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from the who-needs-conspiracy-things-just-happen dept. Just why are we suddenly spending so much money on studying the brain? Is science making its final push to crack the riddle of human consciousness? Or is there also a more sinister addition, as in profit and "psychocivilizing" human behavior? John McCrone's review of The 21st Century Brain: Explaining, Mending and Manipulating the Mind says that author Steven Rose wonders if we are funding "interesting" research for which there will be consequences later. The brain's autopoietic complexity moves Rose to dismiss much of the current wide-eyed enthusiasm for promised forms of "mental ... Viagra". Repeatedly he calls it selling snake oil. We just don't understand the brain well enough to fix it in reliable ways, let alone crank up its performance. But he also faces the uncomfortable truth that with enough neuroscientists shooting in the dark, one will occasionally hit the mark, even if they don't fully understand why their agent works. The second area Rose explores is how we will make use of the new technologies of the mind. Will they be used for good or ill? Surely taking control of a population is now only a dystopian fantasy? But he points out that the contemporary emphasis on being the best you can be in a competitive marketplace may act as a substitute for imposed force that will drive the uptake of any proffered brain fix. < | >
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Messing with the mind
