The War for Your Mind: Rebecca Lemov on Brainwashing, AI, and the New Age of Influence

THE NOT OLD BETTER SHOW, SMITHSONIAN ASSOCIATES INTERVIEW SERIES

Are we more free than ever — or just more managed?

In a world where we carry surveillance in our pockets, the lines between autonomy and manipulation blur. One recent image, inspired by Smithsonian Associate Rebecca Lemov’s The Instability of Truth, asks a quiet but seismic question: Who controls the narrative — and who’s being programmed to believe it?

The image shows a solitary figure, age-worn but alert, bathed in the surreal glow of their smartphone. Behind them swirl the ghosts of Cold War mind-control experiments and modern digital surveillance — newspaper clippings, data streams, circuitry, and half-lost psychological maps. It’s beautiful. It’s chilling. 

And it’s us.

As leaders, innovators, and digital citizens, we often celebrate progress — AI, big data, neuro-targeted marketing. But when does insight become intrusion? When does connection become control? Lemov’s work reminds us: truth isn’t just unstable — it’s programmable.

We must ask hard questions: Are our tools empowering us, or quietly shaping us? How do we create ethical frameworks in a world where manipulation is just another algorithm? How do we preserve agency in a system that thrives on invisibility?

This isn’t just philosophy. It’s strategy. The brands, platforms, and technologies that thrive in the next decade will be the ones that respect the boundary between persuasion and programming. Because if we don’t hold the line, someone — or something — else will.

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