Overflight, 36

“«In the technetronic society the trend would seem to be toward the aggregation of the individual support of millions of uncoordinated citizens, easily within the reach of magnetic and attractive personalities, effectively exploiting the latest communications techniques to manipulate emotion and control reason.» Zbigniew Brzezinski, as quoted in Richard Condon's Foreword;
«Many observers of the contemporary scene … feel strongly that we are headed squarely in the wrong direction – that the combination of certain social forces and the weapons against the mind now available will inevitably lead to the destruction of the democratic way of life and the freedom of mind which goes with it, unless we recognize clearly what is happening and put counter−forces into operation.» Edgar Schein, Journal of World Politics, April 1959, as quoted;
“Summing up a carefully constructed semantic argument, psychologists often say, «A person cannot be made to do anything against his will or basic moral precepts.» That statement, taken at face value, is certainly true. A normal person would not wittingly kill a friend. But if he was made to hallucinate that his friend was an enemy, and it was a "kill or be killed" situation, he would initiate a natural response to preserve his own life. In the process he might even take the imagined enemy's life. … This criminal act would be considered in one sense, an act of will; but the real cause of the action would not be understood outside the hallucinated state. …
George Estabrooks (qualified in the same reference as chairman of the Department of Psychology at Colgate University, author's note) had evidence which made him conclude that «one in every five of the human race are highly suggestible, at least half are suggestible to a very considerable degree.» And he warned, « … mere figures do not tell the story. That one fifth has a power far beyond its numbers; for this type of man, acting under direct suggestion, is no mere average person. He is a fanatic, with all that fanaticism may imply for good or evil.» …