Brainwashing
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Brainwashing[a] is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds,[1] as well as to change their attitudes, values, and beliefs.[2][3] Brainwashing has been shown to be mostly spurious; however, some forms of persuasion, particularly most forms of torture, can have comparable effects. The concept first became popular in the United States in the 1950s and was thought to be a secret weapon known to the Chinese communists; in response, the CIA conducted a massive covert program under MKUltra, QKHILLTOP, and other codenames to experiment on vulnerable people such as mental patients, orphans, and prisoners[4] in an attempt to recreate and study the purported technique.
Origin
The term brainwashing was first used in English around 1950,[5][6] most likely as a direct translation of the Mandarin Chinese 洗腦 (xǐnǎo; lit. "to wash the brain") used in Maoist China to refer to re-education.[5][6]
The popular conception of brainwashing was heavily influenced by the 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate and its later film adaptation in which an unwitting American is "reprogrammed" to assassinate a major politician. At a 1977 Congressional hearing, CIA psychologist John Gittinger testified that even CIA psychologists genuinely believed in the concept and were themselves influenced by media such as The Manchurian Candidate, which had "made something impossible look plausible."[7]
Research by the U.S. government
For 20 years, starting in the early 1950s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the United States Department of Defense conducted secret research, including Project MKUltra, in an attempt to develop practical brainwashing techniques. These experiments ranged "from electroshock to high doses of LSD".[8] The full extent of the results are unknown. The director Sidney Gottlieb and his team were apparently able to "blast away the existing mind" of a human being by using torture techniques.[8]
Notes
- ↑ Also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control; sometimes equated with thought reform or forced re-education.
References
- ↑ Campbell, Robert Jean (2004). Campbell's Psychiatric Dictionary. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 403.
- ↑ Corsini, Raymond J. (2002). The Dictionary of Psychology. Psychology Press. p. 127.
- ↑ Kowal, D.M. (2000). "Brainwashing". In Love, A.E. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Psychology. Vol. 1. American Psychological Association. pp. 463–464. doi:10.1037/10516-173.
- ↑ Weiner, Tim (10 Mar 1999). "Sidney Gottlieb, 80, Dies; Took LSD to C.I.A." The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 11 Dec 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "brainwashing, n.". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 11 Dec 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "'Brainwashing': A History". Merriam-Webster. 5 Jul 2018. Retrieved 11 Dec 2023.
- ↑ Williams, Charlie (2020). "Public psychology and the Cold War brainwashing scare". History & Philosophy of Psychology. 21 (1): 21–30. ISSN 2396-8737. PMC 7116730. PMID 33584146.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Gross, Terry (9 Sep 2019). "The CIA's Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A 'Poisoner In Chief'". NPR. Retrieved 11 Dec 2023.