during the nazi occupation of the netherlands a psychiatrist named abraham mirlo would change his first name to yoast and flee after traveling to belgium he would then leave to england mirloo saw a world crumbling around him even after the war had ended he realized that pandora's box had been opened and a new era had emerged just mirlo became most famous for studying brainwashing and thought control techniques especially those used by totalitarian regimes he argued that hardly anyone can resist scientific brainwashing despite years of training as he wrote fear and continual pressure are known to create
a mentocidal hypnosis the conscious part of the personality no longer takes part in the automatic confessions the brainwashee lives in a trance repeating the record grooved into him by somebody else this menticide is the term mirlo used to describe the destruction or erosion of a person's mental independence a process that is typically used in order to alter one's beliefs this is used for example by dictators who wish to imprint their opportunistic thoughts on those who they wish to influence after brainwashing the victim will mechanically confess to crimes and illegalities that they had never actually committed
the overall process would lead to an environment of blurred truths causing mental chaos for any of those still uncertain over whether they should support the dictator how is it done exactly firstly mirlu argues that the procedure of an enforced confession is far from new primitive shaman would use fear-inducing rituals to create fright hypnosis in the victim and the tribal features such as ecstasy rituals and eerie chants would be used to compel crowds into accepting the beliefs of their leaders brainwashing is then considered to be an elaborate ritual that ends in indoctrination conversion and self-accusation it
begins with extorting a confession the victim's consciousness is distorted and altered through a bombardment of questions a constant rotation of questioners inadequate meals and inconsistent sleep schedules the individual since they have a conscience is theorized to hold hidden feelings of guilt even if they are unfounded this process seeks to cause an unsteadiness of the mind in which such a feeling emerges the core strategy is to take away all sense of hope or predictability as mirlo writes it destroys the very elements which keep the mind alive the victim is utterly alone this process of degrading one's
mind to the point of destruction is perhaps best exemplified in kafka's the trial in which a man confesses to a crime that he truly has no knowledge of through the constant assault of bureaucratic inquiry sometimes if the brainwashee is strong enough against these suggestions of guilt the use of narcotics will be applied this allows for the confusion of the mind the creation of amnesia and importantly mental dependency today's video is sponsored by endl for a lot of my viewers we're just a few months into the second semester and i'm sure like me you felt just
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[Music] milo does not stop at the courtroom when discussing brainwashing he also points towards the ability for free and democratic societies to be brainwashed at the political and non-political level influences of technology bureaucracy and mass delusion allow for the institutionalization of forms of behavior as he writes the mechanization of modern life has already influenced a man to become more passive and to adjust himself to ready-made conformity no longer does man think in personal value he thinks more and more in the values brought to him by mass media headlines in the morning paper give him his
temporary political outlook the radio blasts suggestions into his ears television keeps him in continual awe and passive fixation consciously he may protest against these anonymous voices but nevertheless their suggestions ooze into his system this is the work of public opinion engineers those individuals hired by corporations and political campaigns to persuade the public hitler for example used a network of colonists to sow negative rumors about citizens and countries that hitler would eventually invade this is a form of manufacturing consent a topic further explored by noam chomsky [Music] how can we battle brainwashing on the individual level
merlot advised for exercises in mental relaxation and auto hypnosis to make the body insensitive to pain however he understood that brainwashing was quite brutal and not everyone could do such training another potential solution would be to talk too much rather than resist talking by playing the fool the enemy will grow confused as he recalls this method in practice scatterbrained simpletons confused the enemy much more than silent heroes whose stamina was finally undermined in spite of everything on a social level milo proposed that education was the way out of mass delusion but a factual education was
not what he had in mind as long as people quote one another and the available expert opinion they are considered well informed and intellectual no more should schools be used to produce kids that can simply memorize facts instead people should learn to think for themselves he proposed that kids should engage in more creative play and learn about communication and abstraction in order to develop critical thinking and navigate the world with scrutiny and clarity overall mirlo proposed a sort of new courage in the face of the age of manipulation he understood that this was the embrace
of freedom but at the same time the acknowledgement of the paradox that freedom brings with it namely in order to let freedom grow we have to plan our controls over the forces that limit freedom we must have the passion and the inner freedom to prosecute those who abuse freedom above all merlot wished that individuals would be able to accept personal responsibility for their world and work together for the greater good this would of course involve bravery and heroism such heroism of the spirit is only possible if you are the master of your emotions and in
full control of your aggressions [Music] you
