Who is brainwashing you?
2017-02-20
Have you realized that you are being brainwashed right now? Look at your glazed face! I know you have not realized it yet. Alas! But maybe this is also good for you, because you will always be happy living in the paradise. To some extent, such people are indeed happiness holders, but what I want to address today is brainwash, which happens daily or even every moment in our lives despite the fact that we haven’t even realized it. But who is brainwashing us? This needs some analysis.
1. English learning
In recent years I have often run into a problem: I think in the English way. According to English grammar, we should have a basic structure when we speak, and the basic structure is S (subject) + V (verb) + O (object). But Chinese is quite different, and a sentence is still correct even when there is no subject, and this often occurs in Chinese. For example, in Chinese, there is such a sentence: winter comes, wear more clothes. This sounds confusing in English, for people will ask me: “Who will wear more clothes?” In Chinese, we have subconsciously omitted the subject “everyone”, but this sentence makes sense for Chinese natives. Another example is the way of thinking. In Chinese, you can easily find a news headline like this: Xi’an has excavated large numbers of ancient coins. In English, this is understandable but not really correct in sentence making. The correct English sentence should be like this: Large numbers of ancient coins have been excavated in Xi’an. Xi’an is not the excavator but a place where ancient coins have been excavated. This is the logic of English but not that of Chinese.
So far, I have been learning English for more than 10 years and I read and make up English sentences each and every day, and my Chinese way of thinking has been seriously affected by English. The two languages differ in logic. Since I have learned English for more than 10 years, I gradually think Chinese appears not logical sometimes compared to English. It’s not that Chinese is wrong, but I have been subconsciously and seriously “poisoned” by English. Indeed, I have learned a new language, but I have been brainwashed by it, which offers me a new system that natives of the language adopt to communicate with each other. This is bad for my Chinese learning but very good for my English learning. Happily, I still learn Chinese every day, trying to refuse English to invade my Chinese. Therefore, this brainwash is not that bad. I have learned a new language after all.
In fact, no matter which subject you choose to learn, you get brainwashed even without your realization. Anyway, this brainwash is relatively positive. You need to learn new things.
2.Media
In fact, one of our humans’ greatest creations in recent centuries is media, and now media seem to be even more powerful and influential than ever before. Sometimes, I even think media are ruling the world. They can make a person or thing popular or notorious through their reports, although the truth may not be what they have reported. For example, when the media in the US report stories of Trump, their views differ largely from one another. Many bombard him, while others advocate his views. Many people believe him and I believe, to some extent, they have been brainwashed by media. Of course, those who appose him also learn what he does through media reports. They have been brainwashed by media too.
Nowadays we read online news of numerous types on the phone, and we are being brainwashed by these media every moment. And many of them are disgustingly rubbish, only aiming at bringing traffic to their websites. Although many readers complain about or even swear at them, these readers are being brainwashed. Why? Because such rubbish news pieces bomb your mind quite frequently, and your mind will gradually change or even follow and approve their views after a long time of reading. This is quite bad, because your taste becomes low and your judgment between wrong and right will not be that clear as ever before. You degenerate!
Another bloody fact is that media sometimes try to cover up some truth that some people or organization doesn’t want us to know. This happens every where in the world because of certain purposes or considerations. Probably this happens under two conditions: power and money. And so, we are brainwashed by the false fact, and some people or organization avoids the punishment of law or rules. In this terrible situation, we turn into idiots when we voice our ideas.
3.Your boss
This can be easily understood. No matter which company you work for, you must have a boss who wants you to only listen to what he or she says (In fact, most employees don’t and gossip about him or her in private). Actually most teachings are good for employs, because your boss’s aim is to earn as much money as possible, not anything else. So, they work hard to persuade you to apply certain ideas or views of theirs, because if you do so, the company earns money, and you will get equivalent rewards (sometimes you may not think the rewards are fair). But bear in mind: not every brainwash from your boss is good (For example, insurance companies’ brainwashes often sound horrible, and I don’t like them).
