Can a mind be made to withstand incredible amounts of pain? Would you pepper spray someone you just met simply because a stranger told you to do so? Are you susceptible to subliminal marketing (eat more cheese, buy more stuff)?
No? Well The Mind Control Freaks (Discovery Channel, Wednesday at 8pm) is out to prove we are all vulnerable to mental manipulation, however strong-willed we think we are. Taking a fresh look at the psychology of the human brain, this 10-part series uses trickery and mind-control techniques on unsuspecting members of the public, getting them to do or believe things (you love this column, this is the best thing you have ever read) they never imagined they would or could.
Our team of four "freaks", Liv the Charmer, Pete the Hustler, Lewis the Mentalist and Alexis the Persuader (the last from the BBC's The Real Hustle), use hypnosis, influence, peer pressure and obedience to authority to reveal that none of us are ever in complete control of our lives. Some of us, apparently, even have an innate willingness to be manipulated.
I'd like to see them convince me that I like eggplant!
Alexis demonstrates the power of suggestion by selling second-hand clothes at a market stall, only to reveal to potential customers that they used to belong to dead people or the criminally insane. Only one fashion-conscious target is dedicated enough to buy anyway, everyone else becoming quickly disgusted by the clothing they have just been enthusing about. Liv, meanwhile, outwits a macho boxer: after she employs Lewis' hypnosis techniques the fighter can't lift even a tiny dumbbell or crush a polystyrene cup.
It's all light-hearted psychological fun and it provides a fascinating insight into how easily (you WILL have that cream bun!) we can be controlled.