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Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense
In his fascinating new book, Jonathan D. Moreno investigates the deeply intertwined worlds of cutting-edge brain science, U.S. defense agencies, and a volatile geopolitical landscape where a nation's weaponry must go far beyond bombs and men. The first-ever exploration of the connections between national security and brain research, Mind Brain Research and National Defense reveals how many questions crowd this gray intersection of science and government and urges us to begin to answer them.
From neuropharmacology to neural imaging to brain-machine interface devices that relay images and sounds between human brains and machines, Moreno shows how national security entities seek to harness the human nervous system in a multitude of ways as a potent weapon against the enemy soldier. Moreno charts such projects as monkeys moving robotic arms with their minds, technology to read the brain’s thought patterns at a distance, the development of "anti-sleep" drugs to enhance soldiers’ battle performance and others to dampen their emotional reactions to the violence, and advances that could open the door to "neuroweapons"—virus-transported molecules to addle the brain.
"As new kinds of weapons are added to the arsenal already at the disposal of fallible human leaders," Moreno writes, "we need to find new ways to address the problem"--of the ethical military application of so powerful and intimate a science. This book is the first step in confronting the quandaries inherent in this partnership of government and neuroscience, serves as a compelling wake-up call for scientists and citizens, and suggests that, with imagination, we might meet the needs of both security and civil liberty.
From neuropharmacology to neural imaging to brain-machine interface devices that relay images and sounds between human brains and machines, Moreno shows how national security entities seek to harness the human nervous system in a multitude of ways as a potent weapon against the enemy soldier. Moreno charts such projects as monkeys moving robotic arms with their minds, technology to read the brain’s thought patterns at a distance, the development of "anti-sleep" drugs to enhance soldiers’ battle performance and others to dampen their emotional reactions to the violence, and advances that could open the door to "neuroweapons"—virus-transported molecules to addle the brain.
"As new kinds of weapons are added to the arsenal already at the disposal of fallible human leaders," Moreno writes, "we need to find new ways to address the problem"--of the ethical military application of so powerful and intimate a science. This book is the first step in confronting the quandaries inherent in this partnership of government and neuroscience, serves as a compelling wake-up call for scientists and citizens, and suggests that, with imagination, we might meet the needs of both security and civil liberty.
225 pages, Hardcover
First published November 17, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 1, 2020
A friend of mine on Facebook pointed this book out to me and I had a quick read. Actually, I read this weeks ago and haven’t really known how to review it – so this is going to be quick. The title sounds like it is going to be a book written by a conspiracy theorist and probably full of nonsense about the CIA’s work in mind-control. The guy’s not a conspiracy theorist, but otherwise it is what you might expect, including the mind-control stuff. War often involves convincing the other side they have no chance of winning, or that they need to switch sides, or getting your side to be able to work efficiently without food or without sleep for days on end, or to follow instructions without questioning, and so on. A lot of this book looks at ways the US national security organisations are funding university research into various aspects of how minds work. And not just human brains – there was a truly disturbing bit of this where they had interfered with the brain of a rat to make it basically a robot – that is, that it could be directed to go where it was told to go – much like something in a video game.
Although this was written after Abu Ghraib, and discusses what went on there – there are obviously more informative accounts of this, and not just in discussing the use of humiliation as a means of getting information from prisoners, but also documenting the horrific excesses of US policies in this area. The Shock Doctrine is one such book – it is a painful book to read, but necessary all the same. Years ago someone got me to read the first couple of chapters of The Game – the use of humiliation to get women to do what you want (essentially to have sex with you) doesn’t seem too different to the morally questionable use of it by intelligence agencies.
The chapter on brain reading was interesting too – the idea being that if there are neural pathways that always light up when we are telling lies, that being able to watch these while someone is being interrogated would be a very useful thing. The problem is that it does seem to be based on the idea that the truth is always binary – and while it certainly can be, you know, ‘did you kill Mr Jones?’ -there are also times when a yes or no answer is the least interesting bit of the story and so knowing that the person lied when they said ‘yes, I did kill him, and I would do it again’ might not actually help you understand what you were hoping to understand.
I think I found the chapter on non-lethals the most interesting of the book. Not least for the moral problems associated with these. He discusses Russians overcoming Chechen terrorists who had taken hostages, including children, by pumping fentanyl into the room. This had the desired effect of putting people to sleep, but the security forces then neglected to mention which drug they had pumped into the room and so despite ambulances being ready, people died from the side effects of the drug while medical personnel stood around scratching their heads. As someone born in Northern Ireland I remember how people used to laugh about the use of rubber bullets used against peaceful demonstrators. Trying to convince people of the harm these evil weapons cause was often met with blank stares. I suspect that similar responses are felt by people in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that are hit by one of these seemingly toy like weapons. ‘Non-lethal’ is a term as rubbery as the bullets themselves.
