'Who Holds The Clicker?'

Personal thoughts, backgrounds and appearances make one individual differ from each other. Under the circumstances and stress suffered, people tend to adjust their identities to match with their societies. The DBS surgery, as mentioned in “Who Holds the Clicker?” by Lauren Slater, conveys a way of mind controlling for psychiatric patients by neural implants. Compared to the protagonist Equality in Ayn Rand’s dystopian novelette Anthem, he fathoms the significance of individuality after his discovery of light. His inherent intelligence encourages him to become unconquered, and thus is capable of control his spirit. Besides Equality’s obstacles he has encountered, Jonah Lehrer illustrates in “Don’t! The secret of self-control” that Professor

For instance, Mario finds achievements and happiness after the DBS surgery, which “controls people’s minds using implanted electrodes and an electrical current.”(Slater 1) Mario is a psychiatric patient who has severe problems even dealing with housework such as washing his hands properly, checking the door constantly and more. He cannot control his depression until he accepts the surgery because of OCD, which is “a disease that gets to the existential core of worry, a clenched, demonic doubting that overrides evidence, empiricism, plain common sense.”(Slater 1) In contrast, Equality realizes the significance of individuality after his decision to escape from old society, “[He] do[es] not surrender [his] treasures, nor do [he] share them. The fortune of [his] spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit.”(Rand 95) After he finds the divine word “I” in the manuscripts, he considers himself to become more powerful, rebellious and unconquered because his fellows have been brainwashed and controlled under the absolute power of collectivist society. Unlike his brothers, Equality exhibits a sign of egoism that promotes him to grow his identity. Correspondingly, Craig who was involved in the marshmallow experiment regrets that he wasn’t patient enough to delay his gratification by recalling his childhood,