Game Theory: Polybius, MK Ultra, and the CIA's Brainwashing Arcade Game

Nightmist

New member
Nov 11, 2009
8
0
0
This videos is awash with logical fallacies and factual inconsistencies.

Case in point, that of the French villagers who experienced hallucinatory episodes: in 1951 seven people died and a few hundred were sickened, scores of whom were committed to insane asylums. The scientific finding ? published as early as that same year in the British Medical Journal ? is that it was a case of ergot fungus contaminating the food supply. Ergot contamination of rye wheat causes convulsions, insomnia, pain, hallucination, and delirium. These symptoms might last hours or months.
There are three points to consider here:
1- The effects described were identical to those expected from the known ergot contamination, no introduction of a conspiracy theory is needed to explain the event.
2- The ergot fungus is one of the key ingredients in LSD synthesis. To a non-expert outside observer, the psychoactive effects of the two are difficult to distinguish
3- MKULTRA was founded in 1953, two years AFTER the events in France.

The cool thing about conspiracy theories is that, if skilfully presented, can make the casual observer think that the evidence for them is almost undeniable. However, once each of the pieces of evidence is properly reviewed and Occam's razor is correctly applied, they invariably fall to pieces.
 

TerribleAssassin

New member
Apr 11, 2010
2,053
0
0
Even in the episodes where MatPat ends up grasping for straws, they're still at least entertaining to watch and thought-provoking, like this one.

Also, yay MatPat on the Escapist!
 

Xman490

Doctorate in Danger
May 29, 2010
1,186
0
0
Zachary Amaranth said:
I like Game Theory, but is there any reason The Escapist is dishing out a year old episode as new content? I clicked on it only because I've seen so many Polybius vids I'd forgotten they did it, but I can't imagine there being a market for videos you could watch on YouTube a year ago.
Not only is this an old episode, but it isn't quite as mind-blowing as the newest episodes about the force(s) that spark game market penetration these days or how most portrayals of LGBTO (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Other) individuals in at least this medium are negative.

I guess this isn't a bad episode to release on, but it's not a great one, either.
 

Blackpapa

New member
May 26, 2010
299
0
0
DoctorObviously said:
Game Theory on The Escapist now? Nice!
Good call. Extra Credits went the professional route, offering advice that'd be more appropriate to gamedevs and often irrelevant to players. Game theorist focuses more on pop&trivia. I think it's a better match, though personally I have the escapist to thank for introducing me to EC in the first place.

As for the experiments - as well as the whole mkultra program - sounds too good to be true. Not only am I getting my acid free, at the taxpayer's expense - but the government is my pusher, meaning my dealer can't get arrested. Where do I sign up?