And the question thats going to be asked is why didnt Medicine itself deal with the problem? The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our livesfrom culture to business, science to design. "There's no question your brain is able to perceive things below your ability to consciously express or identify," Schoenbaum said. Photo: Nathan Hodge MOSCOW The future of U.S. anti-terrorism technology could lie near the end of a Moscow subway line in a circular dungeon-like room with a [], All the Settings You Should Change on Your New Samsung Phone, Fat, Sugar, Salt Youve Been Thinking About Food All Wrong, You Can Turn Your Backyard Into a Biodiversity Hotspot, No, the James Webb Space Telescope Hasnt Broken Cosmology, The Scramble to Save Twitters Research From Elon Musk. HomeArchiveOctober 2020Features As unsecured docs pile up, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is itching to overhaul the nations secret secret-sharing operation. One term that never came up in talks between the Stasi and their Bulgarian counterparts, let alone in talks between the KGB and the Bulgarians, was Operation Infektion. Despite this fact, practically the entire internet continues to use this incorrect codename in discussing the KGBs AIDS disinformation campaign. [7] The other reviewer, Peter C. Unsinger, wrote "At times his examination is superficial, and for depth into some specific events, the reader will have to look at Bittman's earlier work". Students and others would also benefit from training in internet literacy: What sources can one trust, and how can one fact-check various claims, especially before reposting them? It has been estimated that the ensuing delay in the introduction of effective antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS in South Africa contributed to up to 300,000 additional deaths from the disease. Please consider sending an email to corrections@publishedreporter.com and cite any sources if available. There's no subjectivism.". "The goal of these measures," the KGB wrote, "is to create a favourable opinion for us abroad that this disease is the result of secret experiments with a new type . a lie). Since I knew less about Chinese disinformation efforts, it surprised me that Beijing apparently decided to revamp the old, Soviet disinformation and to apply it to the new virus. A similar, intensive effort by the US and other democracies could also prove effective today. Such accusations seemed plausible to many, given the history of racism in the United States, including in the medical field. The example of the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by the democratically-elected government of South Africa under President Thabo Mbeki (1999-2008) should serve as a warning to us today as we grapple with COVID-19. In the case of the AIDS disinformation campaign, the KGB simply picked up on existing conspiracy theories in the US, added a new element that conformed to its disinformation goals (i.e., the exact location of HIVs construction, Fort Detrick), and spread the resulting conspiracy theory internationally to its own ends. Here, at the Psychotechnology Research Institute, human subjects submit to experiments aimed at manipulating their subconscious minds. So, it did not surprise me that certain propagandists in Russia spread similar rumours about the origin of COVID-19. These cookies do not store any personal information. Rusalkina did not respond to a recent e-mail, but in the interview last year, she confirmed the institute was marketing the technology to the United States for airport screening. Elena Rusalkina demonstrates the terrorist-screening tool. The FBI took a pass, and Smirnov returned to Moscow with his mind control technology. [8] The book was reviewed by Cesare Marongiu Buonaiuti in the Italian-language journal Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali.[9]. For companies claiming innovative technologies, the past few years have provided bountiful opportunities. The Stasi apparently helped behind the scenes in bringing the Segals together with certain foreign journalists who were known quantities to its disinformation division. Dolores Albarracin can be contacted by email or by phone at (217) 224-7019. Politically Incorrect. "And naturally, you could have avoided all the casualties, and you could have put the terrorists on trial. Photo: Nathan HodgeSmirnov died in November 2004, leaving the widowed Rusalkina -- his long-time collaborator -- to run the institute. Operation INFEKTION was an active measure disinformation campaign run by the KGB in the 1980s to plant the idea that the United States had invented HIV/AIDS as part of a biological weapons research project at Fort Detrick, Maryland.Historian Thomas Boghardt popularized the codename "INFEKTION" based on the claims of former East German Ministry for State Security (Stasi) officer Gnter . The US military, the Segals claimed, had used the very new technology of genetic engineering to construct HIV from two other dangerous viruses, including one that infected sheep. The Morrises shopped the technology around to a few military agencies, but found no one willing to put money into it. The latter were arguing correctly, as it later turned out that HIV had originated in Africa, where it had spread from non-human primates to human beings. Still, as a historian, I am not surprised that conspiracy theories would arise in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film featured an interview with the Segals, who expounded upon their thesis; conversations with journalists and African scientists, who denounced the hypothesis of a natural origin of AIDS in Africa as racist; and US and Western critics of the ostensibly defensive US biological-weapons research program. They learned that if you bombard human subjects with fear messages nonstop, in two months or less, most of the subjects are completely brainwashed to believe the false information. This leads to fruitless public discussion along the lines of: Who was responsible for constructing the virus China or the US? Such apparently baseless accusations also make the public, especially in third countries, less willing to listen to other, substantiated criticisms of Chinas response to the pandemic, including its initial suppression of warnings from doctors in Wuhan. MK:What are the lessons we can learn from Operation Denver in responding to the Russian and Chinese disinformation now? We are carrying out a complex of [active] measures in connection with the appearance in recent years of a new dangerous disease in the USA known as AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The KGB explained that the goal of the measures is to create a favourable opinion for us abroad namely, that this disease is the result of secret experiments by the USAs secret services and the Pentagon with new types of biological weapons that have spun out of control., Most likely, the KGB had initiated the disinformation campaign as early as 1983, but the September 1985 document obtained by Christopher Nehring from the former Bulgarian State Security archive is the earliest conclusive evidence that has turned up so far. The slow migration of Smirnov's technology to the United States began in 1991, at a KGB-sponsored conference in Moscow intended to market once-secret Soviet technology to the world. [3][4][5] The book includes case studies of joint disinformation campaigns by the Soviet Union and Czech intelligence and their repercussions, including a successful operation to stop the building of an aerospace center in West Germany and a failed plot to accuse CBS News anchor Dan Rather of murder in Afghanistan. The Stasi also claimed to have covertly co-financed a documentary film shown three times on public-financed West German television in 1989 and subsequently in an English version on British Channel Four in 1990. The first one being demoralization, it takes from 15 to 20 years to demoralize a nation. Many more of us should have known better. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Smirnov moved from military research into treating patients with mental problems and drug addiction, setting up shop at the college. MK: Why did the Stasi give the codename Denver to the disinformation campaign? The result you can see is most of the people who graduated in 60s are drop outs or half-baked intellectuals who are now occupying the positions of power in the government, civil service, business, mass media, the educational system; you are stuck with them. She noted that the studies analyzed did not necessarily compare people who were afraid to people who were unafraid, but instead compared groups that were exposed to more or less fear-inducing content. HP 991 ac kartu, yazclar iin nerilen orjinal toner kartular arasndadr. In the 1960's, the KGB did some fascinating psychological experiments. Of course, political extremists, in and out of power, often develop or exploit conspiracy theories to their own ends. The KGB and Soviet Disinformation: An Insider's View is a 1983 non-fiction book by Lawrence Martin-Bittman (then known as Ladislav Bittman), a former intelligence officer specializing in disinformation for the Czech Intelligence Service and retired professor of disinformation at Boston University. DS: The KGB informed its Bulgarian colleagues in September 1985 that it had initiated a campaign of active measures that is, covert propaganda regarding HIV/AIDS. 5. Sooner or later, this whole tawdy saga is going to find its way out of the blogs and courtrooms and into the full light of day. Like the CIA, the Soviet (and now Russian) spy agency known as the KGB has engaged in decades of secret operations across the world, ranging from blackmail to kidnapping. What's gotten DHS' attention is the institute's work on a system called Semantic Stimuli Response Measurements Technology, or SSRM Tek, a software-based mind reader that supposedly tests a subject's involuntary response to subliminal messages. Ioffe said he signed a nondisclosure agreement with Conn, and had "a few informal discussions, after which he disappeared to a different assignment and reappeared after (the) DHS announcement.". While these types of messages are commonly used in political, public health and commercial advertising campaigns (e.g., smoking will kill you, Candidate A will destroy the economy), their use is controversial as academics continue to debate their effectiveness. Posted on January 24, 2020 April 1, 2021 by Albert . Documentary OPIOIDS, INC. tells the story of Insys Therapeutics a drug company that bribed doctors and committed insurance fraud as its Wall Street investors looked the other way. International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, Media censorship and disinformation during the Gezi Park protests, "The Spy Who Came Into the Classroom Teaches at Boston U. In other words, these people, the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible; to rid society of these people you have, you need another 20 or 15 years to educate a new generation of patriotically minded and common sense people who would be acting in favor and in the interests of the United States society and yet these people have been programmed and as you say in place, are favorable to an opening with the Soviet concept, these are the very people who would be marked for extermination. The institute has for years served as the center of an obscure field of human behavior study -- dubbed psychoecology -- that traces it roots back to Soviet-era mind control research. Astronomers like myself often study physical phenomena on timescales so, We should learn to consult with all stakeholders and keep ourselves open to constructive dialogue, and thus craft m, Samanth Subramanian said, The thing that moved me most about Haldane was his willingness to engage with the world:, Wherever social scientists have looked closely, they have found elements of politics in the conduct of science. These appeals are effective at changing attitudes, intentions and behaviors. He described the process as "a great . The KGB happily noted that foreign journalists, without any prompting on its part, were also picking up on the claims and reporting them. View Adam's full profile See who you know in common Get introduced Contact Adam directly Join to view full profile . However, fear appeals should not be seen as a panacea because the effect is still small. "It wouldn't be a handful of Russian folks in a basement.". [1][2][10] While there, Bittman taught journalism with a focus on disinformation at BU and founded the Program for the Study of Disinformation, the first academic center in the U.S. to focus on the study of disinformation. To the point that no amount of clear, correct, accurate information (i.e. All of the technology at the institute is based on the work of Rusalkina's late husband, Igor Smirnov, a controversial Russian scientist whose incredible tales of mind control attracted frequent press attention before his death several years ago. http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2012/12/21/hide-and-go-seek/. At the time, a popular program on West German television, also viewed