Is Brainwashing Real Or Just A Myth?

You probably also know stories of people who have joined a religion or sect and have changed completely as a result. They thought, acted and felt differently than before. We often colloquially refer to these changes as brainwashing. However , does brainwashing really exist ? Very specific techniques are used for this.

Brainwashing has been around since the 1950s, but people tried to influence people’s brains and thoughts much earlier. Then, in the 1950s, the systematic development of methods was started with which the brain of a person could be reprogrammed in a permanent and efficient way.

Journalist (and CIA agent) Edward Hunter coined the term brainwashing in 1950. After that, many novels were written on the subject and films were made about it. For example, the Roman Think 1984 and films like The Serpent’s Egg ( The Egg Serpent’s ). Because they were fictional stories, many people believed that the brainwashing was just a product of the authors’ imagination. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

The history of brainwashing

After the Korean War, many soldiers returned to the United States after long imprisonment. Many Americans were shocked and irritated by their behavior because they acted very strangely and had strange views and ideas. Some soldiers defended the communist regime they had fought before. Some didn’t even return from Korea. They stayed there because they had switched sides in the meantime.

Edward Hunter then began to investigate this phenomenon more closely. He found that during the Cultural Revolution , the Chinese had developed a special method by which they could reprogram people’s brains. They then passed this technique on to the Koreans, who they used on the prisoners of war.

Based on these findings, Hunter determined that there was a difference between brainwashing and torture. The main difference is that torture has a very specific purpose. The goal is usually for the victim to confess or reveal friends and allies. Brainwashing, on the other hand, aims to change and reprogram the entire brain of the person concerned. Yet torture is often a part of this process.

How can you “wash” a brain?

It has been found that there are basically four ways to get someone to change their beliefs and worldview. These four methods are rational persuasion and persuasion, suggestion, torture, and finally brainwashing.

Persuasion or persuasion is the only method in which “communication on an equal footing” takes place. The other three methods are based on the exercise of power by a party. Some of the methods used in brainwashing include:

• Total control and monitoring of a person’s communication with the outside world.
• Physical and / or psychological punishment for disobedience. The brainwashers make rules of behavior, and if you don’t follow them, they’ll torture you in one way or another.
• The obligation to be fully committed. They don’t allow you to have your own private life.
• Obedience rewards. The brainwashers make you believe that if you obey them, you can protect yourself from agony and torture.
• Dogmatic propaganda. They will make you see them as 100% rational, because the ideas they “instill” into you are very precise and accurate.

• Simplification of mental activities. This will keep you from engaging in abstract and critical thinking.
• You transfer to another person your life the right, and your destiny “for your own good” to control.

All of these techniques exploit our human need for security, belonging, and protection. Over time, you will believe that there is no other option for you than to put your life and beliefs in someone else’s hands. By doing this you hope to gain a little stability and peace.

The importance of coercion in brainwashing

Brainwashing would not work without coercion because we have a natural urge to defend ourselves against the loss of our independence and identity. Hence, it takes tremendous pressure and coercion to get someone to change their beliefs and behavior.

If you want to break a person’s natural resistance, you can do so by creating very strong feelings in them. At the same time, you have to put him under extreme stress. For brainwashing to work effectively, the person concerned must be extremely emotional and stressed. This will make them much more vulnerable and receptive to the pressure being applied.

Unfortunately, this technique has been so refined and developed by those who use it that it can put pressure on us and alter our thoughts without our even realizing it. Many people even undergo this process voluntarily and therefore do not offer any resistance.

A very good example of this is today’s consumer-oriented society. The heavy reliance on social media is another example.

If you think about it, you will see that brainwashing methods are used in both cases. And in doing so, these techniques are used so skillfully that most people don’t even notice what exactly is happening to them. Rather, they are convinced that unrestrained consumption and the sharing of many private details on the Internet are an expression of their own freedom.