brainwashing means A form of indoctrination that forces people to abandon their beliefs in favour of another set of beliefs by conditioning through various forms of pressure or torture. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why “brainwashing” is a great word
BRAINWASHING — [Noun] A method of forced indoctrination that systematically breaks down an individual's beliefs and replaces them with a new set of doctrines, often through psychological pressure. It is a calque of Chinese 洗腦 / 洗脑 (xǐnǎo, literally 'wash brain'); first used in English c. 1950 by journalist Edward Hunter. Unlike "indoctrination" (which implies the teaching of doctrine) or "persuasion" (which suggests voluntary change), brainwashing is the coercive dismantling of a mind. It is the disorienting rhythm of sleepless interrogation under a bare bulb, the erasure of personal history in the blank walls of a re-education cell, and the hollow-eyed recitation of a truth that has replaced a stolen memory—a chilling testament that the most profound conquest is not of land, but of mind.
noun
- A form of indoctrination that forces people to abandon their beliefs in favour of another set of beliefs by conditioning through various forms of pressure or torture.“So it came about, through Pavlov's work, that the Soviets developed and perfected the 'brain-washing' technique seen to be so effective in the state trials of the 1930s. An amazed world witnessed the sight of intelligent and renowned figures genuinely confessing to criminal acts against the state, or voicing ideological dogma in a total reversal of their previously held values.”