This book is about 15 years old, so god only knows what delights have been researched since. The author pushes for this research to be more open to public scrutiny, if we can’t ban it, then public scrutiny is probably the next best option, I think.
Although this was written after Abu Ghraib, and discusses what went on there – there are obviously more informative accounts of this, and not just in discussing the use of humiliation as a means of getting information from prisoners, but also documenting the horrific excesses of US policies in this area. The Shock Doctrine is one such book – it is a painful book to read, but necessary all the same. Years ago someone got me to read the first couple of chapters of The Game – the use of humiliation to get women to do what you want (essentially to have sex with you) doesn’t seem too different to the morally questionable use of it by intelligence agencies.
The chapter on brain reading was interesting too – the idea being that if there are neural pathways that always light up when we are telling lies, that being able to watch these while someone is being interrogated would be a very useful thing. The problem is that it does seem to be based on the idea that the truth is always binary – and while it certainly can be, you know, ‘did you kill Mr Jones?’ -there are also times when a yes or no answer is the least interesting bit of the story and so knowing that the person lied when they said ‘yes, I did kill him, and I would do it again’ might not actually help you understand what you were hoping to understand.
I think I found the chapter on non-lethals the most interesting of the book. Not least for the moral problems associated with these. He discusses Russians overcoming Chechen terrorists who had taken hostages, including children, by pumping fentanyl into the room. This had the desired effect of putting people to sleep, but the security forces then neglected to mention which drug they had pumped into the room and so despite ambulances being ready, people died from the side effects of the drug while medical personnel stood around scratching their heads. As someone born in Northern Ireland I remember how people used to laugh about the use of rubber bullets used against peaceful demonstrators. Trying to convince people of the harm these evil weapons cause was often met with blank stares. I suspect that similar responses are felt by people in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that are hit by one of these seemingly toy like weapons. ‘Non-lethal’ is a term as rubbery as the bullets themselves.
This book is about 15 years old, so god only knows what delights have been researched since. The author pushes for this research to be more open to public scrutiny, if we can’t ban it, then public scrutiny is probably the next best option, I think.
September 29, 2017
This book was tedious to read and had very little to offer in terms of information or insight. To me it reads like a DARPA cheerleader trying to pass himself off as a DARPA critic, or at least a neutral observer (surely the author's positions on governmental advisory boards does not bias him in any way! Be glad that such a fair and conscientious ethicist is looking out for the public!). Some of what Moreno says in the book is misleading at best and seems to be designed to be deceptive- such as when he talks about mind control, he brazenly sets up a tired old straw man and tears it down. That is *after* characterizing the victims of mind control research as "misguided" (whatever that means). Published in 2006, the author never tires of justifying "dual-use" research by its supposed utility in "fighting terror". At best this book is a limited, sympathetic, and often misleading discussion for the public of the twisted "ethics" of the military, the post-9/11 era, and the boot-licking military money grubbers in academia.
December 22, 2020
Hard to process so much information but truly mind blowing. It seems all those sci fi movies are coming to reality!
October 21, 2021
As entering the new era, such a book is interesting and important on rising the ethical dilemmas about neuroscience and its applications. also, understanding the dual use of such science.
September 19, 2014
I received Mind Wars from a Librarything giveaway, as an extra book for Jonathan D. Moreno's new book Impromptu Man.
Mind Wars discusses the links in brain science with the military.
A good deal of this book is facts about the government, although I fear a few of them could and should be speculated further on to get a better insight that comes form more then just the websites of the area of science often discussed in this book (Neuroscience).
I don't know what to think of this book because as I said a good deal of the book is just discussing brain science, and how it relates to the military in the 21st century but some of it is also opinion, such as the author is for enhancing our soldiers through ways some might call, 'Playing God.' So some of what is in this book might offend you, and while the Moreno does give some of his interesting insights on his opinions I wasn't convinced. So you and your opinions will probably be safe.
While the subject matter of the book was interesting it's a little hard to get through. It's not like I was expecting a high action novel that reads itself but it could've done with not being so hard to read, and tried to have kept your interest a little harder.
Mind Wars discusses the links in brain science with the military.
A good deal of this book is facts about the government, although I fear a few of them could and should be speculated further on to get a better insight that comes form more then just the websites of the area of science often discussed in this book (Neuroscience).
