The Mental Environment: 09/30/08

The Mental Environment (Mostly About Mind Pollution) by Bob Gebelein on the surface looks like an interesting examination of the mind and how outside forces influences the thought process. I was eager to read the book as it is on topic with my senior thesis in college. If only the book lived up to expectations!

The book is divided into five parts: Introduction, The Mind, Mind Pollution, The Camps, and Conclusions. There is also an extensive bibliography that is full of much better written books. The Introduction Gebelein attempts to define his terms and lay the foundation of this book. He talks about social groups and the "brainwashing" that might or might-not be happening.The Mind is mostly Gebelein's personal diary of a lifetime of trying to hear himself think. He has lengthy passages of dream analysis (his of course) and other jotted thoughts from his readings of Freud and Jung.

I have to admit that I lost interest in the third section: Mind Pollution. There is only so much introspection one can take. The Mental Environment may be the result of a lifetime of work and research but it reads like it was written by a twenty-something who hasn't quite recovered from the traumatic teenage years.

Comments