On 'modified human agents': John Lilly and the paranoid style in American neuroscience.
History of the human sciences December 1, 2019 Charlie Williams 7 citations
John C. Lilly, a neurophysiologist whose papers are held at Stanford University, wrote a classified paper in the late 1950s proposing that his research on sensory isolation, brain electrostimulation, and brain mapping could enable 'push-button' control over human behavior and even 'master-slave controls directly of one brain over another.' Though he aligned this work with Cold War military aims, Lilly later became a counterculture guru, arguing that the same techniques—psychedelics and isolation tanks—could be used for personal liberation rather than brainwashing. This article examines the relationship between brainwashing science and psychedelic mind alteration, showing how paranoid ideas about mind control shaped Lilly's research trajectory.