I don't know what to think of this book because as I said a good deal of the book is just discussing brain science, and how it relates to the military in the 21st century but some of it is also opinion, such as the author is for enhancing our soldiers through ways some might call, 'Playing God.' So some of what is in this book might offend you, and while the Moreno does give some of his interesting insights on his opinions I wasn't convinced. So you and your opinions will probably be safe.
While the subject matter of the book was interesting it's a little hard to get through. It's not like I was expecting a high action novel that reads itself but it could've done with not being so hard to read, and tried to have kept your interest a little harder.
September 10, 2020
Overall, I found this book unfocused and scattered. I also think there was more focus on neuroscience than military applications, but there was some interesting topics. Favorite quote: “According to Descartes in the Meditations, to deliberately state ‘Cogito, ergo sum,’ ‘I think therefore I am,’ is to identify an immediate and self-evident truth upon which all the rest of one’s beliefs about the world can rest. He called the ‘cogito’ an Archimedean point, a reference to Archimedes’s observation that if he had an independent and stable place on which to stand, he could move the world... That central place was instead occupied by the thinking of self.”
May 14, 2025
sometimes a book can come along that is so shocking and unbelievable that your toes curl up with each and every chapter. Here is one of the books. This book is so easy to read although it is a science book it explains things in an easy and enjoyable way. The book is so researched and the content is simply thought provoking! it is so worrying what we are walking into completely unaware of the future that could be in store for our children's children. Just to point out, if you think those above are happy to see you exceed then you may need help.
July 29, 2016
Strange new book on “Neuro-Security”. An important subject matter written by a Phd in biomedical ethics at the University of Virginia.
Moreno explains recent developments that concern DARPA technologies in prototype or non-commercial forms.
“AI” or intelligence augmentation, machine-brain interfaces, brain-washing, brain-imaging, bio-imaging, “Psyops”, brain-prints, brain-wave alteration or mind-reading, not just receive droves of State-funding, but “science-fiction” type technologies have already been tested or might be close to completion.
In particular, “non-lethal weapons” (NLW’s) have been experimented with abroad, in the laboratory, or may even have practical uses for commercial or State interests domestically.
Potential weapons include:
Anti-personnel deterrents from gases or pepper sprays, to biological agitations or directed energy stun-guns, eye-safe lasers, or auditory harassment.
Anti-material weapons involve "pulse-beams", high-powered microwaves, particle-beams, infrasound or ultrasound.
Weapons that “beam” subjects with invisible waves that cause nausea or agitation have been tested. The range distance or potencies in terms of effect on the human mind or material brain states have not yet fully been made known.
Moreover, experiments in "beaming" audio frequencies directly into the ear-drum have been performed. Potentially, an individual standing in a crowd can receive audio reception akin to cell-phones from afar without others in the immediate vicinity hearing.
Another interesting experiment is to do the same with smell. State studies have experimented with the possibility of behavioral conditioning by the use of repulsive smells.
An article in the Economist, for instance, from several years back (that I happen to re-call) confirms that NLW weapons that deter riots or disperse crowds have already been deployed in wars abroad.
“Psyops” that determine behavior irrespective of individual consent possess enormous potentialities for control. Hopefully, government agencies will not or do not use any of the above methods on citizens for whatever reasons.
I imagine drones or aircraft “zapping” homes from on high or electronic “dog-collars” that zap individuals who tread where they shouldn’t. Always, rumors or speculations concerned with embedded microchips, in the ear, the skull, or the hand, have provided fodder for endless conspiracies.
Since microchips do in fact exist (animals in pet stores often have advertisements of pre-embedded microchips) that track “pets”, children, or others, the uses ought to be clearly defined. Technologies that influence “neuro-states” will soon be out of publick control before ethics can adequately influence the science of the scientists.
When you combine the ideologies that drive the modern Nation-State with the inevitable future penetration of commercial markets with defense technologies, the future feels pretty depressing.
Excellent book that provides academic appraisal of interesting subjects that often can be distorted in the news media.
Moreno explains recent developments that concern DARPA technologies in prototype or non-commercial forms.
“AI” or intelligence augmentation, machine-brain interfaces, brain-washing, brain-imaging, bio-imaging, “Psyops”, brain-prints, brain-wave alteration or mind-reading, not just receive droves of State-funding, but “science-fiction” type technologies have already been tested or might be close to completion.
In particular, “non-lethal weapons” (NLW’s) have been experimented with abroad, in the laboratory, or may even have practical uses for commercial or State interests domestically.
Potential weapons include:
Anti-personnel deterrents from gases or pepper sprays, to biological agitations or directed energy stun-guns, eye-safe lasers, or auditory harassment.
Anti-material weapons involve "pulse-beams", high-powered microwaves, particle-beams, infrasound or ultrasound.
