Society, being told what to think, and brainwashing?

[DAM71392]

society controls me

[northsea]

Yep, SA excists because of society.
I started not to care too much and it has gotten a lot better.

[shynesshellasucks]

People could consider it to be wrong but at the end of the day, someone either fits in with what society values and get looked up by people, or not fit in and get looked down by people.

[Talgonite]

Hell yeah brainwashing is prevalent in todays society. Just look at all the ads you are constantly bombarded with over and over and over again. It's on the TV, internet, radio, billboards, EVERYWHERE. You cannot escape it!

And hell yeah the US government uses fear to control the ignorant masses.

"It's wrong to be gay. It's wrong to have an abortion. It's wrong to question authority. It's wrong to kill unless you're in the military then go BUCK WILD! Women, children? They're all terrorists!"

Uh yeah, so I say let people do whatever they want. As long as you aren't stabbing babies then I'm cool with it.

[WTFAust]

Originally Posted by Snow Bunny

Oh man, is it sad I'm actually listening to this right now? We'll see how long I can endure it...

It's not sad at all! I lasted the whole video.

Originally Posted by Talgonite

Uh yeah, so I say let people do whatever they want. As long as you aren't stabbing babies then I'm cool with it.

Fair enough. I agree.

[ThrashtilDeath]

[cold fission cure]

Originally Posted by LucidVision

I'm a nihilist. I don't believe in any human made values.

nihilism didn't come from outer space. it was made by humans. valuing values as valueless is still a value judgment. welcome back to the inside of the box. us humans almost started wondering where you went.

[Shredder]

A quote from Jung that I read yesterday that relates to what you are saying...

Any large company composed of wholly admirable persons has the morality and intelligence of an unwieldy, stupid, and violent animal. The bigger the organization, the more unavoidable is its immorality and blind stupidity. Society, by automatically stressing all the collective qualities in its individual representatives, puts a premium on mediocrity, on everything that settles down to vegetate in an easy, irresponsible way. Individuality will inevitably be driven to the wall. This process begins in school, continues at the university, and rules all departments in which the State has a hand. In a small social body, the individuality of its members is better safeguarded, and the greater is their relative freedom and the possibility of conscious responsibility. Without freedom there can be no morality.

[CrimsonTrigger]

Here's what you need to know about society.

F society.

That is all.

[TheCynicalEye]

[deleted]

[F1X3R]

Originally Posted by luffy

of course lots of people have been brainwashed. look at the most popular forms of entertainment. even the fact that people are more interested in being entertained rather than living their own lives show how much people have been brainwashed into being consumer slaves.

it was no accident either. in the early 1900s corporations hired psychologists to figure out how to control people to make them buy ****. our society has only gone further down that road. there was an excellent doc about this called The Century of the Self. anyone who doubts that people are being led should check it out.

It's really amazing how easily duped people are into being unaware consumers. So many like to think they are above marketing, but then they clamor and revere tech products like i-pods and smart phones, as if they are part of something important every time a new version is put out or an upgrade is released. People focus on their choice between brands (Mac/PC, Ipod/Droid, Pepsi/Coke) as if one of them has to be chosen. The companies that sell them their future (Google, Facebook, Apple) are seen as hip, independent and progressive.

A recent study said the 60% of people 18-24 (I know it's just one study) suffer from a kind of phobia where they panic or feel distraught if they are separated from their cell phone.

[Grapefruits]

I agree. Society now tells us all sorts of lies.

We are told that abortion is okay because a human fetus is not a person, but just a clump of cells. Society tells us that fornication is okay because it is a natural part of the animal kingdom, meanwhile the rate of unplanned pregnancy, abortion, HIV and STDs, divorce, broken homes from divorces from cases of adultery, etc. are all on the rise and are destroying our society.

Young people now are told to obsess over fashion, beauty, cosmetics, sex, celebrities, gossip, Facebook, parties, etc. and anyone (like me) who wants to focus on growing spiritually and becoming closer to God and growing in knowledge and wisdom is viewed as weird, defective, etc. and I HAVE faced persecution from my peers before. I remember getting outcasted and harassed in high school for not wearing lots of makeup on a regular basis or for not attending night clubs or parties (which almost always had alcohol).

Society wants us to focus on the other man instead of the inner man so that way we will not be close to God but rather focus on the flesh which decays and dies a little every single day and will one day perish, unlike the spirit which will never perish.

[Grapefruits]

Originally Posted by mzmz

I do think people need rules, and ideals..but maybe that's becuase they are not taught to think for themselves. We are brainwashed from an early age to do what the parent says, what the teacher says, what the peers think is acceptable.
I am formulating a belief that the majority of us on this site refuse to go along with the rules that are wrong, that we see as immoral or un-aligned.
In other words, after spending a couple days chatting with all of you, I'm stating to think AS is just way sane people have of coping with a totally messed up society.

You know, I was sort of thinking the exact same thing! I seem to have so much in common with people on this site, it's crazy! I read so many threads on here and it is as if I could have written that thread myself. I have found people on this site who also have a dislike for many popular things such as Facebook and celebrity obsession and pretty much everything else mainstream in our society now.

[Grapefruits]

Originally Posted by Mello

A lot of people in society grow insecure about themselves because society puts standards on a lot of things like outward appearance, character ect. thats why a lot of people try to change their selfs to fit into these standards, so they don't have to stand out like a sore thumb for being different, these people are like sheep's just following the herd. Personally I think alot of these people are brainwashed and weak minded because the extents they'd go to to fit in or meet these standards is ridiculous sometimes. They don't even know what they want anymore because their so caught up in what or who their suppose to be, they often think that who their suppose to be or what theirs suppose to look like is what they want. But in reality their just empty vessels fueled by societies point of views, programmed to be or look a certain way, until they wake up and find themselves and think about what they really want and who they really are.

