Jay GW

Brainwashing:

Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs.

The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation.
___

How do you know that your basic beliefs haven't been formed by something besides your conscious choices?

Which ones have and which ones haven't? How do you know?

If this were a courtroom (in Alice in Wonderland) for example, and you were asked to "prove" that your beliefs, values, convictions were the result of your own reasoned, rational, logical decisions ----- could you?

Many times what a persuader will do is first convince you that your ideas aren't the "truth" but lies that have been fed to you. It seems to work for advertisers, cults and dictatorships!

JamesBannon

I voted Neutral because I'm not sure I could prove absolutely that my beliefs are as a result of free conscious choice.

Ojuice5001

Huckster: Wanna buy this product, service, idea, or relationship that I'm selling?
You: No, I've heard it's not really worth the trouble you're asking me to go to.
Huckster: Well, whoever told you that sounds like an all-right guy, but I'd like you to keep in mind that it is your decision, after all.
You (inaudibly, under your breath): Hmm, another confirmation that the world contains plenty of hypocrites.

Keith Russell

First, I don't watch commercial television, and haven't in decades.

Second, I'm an atheist, which puts me in a very small minority (less than ten percent of the US population).

If 'they' are trying to brainwash me, they're doing a lousy job...

Keith.

makebate dags

Want to know if your brainwashed I'd say look into skepticism, try and get a healthy amount going, too much leads to solipsism, though.

- Dags

Xrikcus

I selected strongly disagree because I don't think beliefs are related to concious choices at all. They are, though, based on input that is fed in... it may be a rational decision under the hood but it's still based on inputs which could well be lies. Someone trying to say that something is only believed because of lies may have a point, but it doesn't matter. Just telling you that is meaningless because you can't choose to change that belief, the only way they can help is to offer their own evidence of what is not a lie and hope that your subconcious moves in the "right" direction as a result.

UncleJim

Since what is true exists independent of a perceiver of it then it is unaffected by belief or force or any other form of external consciousness.

Each person is able to validate the content of their mind by comparing it to what is true. This is done by examining the content of the brain by attempting to reduce it to physical reality. If brain content is referenced in reality it is said to be true to its real identity. Otherwise it is false and must be discarded.

Jay GW

Very well said. Why do billions of people believe and act as if the world was created by supernatural supreme beings? They have many rational sounding discussions about this.

UncleJim

What do you mean by "They have many rational sounding discussions"?

Rationality is not applied to what another says; it’s applied to what is real.

Jay GW

Ok, a couple of questions: how do you reduce philosophical ideas to physical reality?
And: Have human beings always known what the physical reality is?

There are ideas about HOW things are and there are ideas about how things SHOULD be. If nobody ever has ideas about how things ought to be, then how does anything evolve?