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They found several trends that were often found in successful books, including heavy use of conjunctions such as “and” and “but” and large numbers of nouns and adjectives.To prove the opposite, they trolled some of the worst-selling books on Amazon...and Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. The results:
Less successful work tended to include more verbs and adverbs and relied on words that explicitly describe actions and emotions such as “wanted”, “took” or “promised”, while more successful books favoured verbs that describe thought processes such as “recognised” or “remembered”.Of course, there are no hard and fast rules for bestsellers. Bad writing is often found in bestsellers (like The Lost Symbol) and good writing is often found in unpopular novels. But I think it's a good rule of thumb for any writer: avoid cliches and adverbs. Thanks, science.
MKUltra is the code name for a covert research operation experimenting in the behavioral engineering of humans (mind control) through the CIA's Scientific Intelligence Division.The project attempted to produce a perfect "truth drug" for use in interrogating suspected Soviet spies during the Cold War, and generally to explore any other possibilities of mind control.Many modern conspiracy theories often cite and reference MKUltra, mixing fact and fiction. They imagine that the project continued in secret, and has expanded into everything from hypnosis to cybernetic brain implants. While all available evidence indicates the project no longer exists, Dead Links imagines what would happen if the research from MKUltra continued into our Internet age.
The program engaged in many illegal activities; in particular it used unwitting U.S. and Canadian citizens as its test subjects, which led to controversy regarding its legitimacy. MKUltra involved the use of many methodologies to manipulate people's individual mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs (especially LSD) and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture.
The scope of Project MKUltra was broad, with research undertaken at 80 institutions, including 44 colleges and universities, as well as hospitals, prisons and pharmaceutical companies.The CIA operated through these institutions using front organizations, although sometimes top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement.
The program began in the early 1950s, was officially sanctioned in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964, further curtailed in 1967 and "officially halted" in 1973.