4.Tradition
During China’s 2017 Spring Festival, I returned to my hometown from Beijing. On the Spring Festival Eve, my mother did one thing as she did every year on that eve: she burned ritual stuff made of special paper to Chinese gods to ask for blessing. But when I asked my mother why she did so, she paused a moment and then answered me: “I really don’t know. I do this because our predecessors taught me to do so as the way of asking for blessing.” Obviously, my mother has been brainwashed by an idea that has been passed from generation to generation. In fact, not only did my mother do so, but also many people on that eve in my hometown, I guess, even across the whole nation. I am not talking about superstition or anything relating to it. I am saying that tradition can brainwash us. We don’t know why, but we confidently do it. Personally, I support my mother and many people across the nation, because this is like psychological therapy and is no harm to society.
However, tradition is not always good and may even sometimes be terrible. Foot-binding was once one of the most popular traditions in ancient and modern China (before 1949). Little girls aged 10 or so would be forced to bind their feet by their parents, because their parents knew that a girl with a pair of bound feet would easily get married and a pair of big feet were not liked by men that time. This sounds horrible, but people during that time were brainwashed or even kidnapped by this idea. Now this tradition has lost flowerbed, but the idea that a man or woman should get married when they are physically mature has never been erased from Chinese people’s minds. When a Chinese parent sees other parents’ children get married, he or she will become worried and anxious, because this is what everybody does when they grow up. When you choose to be single or just don’t want to get married so early, you will probably be attacked by others. That’s tradition! So, I just feel confused about this tradition.
Who will be easily brainwashed?
The four above aspects have partially described brainwash in our life, and of course, there are still lots of aspects that I have no time to discuss here in this article but they do exist, with some being encouraging and others being disgusting. Some people can avoid being brainwashed, but others will be easily affected. Who are the “others”?
In my theory, brainwash can be divided into two aspects: being brainwashed and accepting brainwash. In general, those who actively accept brainwash are smarter than those who are brainwashed, for the former think and then choose, and the latter are forced to do so. In society, everyone loves accepting good brainwashes and refuse bad brainwashes, which, however, remain very powerful to persuade those who have a strong passion for earning as much money as possible but have no enough real ability to realize their dream, and who are not very well educated.
Conclusion
Therefore, being brainwashed or accepting brainwash is nearly completely up to you. But at first, you had better accumulate as much useful knowledge as possible, think often, read often and make decisions slowly.
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My second comment concerns your mention of foot-binding in China as an old and harmful tradition. I agree that the accepted rationale for binding young girls' feet was a form of brainwash. Sois the belie propagated by the government that China is 5000 years old. Historians know this is not true. So is the myth about the Yellow Emperor. And so is the notion held fast by many U.S. Americans that their nation is a "melting pot of races".
My comment on foot-binding is: it was abolished not by the CP.C. but by the K.M.T. half a century earlier. Foot-binding always horrified Western missionaries in China and they made representations to the imperial court before the end of the 19th century and the first Chinese republic banned the practice.
My first comment on your blog's contents concerns the term "brainwash". You have given us several ways in which we get daily brainwshed. To a large extent, your examples do convince people that we all are subjected to the ongoing process of brainwashing. However, you could have be a little more discriminatory.
For example, your observations on how the Chinese language transforms simple sentences into meaningful messages to the hearer is entirely valid, yet I do not think of it as a brainwashing process. "Brainwashing" to a Westerner sounds ore ominously like the intended dissemination of misinformation. Language is not normally created artificially / except computer languages and Esperanto / but it is used by people in positions of power to brainwash others. The abusers of language to brainwash their fellow human beings are decision makers in Big Business, the media and politicians. This happens anywhere in the world.
Anprax, I think you should get in touch with SEARU in our Forum. He has some interesting thoughts on how the Chinese language acts as an obstacle to Chinese people's understanding of modern concepts. I admire his and your writings on the matter thoroughly.
Dear Anprax,
I come to your blog a tad late but I want to write to you to encourage you to continue writing here. I have always enjoyed your essays. They show an individual approach to things of general importance.
I want to follow this reply up with two comments on the contents o your blog. This one is meant to soothe you over the bruising and abrasive posts made by HailChina. His posts are worthless.
