Review: Mindset
"Who do you think is in control? On the one hand it's a free world. We all make our own choices. Be whatever you want, right? But we're also shaped by our genetics. Our imposing parents. Our persuasive friends.
"Our education, our politics, our religion. Our whole lives. Influenced. Branded. Brainwashed.
"And now the newest participant to code our minds ... social media. Our own devices plotting against us. Technology telling us what to do.
"So I'll ask you again. Are we really making our own choices, or are they being made for us?"
Mind control.
You can probably imagine lots of disturbing things in this universe... Bug-eyed monsters with huge claws. Killer robots. A fiery meteorite aimed right at you and your city, promising obliteration...
But: mind control. The absolute loss of your free will, your entire decision-making ability. To be turned into the proverbial meat puppet, the theft of control over your brain and body... That is a chill that goes to one's very core. To have your individuality ripped away; your standards, insecurities and morals thrown aside callously... to be utterly helpless.... If not a fate worse than death, surely pretty close.
This is what four unsuspecting students stumble upon in Mindset by writer Zack Kaplan and artist John Pearson. And we're not just talking about persuasion, no matter how expertly applied. Forget the power of suggestion. Forget subliminal advertising. These boys crack the code to direct, actual mental coercion; an audiovisual signal that creates a state of total, unhesitating obedience in the recipient.
The inevitable moral dilemma arises: what to do with such a powerful tool? Rather than opting for the route of cackling megalomania, the boys come up with a more ethical solution: a phone app that does the opposite. The Mindset app, ostensibly a meditation aid, actually frees the user from addiction to social media.
It's not so straightforward, of course. Such a potent instrument of control soon attracts the attention of a billionaire with, they suspect, somewhat less lofty motivations. Unease slides into terror with the realisation that what they hold in their hands is something many would very easily kill for...
This is a very topical story in an age where the questions of control, freedom, liberty and truth are almost constantly in the news. Accusations of manipulation of the public consciousness are rife: conspiracy theorists bombard social media with their crackpot ideas, labelling rational people as being "sheep". Democracy itself is attacked by the mentality of a mob who cannot accept reality. Evangelical Flat Earthers warn against Satanic cabals and their CGI fakes of outer space. Anti-vaccine simpletons throw petrol on the burning house.
Then there are the actual conspiracies: the billionaire CEOs of energy companies deliberately spreading misinformation about climate change (much as the tobacco companies worked to create doubt about lung cancer not that long ago) ... Orwell's predictions coming true as those in power actively distort the facts in order to control the masses.
Is technology - and instant access to information from all around the world - helping us to see the truth, or is it just another medium for the spread of propaganda? Are we being manipulated? Does free will even exist?
Pearman's art is an abstract kaleidoscope of surreal images; a dazzling evocation of a world in which truth and reality seem to be in a state of flux. The reader is mesmerised by the shifting shapes and colours, much like the victims of the coercion signal.
Our protagonists are caught up in a struggle with horrifically high stakes. They literally hold the power of control ... but will even that be enough to prevent them from losing control of the fire they have started?
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