148 | Transcending Brainwashing

Transcend Human

Jan 30

Written By Daryl McMullen

January 30, 2023

Minute of Transparency: Wet behind the ears...

Today's Topic: Transcending Brainwashing

But is it tho?
Telling the difference
Making it out alive

// 1. BUT IS IT THO?

So we'll get to this question in a minute. How to tell if something is considered brainwashing or not...

But first - let's take a stab at places where we may have experienced it in our lives.

Starting with the obvious:

Parental Brainwashing:

Huge impact on us - mostly because they're there from the beginning
If anyone has had the opportunity to brainwash us - it's them to be sure
It starts with the things they do - the way the act
The food they cook, the cleanliness of the house, the tv and movies they watch, the music they listen to
And that's all before they open their mouth and say something
But that's where the fun starts - the things they taught us with their words:

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of these rolling around in my head - but let's just start with one from each parent:

Mom: Nothing good happens after midnight
Dad: Some of the dinosaurs were likely created with gene therapy

Educational Brainwashing:

Is the education we received legit?
For me, my education was not only based on cultural, and governmental requirements
But it was also based on our religious beliefs
But was it legit? Or was it created as a means of propaganda?

Recently we've heard terms like Whitewashing history
The battle over Critical Race Theory being taught
Truth about things like Eugenics, abortion, Planned Parenthood and the impact of the Religious Right
The fact that Hitler was fascination with Eugenics - and looked to us for many of his ideas
Then you have the approved origin story taught in public school - which is evolution:

In 8th Grade I was forced to experience this for the first time
After years of Christian school, and learning about The Creator, and Creation as our origin story
I was forced to hear this alternate story - the one the government felt we needed to hear
My Science teacher - who was also my football coach began making fun of me in class - because of my Christian beliefs
He said things like,

"I bet you believe in creation then don't you?"
"You have to be pretty dumb to believe in God."
"You know science is the only thing that can be proven."
"I bet you believe this stuff simply because your parents told you it's true right?"
"You do realize the creation story was just made up by weak minded people looking for a feel good story about why we exist."

Now - that may sound traumatic to you on some level. Like you would expect me to suffer some residual PTSD later in life
But I think I made it through pretty well
I mean, looking back it does seem pretty traumatic. I was in Middle School. It's a sensitive time in a kids life. And this teacher was calling me out in front of the entire class - calling me dumb - and brainwashed
But I don't remember feeling that way at the time
I think I just held my ground and let him believe what he wanted to believe - knowing that I wasn't going to be bullied into changing my belief

Church/Religious Brainwashing:

The things we were taught about the Big 3 Questions:

Where we came from
Why we're here
And where we go when we die

For me, there was no escaping this information
I got it at home from my parents
I got it in my Christian School from the teachers, and Religion Classes
And I heard it at church from our leaders in Sabbath School, and in Big Church from the pastor
A lot of the things I was taught are shared throughout the Christian or Protestant denominations
But as a Seventh Day Adventist - we had our unique set of beliefs as well
Teachings that set us apart from other denominations, and made us feel both special, and weird at the same time

Cultural/Societal Brainwashing:

The idea that we are what we see, or we are what we experience
So during our upbringing - the movies we watched, the music we listened to and the books or magazines we read
Looking back - you start to realize just how impactful these things really were
The fact that we can recall specific scenes from movies
We remember the lyrics to numerous songs from our teen years
And how TV parents or TV families actually worked their way into our psyches
Here's a question for you:

Is it possible that some of your beliefs about science, and even science-fiction type ideas are based on movies you watched growing up?
Think about it
Can any of your beliefs about space, and space travel be traced back to Star Trek?
Do you view the universe through the lens of Star Wars?
Or maybe this: Do you believe that if we found dinosaur DNA in a mosquito trapped in amber - that scientists could take that DNA and recreate them?
I can follow that logic due to the amazing explanation Michael Crichton provided in his book Jurassic Park

And these are just a few illustrations
I don't think we realize how big of an influence our culture has on us

Specifically Targeted Brainwashing:

Now, I don't know that I fall into this camp - but many have
Targeted by a person, or a group - trying to get you to believe what they believe
This could be a clique in high school
It could be an under-the-table club in college
Or it could be a cult - like we talked about last week
Like I said - I don't know that I've ever experienced this
But if you have - and made it away from that person or group - you understand this much better than I do
The manipulative power that was used to suck you in
The coercive techniques that held you there
And the fear that kept you from leaving

So there you go - just a few of the ways we're brainwashed while growing up.

