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There Is No Such Thing as Brainwashing
NRO ^ | June 14, 2019 | Kevin Williamson

Posted on 06/16/2019 5:18:55 AM PDT by aspasia

media outlets ranging from Vice to the Daily Beast to, just today, the New York Times have employed the term “brainwashing,” almost entirely uncritically.

The problem with that, which apparently has occurred to none of these outlets whose writers from time to time advertise their reverence for “science,” is that there is no such thing as brainwashing. It is a concept with no scientific basis, generally regarded as pseudoscience. It is mainly a literary device, one popularized by The Manchurian Candidate.

“Brainwashing” is right up there with “recovered memories,” “multiple-personality disorder,” homeopathy, chiropractic, reiki, the anti-vaccine movement, and the terror of GMO vegetables in the catalogue of voguish nonsense that has made its way at least partly into the mainstream of American life.

Everybody loves science — until they don’t.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...


TOPICS: Conspiracy; Education; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: brainwashing; hypnosis; kevinwilliamson; moron; nxivm; williamsonnro
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I would add /satire, but this is for real. Courtesy NRO deepthinkers.
1 posted on 06/16/2019 5:18:55 AM PDT by aspasia
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To: aspasia

Our public schools thrive on it.


2 posted on 06/16/2019 5:20:45 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: aspasia

This guy is among the most sanctimonious of the clowns over at NR. Hard to tell if he is this ignorant or if he is just spinning.


3 posted on 06/16/2019 5:21:45 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: Sacajaweau

I see you’ve been brainwashed to believe in brainwashing.


4 posted on 06/16/2019 5:21:57 AM PDT by aspasia
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To: Sacajaweau
Exactly.

I didn't read that article because the title is bullsh!!te.

I have seen so many brainwashed, indoctrinated people up close and personal that I would almost say it is the rule instead of the exception.

5 posted on 06/16/2019 5:22:33 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: aspasia

However “gaslighting” is a very real thing.


6 posted on 06/16/2019 5:22:54 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: aspasia

Stopped reading when they criticized “chiropractic”


7 posted on 06/16/2019 5:23:38 AM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is EVIL and needs to be eradicated)
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To: aspasia
It is a concept with no scientific basis, generally regarded as pseudoscience.

Dr. Lifton would disagree ...

8 posted on 06/16/2019 5:23:57 AM PDT by dartuser
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To: wastoute

Yes it is.

The movie is rather good too.


9 posted on 06/16/2019 5:26:04 AM PDT by wally_bert (Disc jockeys are as intwerchangeable as spark plugs.)
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To: 9YearLurker

He’s being deliberately disingenuous. Here is an example: right now the Brown Shirt Media is 24/7 “Orange man bad” (collusion, obstruction) but hardly a mention of #FusionCollusion. Who gets to make that decision? The editors at The NY Times? Barr? Who? Why isn’t the Brown Shirt Media 24/7 Watergate 2.0? Because that would destroy the DNC! That’s why. But who gets to decide that?


10 posted on 06/16/2019 5:27:32 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: FatherofFive

Chiropractic has helped me a lot.

As weird as it is to me, acupuncture does a great deal of good. I’m also a needlephobe.


11 posted on 06/16/2019 5:28:27 AM PDT by wally_bert (Disc jockeys are as intwerchangeable as spark plugs.)
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To: aspasia

Homeopathy is not real? How did mankind treat illnesses before Bayer, Pfizer, and The FDA?


12 posted on 06/16/2019 5:29:16 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standaurds at all -- Texas Eagle)
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To: FatherofFive

“Stopped reading when they criticized “chiropractic””

Me too


13 posted on 06/16/2019 5:32:39 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: aspasia
chiropractic

Really ?

Sorry. they help millions of people everyday overcome chronic issues.

14 posted on 06/16/2019 5:33:10 AM PDT by Popman
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To: aspasia

Don’t call it brainwashing; call it indoctrination. For example:

Smart, technologically literate people have been indoctrinated to “know” that Hillary Clinton’s use of her private email server for her work as Secretary of State is of no consequence.


15 posted on 06/16/2019 5:34:59 AM PDT by Prolixus (In all seriousness:)
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To: Popman

I go to an upper cervical chiropractor and it is some of the best money spent.


16 posted on 06/16/2019 5:35:23 AM PDT by wally_bert (Disc jockeys are as intwerchangeable as spark plugs.)
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To: 9YearLurker

“This guy is among the most sanctimonious of the clowns over at NR. Hard to tell if he is this ignorant or if he is just spinning.”

He knows he’s going to get a ton of backlash, so maybe its a case of bad publicity is better than no publicity?


17 posted on 06/16/2019 5:37:30 AM PDT by nuconvert ( Khomeini promised change too // Hail, Chairman O)
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To: aspasia

Amazing how much totalitarian regimes spend on propaganda for something which is not real. Perhaps the author would like to explain while somethings as foul and evil as Islam is not only still around its infection count now stands at over a billion lost souls?


18 posted on 06/16/2019 5:37:50 AM PDT by Nateman (If the left is not screaming, you are doing it wrong.)
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To: Texas Eagle

It wasn’t with homeopathy. I suggest you read what that actually is. Homeopathy isn’t just using herbs and roots in folk medicine


19 posted on 06/16/2019 5:40:40 AM PDT by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ....)
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To: wastoute

We have had discussions about Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) on this site for 20 years. The repetition of daily talking points sponsored by activists like George Soros is regular proof. Hear the same sound bite three times and the masses are imprinted... NLP.


20 posted on 06/16/2019 5:44:01 AM PDT by RedEyeJack (What was the basis for the restriction?)
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