• Question: do us humans have any mind control at all?

    Asked by whreeceandface to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Blanka Sengerova

      Blanka Sengerova answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      There are basically two aspects of our thinking, there is the conscious aspect which we have control over and the unconsious aspect which happens without us having much control over it. But I am not a neuroscientist, so I don’t think I can do this question as much justice as they might…

    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Are you asking whether we have control over our own minds? Or are you asking if we can control other people’s minds?

    • Photo: Michael Cook

      Michael Cook answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      If you mean can we control other people or objects, then I’m afraid not! No evidence has been shown for telekinesis (moving things with your mind) or telepathy (reading minds).

      However, many people do study things that we call social engineering – making people do things through encouragement, choice of words, and a few tricks. Lots of computer ‘hacking’ is actually nothing to do with computers at all – it involves tricking people into giving away their passwords!

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