Brainwashing Techniques You Encounter Every Day (and How to Avoid Them)

While it's pretty unlikely that you're a target of deliberate brainwashing, it is likely that you're subject to some of the common techniques associated with the less-than-ethical practice. Here are a few common methods you encounter on a regular basis and what you can do to avoid them. First things first, what is brainwashing exactly? Wikipedia offers a concise definition:

Mind control (also known as brainwashing, coercive persuasion, mind abuse, thought control, or thought reform) refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated".

Basically, it's a form of extreme manipulation. We often associate the practice with cults and don't consider its presence in everyday life, yet the techniques used in brainwashing are frequently leveraged by advertisers, news networks, politicians, and others. Alex Long, writing for hacking blog Null Byte, provides an outline of some of the most common brainwashing techniques. Here are the most notable: Brainwashing Techniques You Encounter Every Day (and How to Avoid Them)

>The manipulator offers you a number of choices, but the choices all lead to the same conclusion.

>The same idea or phrase is frequently repeated to make sure it sticks in your brain.

>Intense intelligence-dampening is performed by providing you with constant short snippets of information on various subjects. This trains you to have a short memory, makes the amount of information feel overwhelming, and the answers provided by the manipulator to be highly desired due to how overwhelmed you feel.

>Emotional manipulation is used to put you in a heightened state, as this makes it harder for you to employ logic. Inducing fear and anger are among the most popular manipulated emotions.

Read more at lifehacker.com

Not only does this story apply to mainstream media but it also applies to conspiracy sites. I wish I had more to say but I believe the article should suffice.

Sounds good, thanks for letting me know. I am reading the article now.

Good post, S&F. methinks this one should be stickied, personally.

Are you trying to brainwash us into thinking we are being brainwashed?

Just kidding of course, but I see the results of brainwashing everyday. Many people are walking around completely hypnotized and don't even know it. If one attempts to snap them out of their trance, anger and violence can sometimes ensue.

Like Morpheus said in the Matrix... these people aren't ready to be awakened and have grown reliant on the system, and will defend that very system that enslaves them.

Easily done and accomplished when all media - film producers, writers, publishing houses, news sourcing agencies, television networks and textbook publishers are owned by a few individuals.

In the 1963 Congressional Record can be found an inserted "Current Communist Goals". My guess is that the vast majority of young person on this board cannot see anything wrong nor will recognise that their attitudes and beliefs have been entirely manufactured..

"Step 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Step 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Step 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

Step 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

Step 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." 

Step 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

Step 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
 
Step 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. "
roadsassy.com...

This has been perpetuated in every "western" nation. 50+ years is all that it took for the Christ hating elites to turn many of the grandkids of Christians into a society that thinks their beliefs now reflect "modern times" and "enlightenment". Sadly, they cannot understand nor believe that it has been done to them - so much so that they continue to deny the very reality of the rising Satanic worship in the public arena. The devil does his deceiving very easily - all that he had to do was gain control of the media producers and leaders. Its then easy for him to convince people that the Bible is a "fairytale", and then logically you won't believe in his existence.

Brainwashing and indoctrination is used to change belief systems. Full stop. And in this instance, the consequences are eternal.

I'm a hypnotist in training and yes, you would be very surprised by the number of mind control techniques are out there playing on your even most baser cues. Even though typed or verbal speech, someone could be messing with your head by the words they decide to use, the various tonalities of their voices, or a repeated action to put emphasis on a specific idea in your mind. The thing I'm mostly talking about here is called "NLP", look it up, it's rather interesting actually. We use techniques like this a lot to build trust and make it easier to hypnotize new people without them consciously knowing what's going on. It's a good tactic for hypnotherapy.

you know, now that those techniques are pointed out to me....the one media source that comes to mind, that really utilized these was Freedom Watch. Never really noticed it till now though. And Glenn Beck.....

Originally posted by WhoKnows100
Easily done and accomplished when all media - film producers, writers, publishing houses, news sourcing agencies, television networks and textbook publishers are owned by a few individuals.

In the 1963 Congressional Record can be found an inserted "Current Communist Goals". My guess is that the vast majority of young person on this board cannot see anything wrong nor will recognise that their attitudes and beliefs have been entirely manufactured..

"Step 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Step 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Step 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

Step 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

Step 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." 

Step 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

Step 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
 
Step 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. "
roadsassy.com...

This has been perpetuated in every "western" nation. 50+ years is all that it took for the Christ hating elites to turn many of the grandkids of Christians into a society that thinks their beliefs now reflect "modern times" and "enlightenment". Sadly, they cannot understand nor believe that it has been done to them - so much so that they continue to deny the very reality of the rising Satanic worship in the public arena. The devil does his deceiving very easily - all that he had to do was gain control of the media producers and leaders. Its then easy for him to convince people that the Bible is a "fairytale", and then logically you won't believe in his existence.