But let's get into the weeds a bit and try to determine if all of these things meet the criteria for actual "brainwashing."

The definition, according to the Collins Dictionary:

If you brainwash someone, you force them to believe something by continually telling them that it is true, and preventing them from thinking about it properly

So before we move to the next article - notice a few things about the definition:

First, the word "force" - forcing someone to believe something vs. telling them something and letting them make their own choice about it
Next, by "continually telling them that it is true" - so the attempt is to "force" the belief on the person by repetition
And finally - "preventing them from thinking about it properly" - which is equally manipulative - and includes hiding the truth from the person - keeping them from seeing or reading things that might dispute the things you are saying

Next, Robert Jay Lifton suggests there are 8 Criteria that make up brainwashing, or mind control.

I linked to an article by Steven Hassan - who summarized these for us.

The 8 Criteria are as follows:

Milieu control:

Simply controlling an environment so that it is conducive to the things you're trying to teach
Example: Living in communities where only a specific religious tradition is taught or lived out

Mystical manipulation:

When the beliefs are not yours - but come from something higher
Suggesting that they must be true - and not questioned because they are in some way sacred

The demand for purity:

Separating people from culture
Suggesting that a very specific lifestyle be lived
Working toward a more perfect version of yourself

The cult of confession:

Confession and transparency are required
In this way it is even more clear that you are broken, or bad
This leads to shame - and trying harder to measure up to the demand for purity
This is a cycle that feeds upon itself

Sacred science:

The use of science, or legitimized authorities to confirm more abstract concepts
So in the case of abstract religious beliefs - finding scientific evidence to back up those claims

Loading of the language:

Distilling highly complex ideas down into more simple concepts
Symbols, phrases and cliches that are memorized, and held to without understanding the larger concept

Doctrine over person:

Simply put - taking what you've been taught over what you are experiencing
Doctrine over feelings, or intuition
Your whole body may be telling you something is wrong - but you are taught to trust in what you were told instead

Dispensing of existence:

Setting up a hierarchy - those who are in are in - those on the outside are evil and should not exist
Setting up this dichotomy reinforces the need to remain connected to the belief system
And also sets up leaving as dangerous - because by leaving the belief system you cease to exist - you become the evil you were taught to fear

Okay - that got a little deep there for a second. Much of Lifton's work centers around the brainwashing, or mind control he believes exists in China:

His initial research was on the Moon Cult in the 1970s - the group known as the Moonies
But his work has also been extrapolated to help speak into the way the Chinese are systematically trying to reprogram the Uigher Muslim population, as well as other religious belief systems in China today

So the 8 Criteria have a pretty spiritual, or religious bent to them.

Which we discussed last week when we talked about cults and Authoritarian Control.

Because there is a huge amount of overlap between brainwashing, or mind control - and the way Authoritarian Control develops into a fully functioning cult.

// 2. TELLING THE DIFFERENCE

So obviously - not everything we experienced growing up would be considered brainwashing - especially after reading through the 8 Criteria - and how intense some of them are.

But to me, just because something doesn't fit all 8 of these criteria - doesn't mean it didn't happen - or that it couldn't have impacted us in a very negative way.

There's a fine line there. A line some of us are still trying to find. We're looking back and trying to make sense of the things we were told as kids.

And we're trying to decide how much weight we want to give to some of them.

Now, I'm not going to walk through all of the things we discussed above. Each category of information we were fed growing up.

But let's take a few minutes to at least touc h on the obvious one. Religion, or the religious beliefs many of us were raised with.

Because I believe there is an obvious awakening taking place - an awakening that we simply refer to as deconstruction. Or the deconstruction process.

Taking the things we were taught about God, Jesus, the Bible, Christian living, and all of the legalistic stuff that comes along with it. And for the first time - doubting some of it, analyzing it, questioning it and attempting to find the truth - if it exists at all.