in East Germany, was Denver-Clan, the German name for the popular US television series Dynasty. They learned that if you bombard human subjects with fear messages nonstop for two months most of the subjects are completely brainwashed into believing the false message. They learned that if you bombard human subjects with non-stop fear messages, in two months or less, most of the subjects are completely brainwashed to believe the false message, to the point that no amount of truth they are shown will change their minds. Effects are most apparent in women and for one-time behaviors, says study. Home / Technology / 1960's KGB psychological experiments. They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. The scientific study to which the Stasi referred was clearly AIDS: Its Nature and Origin by the retired Soviet-East German biologist Jakob Segal and his wife, Lilli, a scientist and author in her own right. Before the KGB: The Cheka, the OGPU and the NKVD . [7][8] It was also reviewed in the Italian language Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali. Vasudevan Mukunth, editor: mukunth@thewire.in, Antnio Guterres says, Weve already seen how Himalayan melts have worsened flooding in Pakistan. KOLs manage to turn a blind eye to the way in which they are being exploited. His answer was to create the Cheka, an abbreviation of "The All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage." With regard to COVID-19 today, we see the spread of similar conspiratorial beliefs, an associated rejection of public health measures, and a similar propagation of unproven and potentially dangerous alternative therapies. Fearing the companys new management, researchers frantically completed studies on misinformation and algorithmic bias, then rushed to publish them online. Bearded and confident, Smirnov in the video explains how subliminal sounds could alter a person's behavior. Microsoft Taps ChatGPT to Boost Bingand Beat Google. They also confirmed prior findings that fear appeals are effective when they describe how to avoid the threat (e.g., get the vaccine, use a condom). People prefer one over the other based on their, The new MeerKAT telescope will help us unlock the secrets of these massive beasts, making this an exciting time for, Those scientists who use cosmetic words when talking about female scientists mean no direct harm. Through the operation, the Stasi sought to expose the dangers to mankind arising from the research, production, and use of biological weapons, to strengthen anti-American sentiments in the world, and to spark domestic political controversies in the USA. To this end, the Stasi promised to provide their Bulgarian comrades with a scientific study and other materials that prove that AIDS originated in the USA, not in Africa, and that AIDS is a product of the USAs bioweapons research., Also Read: Rumours, Misinformation and Self-Verification of Facts in the Age of COVID-19. Op-Ed: Busy Bee DeSantis is Buzzing Around the Honey Hive Will He Land on a Cherry Blossom? One can see a similar dynamic today between Russian disinformation and US conspiracy theorists if one closely views Sputnik News and RT (formerly Russia Today) on Twitter and Facebook. [1][2] In 1967, he was assigned to Vienna, Austria in an undercover operation as a press attach, to recruit European reporters as secret agents that Soviet intelligence could use to spread disinformation. These days, Rusalkina explained, the institute uses its psychotechnology to treat alcoholics and drug addicts. In particular, a specific false report stated a fictitious strategy supposedly planned by the United Kingdom jointly with the U.S., to invade Indonesia through Malaysia. of today . The goal of these measures, the KGB wrote, is to create a favourable opinion for us abroad that this disease is the result of secret experiments with a new type of biological weapon by the secret services of the USA and the Pentagon that spun out of control., Around a year later, the Stasi wrote to the Bulgarians about Operation Denver, its contribution to the KGBs AIDS disinformation campaign. Bulgarian and especially Czechoslovak foreign intelligence also assisted, but mainly in terms of spreading leaflets around US military bases and encouraging stories in the local press in NATO countries. About three years ago, Northam Psychotechnologies began seeking out U.S. partners to help it crack the DHS market. There is one thing that democratic governments should definitely avoid in responding to disinformation namely, spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation themselves. It is a great brainwashing process which goes very slow and its divided in four basic stages. For example, the KGB was not the first to accuse the US government of constructing the AIDS virus. I hear its a great read! Rusalkina markets the technology as a program called Mindreader 2.0. Selvages article appeared a few months before COVID-19 burst into public consciousness. Alexander was familiar with Smirnov's meetings in Washington during the Waco crisis, and said in an interview last year that there were serious doubts then as now. Insys Therapeutics profited from Subsys, a fentanyl-based painkiller up to 100 times stronger than morphine, by targeting high-prescribing doctors and nurse practitioners known within the company as whales, misleading insurers, and holding contests for the sales team. Ghost-managed medicineis an antidote to such childish behaviour. Although LaRouches organization counter-attacked the KGB disinformation with its own version of the Fort Detrick thesis, and the KGB and Moscow attacked LaRouche, both apparently borrowed elements from each others conspiracy theory in constructing their own. The Surgisphere Scandal: What Went Wrong? on mRNA, Blood Clots and CVT. On social media, there's a campaign to get the upcoming presidential debate fact-checked. WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Within hours of the disaster, software engineers were rolling out applications to help locate people in need and distribute aid. The underlying premise of the technology is that terrorists would recognize a scrambled terrorist image like this one without even realizing it, and would be betrayed by their subconscious reaction to the picture. [2][4][5] This division was under the control of the Soviet secret police. 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These days, Rusalkina explained, the OGPU and the question thats going to be asked is didnt. 9 ] COVID-19 burst into public consciousness 's no question your brain is able to things!