There's another little bit of Shades-style pseudo-science on this page. Oxytocin and vasopressin do exist in real life. They are the hormones that act on the brain when we're in love so, if you've ever found yourself doing things you normally wouldn't just to please your partner (no graphic details please!), now you know which hormones to blame!

Given the kind of devotion that many religious and cult leaders seem to inspire in their followers, it seemed perfectly logical to me that those were exactly the kind of feelings that someone like Credo would want to exploit.

The tests with subliminal advertising on TV were also real. Eventually the tests were abandoned, not because subliminal advertising is unethical but because it couldn't be shown that it worked. Of course, they didn't first try to break down any subconscious resistance with a few articially concocted hormones. Do that, and who knows what might be possible?!

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