What does this look like? For me:

Distancing myself from the very institutions that promoted these beliefs - the organized church
Opening myself up to other voices
Listening to people who are also questioning the establishment
Researching things I believed to be true without questioning
And pulling back the thin veil that hides the ugly past - how the church was often the one promoting racism and white supremacy - among other things

Now obviously, I'm referring to Christian deconstruction. As this is the only process I understand, and the one that is the most common here in this country.

But that doesn't mean deconstruction is a Christian phenomenon.

My guess is that people from any religious background can go through the same process.

I don't know the prevalence in other religious traditions - but in Christianity - it's a very real thing - something that is only picking up momentum because of the political and religious polarization from the 2020 election.

But this is where "Telling the difference" comes in.

Any time we attempt to deconstruct something we were taught - we're attempting to tell the difference between truth and fiction.

Regardless if it was considered brainwashing or not.

Because here's a stunning fact I left out...

Brainwashing isn't always bad.

Think about it. And you'll agree with me. There is a good side to brainwashing.

Here's what I mean: If my wife and I "brainwashed" our kids all through their upbringing that life isn't fair. And in the end that's a true statement - life is rarely if ever fair. Then we simply "brainwashed" them to understand a truth. Similar to gravity. If we spent countless hours telling our kids that if you jump off a cliff - you will fall - and likely hurt yourself. Is that something they need to deconstruct someday? Do they need to be enlightened, and eventually get rid of their belief about gravity?

No! In fact - if they do - they will likely hurt themselves in the process.

So at the end of the day it isn't the brainwashing that's evil. It's how the brainwashing is used.

Like so many things we experience in the Human Condition - there is good and there is evil.

And too often, there is the ability to take something good - and use it for evil.

So now that we have that straight - it's back to "Telling the difference."

When we look back at the things we were taught by our parents, teachers, churches, culture, etc.

What we're really looking to determine is whether they were true or not.

Here's a real life example that has nothing to do with religion.

We call them old wives tales. Ever heard of these?

It's a perfect illustration - because we were literally brainwashed to believe some of them.

But they're called "Old wives tales" because they're a little sus. And many times they're proven not to be true.

Here are a few just for fun:

Peeing on a jellyfish sting alleviates pain
You can't swim after eating or you might drown
If you're carrying high it's a girl. If you're carrying low it's a boy
If you cross your eyes for too long they will get stuck that way
Bees are attracted to the color yellow
Bulls hate the color red
The 5 second rule - food on the floor doesn't become contaminated until after 5 seconds
Swallowed gum remains in the stomach for 7 years
Coffee stunts your growth
Humans only use 10% of their brains

Now - some of these are almost comical - but others were probably part of our core belief structure for many years.

Spoiler alert - the article I found listing these claims that none of them are true.

Like I said - a good illustration of the way brainwashing works.

When we hear something enough times - especially if we hear it from a person, or people we trust - we can believe something that isn't even true.

Like that we are wet behind the ears for example...

// 3. MAKING IT OUT ALIVE

Now that we understand what we're up against - I wanted to talk about the future - and how we can make it out alive.

How we can deconstruct the things we were taught and find the truth behind them in order to do two things:

Live in reality:

How amazing would this be right?
Living based on truth - and factual information
Not just basing our decisions and our future on what we were told by someone else?
Think about it! Wouldn't you rather go through your day making decisions based on cold hard facts? Rather than finding out you lived half your life believing in a fairy tale that wasn't even true?

Stop passing on lies to the next generation:

What would it look like to raise our kids to search for truth vs. telling them passed down fairy tales?
What if we were transparent with them - and said things like:

"This is something I'm pretty sure about based on the research we have."
And a willingness to admit to the opposite: "This is my opinion - but don't take it as the gospel truth - because I have absolutely no evidence to back it up."

Now I get it - you're probably saying, "Daryl - you're living in La-La Land. In what reality do you think we live? Where we magically have access to the truth on every subject?"

And you would be right.

Making it out alive is not finding the truth to every question we have. Because that will never happen.

At least not this side of Heaven.

There will always be questions - and people will always have beliefs that can't be proven true or false.

