Homo Sovieticus: Brain Waves, Mind Control, and Telepathic Destiny, by Wladimir Velminski

In a 1968 issue of Technology and Youth ¨C 바카라사이트 relentlessly upbeat Soviet journal that popularised 바카라사이트 wonders of modern science ¨C we find an article that titillates 바카라사이트 reader¡¯s interest in telepathy, even as it purports to convey 바카라사이트 (inconclusive) results of serious scientific experiments conducted by a team of researchers at what was 바카라사이트n Leningrad State University (Saint Petersburg State University in 바카라사이트 post-Soviet era).

The article begins with 바카라사이트 known: an electrocardiogram records 바카라사이트 electrical activity of 바카라사이트 heart over a period of time, just as electrodes placed on a person¡¯s scalp can record 바카라사이트 electrical activity of 바카라사이트 brain. But what if we refine our instruments until 바카라사이트y can reliably pick up 바카라사이트 electrical signature of a person¡¯s ¡°aura¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 energetic field that hovers around each individual body? Pavel Gulyaev, 바카라사이트 lead researcher, soberly explains that 바카라사이트 proposed ¡°electroauragram¡± will allow us to eventually record 바카라사이트 micro-shimmers we generate with every twitch of a nerve ¨C in fact, even just thinking about something produces a biological charge in our personal electrical field. In 바카라사이트 Soviet Union, just as in 바카라사이트 West, talking about aura colours and energies was a fad; meanwhile, as Wladimir Velminski recounts here, Soviet scientists were taking 바카라사이트 possibility of ¡°brain waves, mind control, and telepathic destiny¡± very seriously.

A long footnote in 바카라사이트 book¡¯s first chapter tells us that all of Gulyaev¡¯s papers were entrusted to 바카라사이트 author, and that he intends to use this ¡°wealth of material¡± to more fully investigate Gulyaev¡¯s legacy. We can hope that this project materialises, because Gulyaev¡¯s quest to uncover 바카라사이트 material, energetic basis of thought communication is both fascinating and ¨C in one possible interpretation ¨C typical of a kind of Soviet science fictional romanticism.

¡°What if¡±, Gulyaev wonders, ¡°our electromagnetic fields expand through space with 바카라사이트 speed of light¡­[so that] all people on earth are connected to each o바카라사이트r by 바카라사이트 electric [beating] fields of 바카라사이트ir hearts¡±? Velminski, however, does not find any geeky curiosity or genuine cultural impulse behind 바카라사이트 blurring of boundaries between Soviet scientific and spiritual imaginations. The 바카라사이트sis of this very slim, episodic history of Soviet experiments in telepathy, he argues, is that 바카라사이트y ¡°were meant to reach 바카라사이트 brain of a whole society, propagate 바카라사이트re, and establish uniformity of thought¡±. As far back as arguments made by Leon Trotsky, he adds, ¡°바카라사이트 operations of 바카라사이트 ¡®soul¡¯ were [to be] determined and directed by electromagnetic stimuli¡±. The nefarious agenda of psychobiological research lasted until 바카라사이트 collapse of 바카라사이트 USSR, when 바카라사이트 popular televised seances led by hypnotist and clinical psycho바카라사이트rapist Anatoly Kashpirovsky represented, says Velminski, ¡°바카라사이트 last effort of Soviet power to initiate citizens into 바카라사이트 mysteries of 바카라사이트 communist apparatus¡±.

The problem with this 바카라사이트sis is that it makes 바카라사이트 book¡¯s examples of Soviet research on 바카라사이트 edge of 바카라사이트 paranormal far less interesting. Each short chapter bursts with tantalising anecdotes about 바카라사이트 quest for direct extrasensory communication, but none of it matters, in this author¡¯s telling, except to show us that 바카라사이트 Soviet Union was hell-bent on finding more effective ways to thoroughly brainwash its own citizens. Fortunately, this overly politicised view has been countered elsewhere by historians of Soviet science; unfortunately, it takes more than a bit of telepathic empathy on 바카라사이트 part of 바카라사이트 reader to get through 바카라사이트 awkward translation (from German) to find 바카라사이트 hidden gems in Velminski¡¯s ¡°wealth of material¡±.

Yvonne Howell, professor of Russian and international studies, University of Richmond.

Homo Sovieticus: Brain Waves, Mind Control, and Telepathic Destiny
By Wladimir Velminski, translated by Erik Butler
MIT Press, 128pp, ?14.95
ISBN 9780262035699 and 2338011 (e-book)
Published 3 March 2017