Brainwashing and indoctrination is used to change belief systems. Full stop. And in this instance, the consequences are eternal.

For all you know that list could have very well have been drawn up by an overzealous Christian hell-bent on smearing God-less Communism. I mean, you're talking about a time when people left and right were accused of being Communists and losing their jobs and way of life over it. My fiancee's grandmother applied for a job and had to sign a paper avowing that she was not nor had ever been a Communist. Seems people were brainwashed into thinking that Commies were hiding under their beds. I don't know how anyone got anything done with all that worrying to do.

I hate to break it to you but, each religion seems to brainwash people into believing that their path is the one and only true path. Brainwashing and indoctrination are used to create belief systems as well as change them.

Looks like advertising 101

If the advert guys in marketing have been doing this for so long, imagine how the miltry might have been or are using it now!

Creepy almost!

Originally posted by Biigs
Looks like advertising 101

If the advert guys in marketing have been doing this for so long, imagine how the miltry might have been or are using it now!

Creepy almost!

I thought the exact same here brother. Advertising on TV & Radio are the culprits, no wonder the majority of humans on the planet have been dumbed down to that of a small pencil.

Originally posted by Myomistress
I'm a hypnotist in training and yes, you would be very surprised by the number of mind control techniques are out there playing on your even most baser cues. Even though typed or verbal speech, someone could be messing with your head by the words they decide to use, the various tonalities of their voices, or a repeated action to put emphasis on a specific idea in your mind. The thing I'm mostly talking about here is called "NLP", look it up, it's rather interesting actually. We use techniques like this a lot to build trust and make it easier to hypnotize new people without them consciously knowing what's going on. It's a good tactic for hypnotherapy.

Yep, knew about that one. I know someone who has studied NLP, and he explained it to me. Here's a couple of links demonstrating it.







It's insane what this guy does.

A big part of someone or something brainwashing you is the fact that on some level, you let them.

Besides, there is a fine line between brainwashing someone into believing what you want them to and convincing them to believe what you want them to.

Brainwashing implies bad intent while convincing implies something consensual. Something good.

How to avoid (the daily) Brainwashing

easy - turn off tv, dont read a newspaper (use only independent, alternativ news), avoid hollywood (watch documentaries), read a lot (buy a cheap old laserjet and print all articles that you like = make your own newspaper), dont fall into esoteric, buy only local and organic (as best as you can), be friendly, help whenever you can and share everything you can =)

*and now i am printing the article so i can read it later the day*

reply to post by Starchild23

its insane what this guy does

and absolutly fake...


NLP is a method-mix that has some working and some not-working parts...the combination makes the not-working parts work SOMETIMES...like hypnosis...but what this guy does is nonsense...maybe you should aks your friend how much hes into NLP (at a certain level its really cult-ish = your video is a good example for that)...and maybe you should do your own research about it...soon you will notice that all literture is kinda vague and the more deeper litarature costs a lot of money...kinda like scientology (btw they use NLP - and noone will ever say that the whole package of scientology is real...)

"Current Communist Goals". My guess is that the vast majority of young person on this board cannot see anything wrong nor will recognise that their attitudes and beliefs have been entirely manufactured..

"Step 17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Step 24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Step 25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

Step 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

Step 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." 

Step 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

Step 40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
 
Step 41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents. "
roadsassy.com...

This has been perpetuated in every "western" nation. 50+ years is all that it took for the Christ hating elites to turn many of the grandkids of Christians into a society that thinks their beliefs now reflect "modern times" and "enlightenment". Sadly, they cannot understand nor believe that it has been done to them - so much so that they continue to deny the very reality of the rising Satanic worship in the public arena. The devil does his deceiving very easily - all that he had to do was gain control of the media producers and leaders. Its then easy for him to convince people that the Bible is a "fairytale", and then logically you won't believe in his existence.

Brainwashing and indoctrination is used to change belief systems. Full stop. And in this instance, the consequences are eternal.

LOL Communists? Communism is dying since 1992 this is a Capitalist goal if anything! Greed has no place in a Communist society or in a society based on true Religion...sadly this all falls in line with making people feel inferior to BUY more! Look at the Chinese every year becoming more and more like US! No I am sorry this was a plan made to scare the Red haters but not be able to see it was a home grown plan Communisim no CONSUMERISM YES!

edit on 22-2-2012 by abeverage because: (no reason given)