This is obvious with religion and science - and the debate between creationists and evolutionists.

The creationist is relying on faith in something he or she can't see, or prove to be true - the existence of God
But at the same time - the evolutionist has to bank on the same thing - faith in things they can't see, or prove to be true. We call it the "missing link" because nobody can prove that humans came from monkeys - there is just no scientific evidence that proves this to be true. So to make that leap requires faith that it is true

And so it is with many other beliefs.

But where does that leave us? How can we make it out alive vs. sticking our heads in the sand and never questioning anything we were taught?

Ultimately - I don't have all the answers.

But I'll leave you with a story that might help.

Back in college I jumped headlong into Architecture. For the first two years I worked hard, took all the right classes and dreamed of sitting in a large firm someday creating the next architectural wonder of the world.

But two years in I became disillusioned - and left the department - switching my major to Sociology.

But while I was in the department I spent a fair amount of time with a girl studying Interior Design.

We didn't date - but we ran in the same crowd and we had mutual friends.

When I left the department we lost touch for a while - but as we neared graduation I remember reconnecting and having a strange conversation with her.

We got onto the topic of religion, and our beliefs on certain things - and she made it very clear that she was no longer religious. She had become agnostic - and that this was her new reality.

For those of you that aren't sure what that means:

Dictionary.com defines an agnostic as:

a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience
a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study
a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic

Now - for some reason this girl had a hold on me. Not a relational hold. But more of a mentor kind of hold. I looked up to her. I think she was a bit older, she was definitely smarter. And she always seemed to be in the know about things I didn't understand.

So when we had this conversation I was shell shocked. We were both raised as Christians. And she had gone to the same schools as me.

So I didn't see this coming.

Of course - I was still very much an indoctrinated, possibly brainwashed, Seventh Day Adventist young adult. So my immediate emotional response was fear, denial and the belief that she had gone off the deep end.

I had thoughts like this:

"Is she doing this to be cool?"
"Is this a new trend and she just wants to be part of it?"
"I hope she doesn't go too far down this road."
"Maybe at some point she'll come to her senses and come back to the fold."

Sound familiar?

And that was it. That was my last interaction with her. We both graduated - and went our separate ways. But over the years I saw her on social media, and I was able to follow the trajectory of her life.

Some of those years were spent wondering if she ever made it back
But more recently, her story took on a whole different meaning for me

As I began to struggle with my own belief system, her struggle back in college started to make sense to me. I began to see why she may have gone down the road she did.

In fact - in keeping with level of intelligence - could it be that she simply had her awakening well before the average person?

She was ahead of her time. She became enlightened, and began deconstructing while the rest of us continued to walk around with our heads in the sand.

I look back at her struggle, and her admission to me as bold, brave and extremely honest.

When I think about "Making it out alive" these days - I think of her:

I think about the things she was raised to believe - the brainwashing she went through
I think about the activating event in her life - what it could have been that led to her awakening
I think about the doubts she must have had, the questions she asked and the research she did to lead her away from the things she was taught
And I think about the truth she eventually found - the conclusions she eventually came to
I wonder to this day where her path led - and how she would describe herself

Why? Because I'm on the same path - only quite a ways behind her.

And maybe knowing how her story turned out would give me hope. And possibly answers to questions I have right now.

Questions I raised in this episode.

Like were we really brainwashed?

How can we tell the difference between brainwashing and just good old education, and upbringing?

And on the things we were brainwashed to believe - how do we make it out alive?

Let's Land the Plane:

This week - ask yourself the following questions:

What were you raised to believe?
Can you tell the difference between the positive and the negative brainwashing?
Where are you at on the journey? What are you doing to make it out alive?

Well that about wraps up this episode - but also the pseudo series it is attached to.

The first three episodes of Season 4. Not clumped into a defined series - but definitely connected at the hip.

Thanks for joining us this week. Love having you here.

As always, have a great week, and keep Transcending Human!

References:

THTranscend HumanTranscend Human Podcastbrainwashingmind controldeconstructionletting goliving free

Daryl McMullen

148 | Transcending Brainwashing

149 | TS002 | Transcending Stories - Part 2

147 | Transcending Control

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