Hmm …

… Invisible Manipulators of Your Mind. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The idea of Libertarian Paternalism, in which the tools of the new behavioral sciences remain in the hands of benign liberal mandarins, has come to seem hopelessly quaint. In a more combative and unstable environment there must clearly be greater concern about our capacity to regulate the uses of behavioral science, the robustness of the fundamental research, and the political or financial motivations of any behavioral initiatives to be employed or countered.

I like to think that a sound classical education is prophylactic against such manipulation. Of course, fewer and fewer people have such an education and there are fewer and fewer ways of getting one. You can't get one entirely on your own. Dialogue is essential.