And it is offensive to suggest that a lack of education can result in one making wrong life decisions. If they are stupid then sure that can result in wrong life decisions but university education has nothing to do with it unless a person gets a doctorate in decision making or something. Do you think that all uni courses teach uni students to make better decisions? Even a two year degree? Are you certain? I don't see how.
It is not only classist to imply being uneducated can cause a person to make poor decisions - it is also pretty silly if you think about it. You are talking about a university education right? Or do you mean logic lessons you might get with a classical education? Those might help but I do not see how a university education could. You could argue that it is a poor decision for an individual to choose not to get a university education but we are not living in an age of equal opportunity and it is often the case that an individual did not get a university education due to disadvantage not choice. But many can be successful, wealthy or happy without an 'education' so your comments here equate to stereotyping too.
In my opinion educated people often use working class peoples lack if education to dismiss their opinions and perspectives - can we agree on that?
Ballet should be banned. I was very interested to see why you think that what I was saying was wrong but you seem to have deleted my comments. It is mostly feminists that want ballet to he banned because of the anorexia and infertility it causes and I agree with them. Beyond the anorexia and infertility I also do not like the brutality and classism that is part of ballet culture. Wasn't ballet invented by peasants that were pretending to be like nobility or something? Ballet needs to be banned for sure. Aren't you worried about the anorexia and infertility? A lot of us are.
And the OP thanked me for my opinion so I do not see why you are so upset. I am sorry that I disagreed with your ballet blog. Didnt I disagree with two of your blogs? What was the other one about? I forget.
What I am saying is true - the use if the word 'uneducated' in a derogatory way is very classist and people should stop doing it. There are plenty of successful and wealthy uneducated people - especially in business - and an education has nothing to do with intelligence so the word uneducated should not be used as an insult. The wealthier the family is that you were born into the more likely you are to get a university education so using the word uneducated as an insult is classist. Classism is every bit as bad as racism. If you want to be a better person you should put a lot more effort into not being so classist. It may be difficult because your classism seems to be inherent and unconscious. It is a worry.
I thought that it was OK to disagree with a blog and that different opinions and ideas were a good thing. I think that you might need to get over me more than I need to get over myself. I am very sorry if you considered my comments in your blog to be rude but I think it would be best for both of us if you let it go. Try to shake it off. My intention was not to upset you. Sorry again. Cheer up.
I have noticed that you continuously put rude comments on people's blogs like this one. On my blogs you said ballet should be banned, and on this one you are saying that calling someone uneducated is an insult.
All this writer is doing is stating a fact. There are people that are uneducated, and this can result in them making the wrong decisions. How this is offensive, I do not know.
Of course there are people who were not educated because they had no opportunity to do so, but it is not at all offensive to say that they are not educated - because they are not! Get over yourself please!
It doesn't matter. Your point is acceptable and reasonable although your words were strong. For me or anybody, we all make errors or speak wrong words although we are not intended to do that. I wrote improper words and I apologize for what I have written down. And of course I need to rethink the reality and the things which have happened around me. Your words are like a hammer that has beat my head and makes me think that I need to be prudent with reason when voicing my ideas on something. In fact, I was very angry in the beginning, but I tried to calm myself down to rethink your point. My anger gradually decreased although I didn't like your words about me.
Anyway, I am not perfect, I make mistakes as a man. If I am wrong or not reasonable in my blog, please tell me, but please don't use very strong words next time. My heart is not that resilient.
Finally, I want to tell you my view: I don't like those who insult or don't respect those who are not well-educated or people of the similar kind. In my mind everybody has their difficulties and awkward conditions that others don't understand. If we don't respect or turn our back on them, it just proves we not well-educated because our hearts are mean.
Hello, friend, happy to see your comment. But I smell something not like a comment but more like a soft ad or something. I wish I were wrong.
I completely agree. I am extremely interested in global economics. I feel that we are being brainwashed by the US Federal Reserve and the other central banks around the world. It's just another form of brainwashing that is occurring. I refuse to be brainwashed by the central banks, which is why I store all my savings in a fairly new financial technology company called Goldmoney. I can purchase gold and store it in secure vaults, avoiding the central bank's brainwashing and corruption. It's changed my life. Check out Goldmoney's website!
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