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One of the reason the Matrix films were so popular is that they resonate with our real world fears of brain-washing . In the Second World War, a whole nation was swept into the moral abyss following the delusions and propaganda of a deranged and tyrannical dictator. During the Cold War, western soldiers who spent time in Communist captivity would sometimes return holding beliefs which were polar-opposite to those they had held previously. Some never recovered. Not to be outdone, western intelligence agencies experimented with their own mind-control drugs like LSD and ‘truth serums’. We occasionally read of individuals who join extreme cults, somehow taken in by the most bizarre beliefs. The fear is there: What if someone else is holding us captive by controlling our thoughts? In fact, psychologists suggest that brain-washing is not all that different to ‘normal’ learning. Re-education occurs using the same processes as education, with the pressures, rewards, forfeits, and speed cran