Snapshot · Conspiracy Theories
Cameron subjected patients to temperatures as high as 107°F for a full hour in one experiment — concluding that schizophrenic patients respond to heat the same as anyone else.
Where this was said
At 7:50 · chapter starts 7:35
Born in Scotland and settled in Montreal as a professor of psychiatry, Cameron is chosen to lead the Allan Memorial Institute because of his pioneering research into mood and brain disorders [1] — Carter Roy "Before Cameron ever ran the Allan Memorial Institute, he was subjecting patients to 107°F temperatures for an hour and restricting epilepti…" 07:40 . His stated aim — finding a cure for schizophrenia — sounds admirable. But his methods raise immediate red flags. In one experiment, Cameron exposes patients to extreme heat of up to 107°F for a full hour, concluding only that schizophrenic patients respond to heat just like everyone else — a result anyone could have predicted without harming a single person. In another, he restricts epileptic patients to just 20 ounces of water per day to study whether dehydration reduces seizures. The side effects are severe: acidosis, dangerous weight loss. One epileptic patient dies. The results are unremarkable. Carter Roy makes the damning observation explicit: all of this happens before the CIA gets involved. The ends, he says, do not justify the means.
Before Cameron ever ran the Allan Memorial Institute, he was subjecting patients to 107°F temperatures for an hour and restricting epileptics to 20 ounces of water a day. One epileptic patient died. The results were obvious and not worth the suffering — yet the CIA gave him money anyway.
Cameron's epilepsy patients were given only 20 ounces of water per day in a dehydration trial, causing acidosis and severe weight loss, and one patient died during the experiment.
Cameron took two ideas — communist brainwashing theory and a novelty language-learning pillow device — and fused them into 'psychic driving.' Patients heard recordings of their own voices attacking their worst traits for up to 20 hours a day, for days on end, until some felt like they were hearing voices.
Spencer Greenberg and Jeremy Stevenson analyzed almost 500 self-improvement techniques and found they all reduce to just 12 underlying psychological drivers.
Cold exposure has good short-term alertness benefits but the evidence base for long-term health benefits is much weaker than popularly believed.
In a randomized study of 20 habit-formation techniques run on hundreds of people, almost none of the techniques produced statistically meaningful results.
People given a tiny-habit fallback option (e.g. 10 squats instead of gym) were actually MORE successful at completing the full habit, not less.
The most effective habit-formation technique was 'habit reflection' — recalling a past successful habit, writing down what helped, then applying those lessons to a new habit.
A study found that simply scheduling enjoyable activities was as effective as standard cognitive behavioral therapy for depression, leading to its own therapy called behavioral activation.
The 'worry time' technique — deferring all worries to a designated time of day — helps people realize they have more control over worry than they thought and reveals it is less useful than it feels.
A study found that participants told to try to stay awake while in bed fell asleep faster than participants told to try to sleep — illustrating the paradox of direct effort.
Spencer Greenberg reduced his severe social anxiety dramatically in roughly 6 months through a structured exposure therapy hierarchy, culminating in asking strangers for hugs.
We use essential and analytics cookies to run Vuci. To understand how the site is used: Privacy Policy.
Install Vuci on your phone
Add it to your home screen for a faster, app-like experience.
Install Vuci on your phone
Tap the Share button, then “Add to Home Screen”.
A new version is available
Reload to get the latest Vuci.