless remote control? I’d be referring primarily to broadcast transmissions. If it has been done & documented, or at least hypothesized & documented (apart from fiction), what method of broadcast would be used? Could one, for instance, transmit a beta wave signal with enough strength to interfere with the brain’s naturally occurring one? And if so, to what result? I dunno. But I think EM radiation can only affect biological organisms in two ways: a) It can heat it up, or b) It can cause disruptions in cell behavior, which could lead to cancer. > [@](#): > > And then, if any of this has been done, would a thin sheet of metalic foil surronding the cranium be sufficient to block or significantly dampen the signal? Depends on the frequency and amplitude. Aluminum foil should reflect most high frequency stuff. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/7 "2004-06-16T02:07:26Z")
The Perfect Master [speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000609.html) ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/8 "2004-06-16T02:31:46Z")
[Neurosurgeons harness the power of thought](http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1132776.htm) > [@](#): > > in a series of experiments in which electrodes were attached to the brains of volunteers in the US, researchers have found they were able to operate a video game through thought alone. Some different details show up in this version of the story: [Patients control video with thought alone in study](http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14418632.htm) Then there’s this: [Monkeys Consciously Control A Robot Arm Using Only Brain Signals; Appear To ‘Assimilate’ Arm As If It Were Their Own](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031013082812.htm) > [@](#): > > Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have taught rhesus monkeys to consciously control the movement of a robot arm in real time, using only signals from their brains and visual feedback on a video screen. The scientists said that the animals appeared to operate the robot arm as if it were their own limb. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/9 "2004-06-16T03:05:27Z")
Just what we needed, monkeys with friggin´robotic arms on their heads! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/10 "2004-06-16T03:06:11Z")
OK, I give up. “FNORD?” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/11 "2004-06-16T03:38:32Z")
OMG, Inigo can see the Fnords! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/12 "2004-06-16T03:48:09Z")
If you can’t see it, it can’t eat you. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/13 "2004-06-16T14:57:28Z")
Poit! Egad! NARF! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/14 "2004-06-16T16:50:44Z")
Don’t forget the foil underpants. We humans do some of our thinking with our naughty bits. I’m not just talking about men, either. A wet vertical smile has no conscience, either. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/15 "2004-06-16T17:12:36Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > OK, I give up. “FNORD?” [Fnord](http://www.fnord.org/occult/discordia/text/what.is.fnord) [Fnord](http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/f/fnord.html) ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/16 "2004-06-16T17:14:33Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Don’t forget the foil underpants. We humans do some of our thinking with our naughty bits. I’m not just talking about men, either. A wet vertical smile has no conscience, either. 😛 The foil underpants are a no go in certain job situations. Please read the following link. [http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1819](http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1819) ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/17 "2004-06-16T17:28:08Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > If you can’t see it, it can’t eat you. Tell that to Abdul Alzarahad. To seriously answer the OP’s post, I’ve done a lot of conspiracy research in my time and found lots of interesting topics into this (not strictly mind-control lasers, but check into project MK-ULTRA), but nothing even in the goofiest writing that indicated that there was something of this magnitude avilable, not to say that it hasn’t been attempted. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/18 "2004-06-16T17:32:02Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > OK, I give up. “FNORD?” Illumination from [the definitive authority on Fnords](http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/~boogles/Illuminati/fnord.text). ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/19 "2004-06-16T18:02:40Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Tell that to Abdul Alzarahad. > > To seriously answer the OP’s post, I’ve done a lot of conspiracy research in my time and found lots of interesting topics into this (not strictly mind-control lasers, but check into project MK-ULTRA), but nothing even in the goofiest writing that indicated that there was something of this magnitude avilable, not to say that it hasn’t been attempted. I believe the Orbital Mind Control Laser was an invention of R. U. Sirius, in his definitive treatise, [Principia Discordia, or How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her](http://www.fnord.org/html/principia.html). Which is about as goofy as you can get. This was also the original source of the fnord, as I recall. This document was adopted as inspiration by R. A. Wilson and R. Shea for their novels, collectively called Illuminatus! and Schroedinger’s Cat in two trilogies, the latter borrowing heavily from the first. Both also heavily irreverent. I can’t verify now, but I believe the tinfoil hats were first mentioned therein. And the OMCL, and its antithesis, the tinfoil hat, were made full-fledged internet icons thanks also to Steve Jackson games and their games Illuminati and INWO, both very much in the spirit of Wilson and Shea. And if you haven’t come across these in your reasearch, then you haven’t done enough. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568/20 "2004-06-16T18:41:53Z")
To attempt to interject some serious discussion back into this thread (Probaby a lost cause, but hey 😉 ), I can think of several major problems with remote behavior control. For one thing, you’d need to very precisely trigger specific neurons to release specific chemicals to have any sort of definite control over an individual. True, general stimulation of small brain regions has been shown to have effects on behavior and personality, but event his would be difficult to acheive remotely. The problem is that brain regions and individual neurons are designed to be controlled remotely. There are no structures or receptors which are specifically meant to receive and respond to any sort of electromagnetic signals. We know of no way to “tune” a transmitter to selectively trigger specific brain areas while leaving others unaffected. Certainly, we can stimulate selected areas using electrodes attached to the head, but that’s a far cry from broadcasting a signal to control and indivual from any significant distance. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concerning-mind-control-foil-hats/250568.md?page=2)