Weapons that “beam” subjects with invisible waves that cause nausea or agitation have been tested. The range distance or potencies in terms of effect on the human mind or material brain states have not yet fully been made known.
Moreover, experiments in "beaming" audio frequencies directly into the ear-drum have been performed. Potentially, an individual standing in a crowd can receive audio reception akin to cell-phones from afar without others in the immediate vicinity hearing.
Another interesting experiment is to do the same with smell. State studies have experimented with the possibility of behavioral conditioning by the use of repulsive smells.
An article in the Economist, for instance, from several years back (that I happen to re-call) confirms that NLW weapons that deter riots or disperse crowds have already been deployed in wars abroad.
“Psyops” that determine behavior irrespective of individual consent possess enormous potentialities for control. Hopefully, government agencies will not or do not use any of the above methods on citizens for whatever reasons.
I imagine drones or aircraft “zapping” homes from on high or electronic “dog-collars” that zap individuals who tread where they shouldn’t. Always, rumors or speculations concerned with embedded microchips, in the ear, the skull, or the hand, have provided fodder for endless conspiracies.
Since microchips do in fact exist (animals in pet stores often have advertisements of pre-embedded microchips) that track “pets”, children, or others, the uses ought to be clearly defined. Technologies that influence “neuro-states” will soon be out of publick control before ethics can adequately influence the science of the scientists.
When you combine the ideologies that drive the modern Nation-State with the inevitable future penetration of commercial markets with defense technologies, the future feels pretty depressing.
Excellent book that provides academic appraisal of interesting subjects that often can be distorted in the news media.
November 16, 2009
This is an intriguing but speculative volume exploring the possible national defense uses of human brain research. The author, Jonathan Moreno, states his fundamental hypothesis. The idea behind this book (page 3): ". . .if national security agencies had so much interest in how the relatively primitive brain science of the 1950s and 1960s [e.g., testing the effects of LSD:] could help find ways to gain a national security edge, surely they must be at least as interested today, when neuroscience is perhaps the fastest growing scientific field, both in terms of numbers of scientists and knowledge being gained." The author wonders at the lack of "ethical discussion among neuroscientists on the national security applications of their work" (page 5).
Moreno speculates about a number of possible links between brain research and national security. Among possible applications: (a) How to better interrogate possible intelligence sources; (b) brainwashing/mind control; (c) improving the performance of our own troops (e.g., how to deal with fatigue); (d) nonlethal weapons.
He concludes the book with a chapter entitled "Toward an ethics of neurosecurity," in which he argues that we need to explore the ethics of possible applications of brain research for national security. He also notes that (page 183) "We should be able to learn and apply the lessons of the new brain science for peaceful purposes. . . . The fields of conflict resolution and peace studies could enrich and be enriched by information from the neurosciences."
The arguments in the book tend to be speculative. The grounding of the argument is not always secure. However, the book does stimulate thinking about a cutting edge issue in application of contemporary science to national security. In that context, this book is useful reading.
Moreno speculates about a number of possible links between brain research and national security. Among possible applications: (a) How to better interrogate possible intelligence sources; (b) brainwashing/mind control; (c) improving the performance of our own troops (e.g., how to deal with fatigue); (d) nonlethal weapons.
He concludes the book with a chapter entitled "Toward an ethics of neurosecurity," in which he argues that we need to explore the ethics of possible applications of brain research for national security. He also notes that (page 183) "We should be able to learn and apply the lessons of the new brain science for peaceful purposes. . . . The fields of conflict resolution and peace studies could enrich and be enriched by information from the neurosciences."
The arguments in the book tend to be speculative. The grounding of the argument is not always secure. However, the book does stimulate thinking about a cutting edge issue in application of contemporary science to national security. In that context, this book is useful reading.
June 3, 2012
A look at the fascinating intersection of neuroscience and national security, where the many recent advancements in neuroscience have provided the opportunity to push the boundaries of what can be potentially achieved in this field. Together with relevant targets of research, such as mind reading and cognitive manipulation, the bioethics of interfering with the very essence of what makes us human is examined by Moreno.
June 29, 2016
An intriguing and occasionally frightening look at the future of neuroscience. While it's impressive what could be done to help those with prosthetic limbs move and live more normally through a brain-technology connection, the idea that the military could use the same technology to fight a more perfect, damaging war. This book does a great job behind the science and the need to explore the ethics behind these innovations.
October 27, 2015
The definitive work on emerging issues in bio-defense and neurosecurity. Crucial reading for anyone interested in the ethical issues that arise from the militarization of brain science and related technologies.
January 2, 2014
Interesting and thought provoking but a little dry.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews