We might now wonder whose is really directing this agenda of thought control that is now in the beginning stages of implementation by Homeland Security. The alleged intent of this program is to stop people who are intending to commit a crime or terrorist incident. However the thought that should occur to all is where does this invasion of privacy stop? Any thinking person might reasonably believe that it would only be a matter of time until a list of incorrect or unacceptable thoughts would be implemented by bureaucrats working for a state security apparatus like Homeland Security – because apparently grouping children’s genitals hasn’t been a very effective in combating the war on terror. And to think they called George Orwell a paranoid dreamer. Just my opinion….William McCullough
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome….George Orwell
Homeland Security Deploys Mind-Reading Hardware
The US Department of Homeland Security has begun field testing new technology which it thinks can identify people who intend to commit a terrorist act, just by looking at them.
According to the magazine Nature…. the US spooks have been conducting tests of Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) in the past few months at an undisclosed location in the northeast of the US. The gear apparently uses uses remote sensors to measure physiological properties, such as heart rate and eye movement.It has been in development since 2008 and it apparently can tell your intent to cause harm.
It is all based on a form of witchdoctor psychology called behavioural science. These boffins have the cunning theory that someone with malintent may act strangely, show mannerisms out of the norm, or experience extreme physiological reactions based on the extent, time, and consequences of the event.
Homeland Security’s FAST technology design so that coppers can basically arrest anyone who looks them funny. So no change there then.
The DHS claimed the machine was accurate 70 percent of the time the other 30 percent will probably get out of Guantanamo Bay in a couple of years.
However some boffins think the gear will give shedloads of false positives.
Tom Ormerod, a psychologist in the Investigative Expertise Unit at Lancaster University, told Nature that even having an iris scan or fingerprint read at immigration isenough to raise the heart rate of most legitimate travellers.
In short, coming into Los Angeles Airport would turn Mother Theresa into a screaming psychopath, it does not mean that you are going to act on your impulses.
So should we do away with polygraphs as well?
This is not “mind reading,” as you suggest. This is picking up on certain physiological cues that indicate anxiety or hostile intent. I don’t like the TSA either. I wrote an article about the kid groping thing a month ago or so, but calling this “mind reading,” is a ridiculous stretch.
If someone frowns at me, or shoots me a cross look, does that make me a mind reader for assuming that the person might be sad or upset with me?
Jack, As a former cop I can tell you I have come across many sociopaths who can defeat that system as well as lie detector tests as well as some who are not. If you have no objection to having your mental state groped by some under paid ill educated TSA employee, have at it. But as a student of history you know as well as I that programs of this sort, especially if the spooks are involved can go further than intended. Like I said, I’ll pass. One last thing, the same results can be obtained by reading micro-expressions something many of us who have worked dignatary protection and diplomatic security are trained to do – The masters at Homeland Security are well aware. Train the TSA employees to properly do the job and save the country millions of dollars from this scam.
I wasn’t disputing the efficacy of this, nor was I trying to say that the TSA can properly implement it (I know that they’re idiots), but rather the assertion that this is somehow an invasion of one’s thoughts, or mind reading.
That claim seemed to be a bit exaggerated to me.
My intention of using that label is that if someone is causing you to alter your thinking patterns through fear, they in fact are practicing ‘mind control,’ ie. affecting your behavour. which is of course different than actually reading your mind, though in the abstract it might be argued that they are one and the same.
So should we then do away with law altogether? What is law but a way to control people’s actions, or at least influence them?
True, not everyone would start looting and killing without law, but a lot of people would. Look at any natural disaster, like Katrina. Tell me those fools would have stolen those Jordans if law and order were still in place there at the time. Why do policemen wear uniforms? So people can tell that they’re the officers of the law, and they’re much more likely to not do dumb stuff in their presence.
Some level of control is necessary for society to not fall apart. If they start developing crap that actually reads our minds then we’re screwed. I’m not defending the TSA, but we can’t kid ourselves into believing that society needs to run unfettered.
Jack, I was on one of two high security teams flown into New Orleans two days after the levees broke. We had marshal law powers. Everything that wasn’t tied down was fair game for the criminals. And yes they did steal anything when there was law and order. Research the Magnolia housing project and see what total disregard for the law is. I personally almost shot and killed two gang members who tried to ambush the T-1 tech team we were protecting. Also, they did stuff within sight of us and had no regard for our authority. As for TSA they are the most inept and unqualified security personal I have ever seen, especially considering the power they have. While traveling in London two years ago the Brits had it right. They had spotters, like the Israelis – they didn’t put their security at risk with a bunch of inexperienced people who prevent nothing and couldn’t stop a cockroach form boarding a plane. This whole project is nothing but bull shit and the result of someone’s cronies getting the opportunity to make a fast buck. And that is just a simple fact. Good intentions are about as good as a piece of used toilet paper….Just my opinion – Experience will always trump technology.