The CIA saw LSD as a potential “truth serum," according to FOIA documents obtained by Jacobsen, but it turned out to be an active metaphor for Cold War paranoia.

"Even when you don’t see them, you can hear them, you know they are there."

We may think of ourselves as rational actors, in conscious control of our choices, but most of what we do is reflexive. Our behavior is determined by our subliminal reactions to the influence of other people, particularly those in the various peer groups we belong to.

We show, via a massive (N = 689,003) experiment on Facebook, that emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness. We provide experimental evidence that emotional contagion occurs without direct interaction between people (exposure to a friend expressing an emotion is sufficient), and in the complete absence of nonverbal cues.

The U.S. government is militarizing social media through a combination of technology and social sciences, and Facebook is helping them.

MUSK: YEAH. I MEAN, I DON'T THINK – IN THE MOVIE "TERMINATOR," THEY DIDN'T CREATE A.I. TO – THEY DIDN'T EXPECT, YOU KNOW SOME SORT OF TERMINATOR-LIKE OUTCOME. IT IS SORT OF LIKE THE MONTY PYTHON THING. NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION. IT'S JUST – YOU KNOW, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. YEAH, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT –

« I LIKE TO JUST KEEP AN EYE ON WHAT'S GOING ON WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. I THINK THERE IS POTENTIALLY A DANGEROUS OUTCOME THERE »

Meet your new robot overlords

Over the past few years Google has made strides into robotics, artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles... and that's just the secret projects we know about. Watching the pieces fall into place, it's hard to not see a certain pattern emerge. One that matches a familiar sci-fi world that filmmaker James Cameron first envisioned 30 years ago. One in which AI, robotics, and autonomous vehicles all unite in a winner-takes-all battle against humanity itself.

Google’s DC office is crammed to the brim with former spooks, intelligence officials and revolving door military contractors.