Not everyone has the strength to be their own person and resist peer pressure and temptation. I did and I got outcasted and picked on many times. I still suffer from pain from it but I am beginning the healing process now. Many others who tried to make a difference, such as Martin Luther King, were viewed as doing something bad by many people at the time and he went against the norm in society and looked how people treated him!

[Grapefruits]

Originally Posted by Ivan AG

I'm pretty brainwashed (or braindead, take your pick), now that I step back and think about it.

Trying to fit in by striving to be more social on days where I couldn't be bothered to talk to others.

Forcing myself to go to loud clubs and other nests for socialites and extroverts because I've been told that "normal people" do those things and should experience them.

Following advice blindly (on this forum) without thinking it through or even thinking for myself.

The problem I have with thinking for myself is that I don't have confidence in my own reasoning.

If I reach a conclusion on a topic just by following my own line of thinking, I constantly double guess myself in the face of opposition.

Even the slightest disagreement tends to send me back into the sheep-like mentality where others do the thinking for me, because I assume they always know better.

This is 100% how I feel.

Society brainwashes us into believing that if we are not all extroverted social butterflies then we have some sort of problem, because people are supposed to be social and go to clubs and parties and engage in loads of fornication and care about celebrities and what celebrities are wearing, eating, and who they are dating. I mean WTF, why should we care what those people do in their free time or what their beauty secrets are or who they are currently dating? WHY!?

[Grapefruits]

Originally Posted by liktheangel

Our society goes by the majority. So what if the minority get's stepped on. I know that first hand. I know that I'm a part of the problem of what's wrong with society. Everybody is pointing fingers at those "people", that "group", and that "individual" but what about themselves. I am "I" not apart of the problem. No one's taking responsibility for their actions.

I lack the confidence at times to think for myself, speak out, and to stand up for myself and the things I believe in but at times I can do a 180. I feel passionate about outsiders or people who get rejected and stepped on because I was in that situation. Going to school for me was like going to prison because I didn't have friends, I was bullied by the adult, students and at home my parents. So I have a lot of compassion for people who step outside of the box and do what's different.

I think the term you are referring to is called scapegoating. People are looking for someone to blame for their problems and so they pick the minority group, the ones with less power and influence who cannot fight back. Didn't Hitler do the same thing?

[Mello]

Originally Posted by Grapefruits

Not everyone has the strength to be their own person and resist peer pressure and temptation. I did and I got outcasted and picked on many times. I still suffer from pain from it but I am beginning the healing process now. Many others who tried to make a difference, such as Martin Luther King, were viewed as doing something bad by many people at the time and he went against the norm in society and looked how people treated him!

I did the same and got shunned for it as long as I could remember, people in my own family have even tried bullying me into doing what they wanted me to do, the same has happened to two of my cousins. I know that a lot of people don't have the strength to be their own person, but being your own person is the best gift you can give your self even if other people shun you or reject you because of it, atleast your true to yourself, and in the end you'll be glad you did. And that's what Martin Luther King is known for now, he may have been treated badly by people, but he was also well respected by alot of people till this day, because he stood up for what he believed in.

[Insane1]

Originally Posted by WTFAust

So I was playing Advance Wars: Dark Conflict (Days of Ruin in the US, I think) the other day, and one CO (Commanding Officer) said this regarding societal values and junk:

"You've been brainwashed to believe in the values of your society. You are just doltishly repeating what society has taught you to think."

*Other person says something here*

"Those are merely the ideals society has imprinted on your young mind. Those ideals were constructed to ensure that society functioned. They served to channel people's energy away from killing each other."

Now, since this guy was the "bad" guy, we are probably supposed to go "OH NO! YOU'RE WRONG!!" etc, but, in some kind of maniacal, evil way... he's right. Or at least, I can see WHY he would say that.

It kind of got me thinking. We would say that what he said was wrong or bad, but by what standard would we be saying this? Probably the ideals that he mentioned that we were "brainwashed" with, right? Or not, It's just me thinking crazy.

It also kind of brought me to many threads here, where people have been giving advice to others and so on. I have seen many people here talk about what is the "good" or "right" or "moral" thing to do, and it got me thinking again: Are we just repeating what society tells us to repeat? Or do we legitimately feel that this is correct, just cause? And if just cause, what makes us say this? What facts and assumptions in our heads have drawn us to make this decision?

DISCLAIMER:

• Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that society is as bad as this guy makes it out to be.
• I am not saying that I 100% agree with his views.
• And I'm not saying that society is a brainwashing indoctrination of the people.
  
• So please, do not (or at least, TRY not to) make claims about my person (or any other persons) in this discussion. Thank you.
  

So, what do YOU think?

No.. the society is exactly as bad as that guy says it is.. probably even worse,we don't know the whole story yet.
The media tells us that something good and that we should like it,and everybody starts liking it. We're like sheeps.. we don't know the right path,we just go with the herd.

[Sugarslippers]

Originally Posted by luffy

of course lots of people have been brainwashed. look at the most popular forms of entertainment. even the fact that people are more interested in being entertained rather than living their own lives show how much people have been brainwashed into being consumer slaves.

it was no accident either. in the early 1900s corporations hired psychologists to figure out how to control people to make them buy ****. our society has only gone further down that road. there was an excellent doc about this called The Century of the Self. anyone who doubts that people are being led should check it out.

Oh yah... You thinks thsats something look at the newworld order on Youtube, it gives evil a new definition. :/

[WTFAust]

Originally Posted by Insane1

No.. the society is exactly as bad as that guy says it is.. probably even worse,we don't know the whole story yet.
The media tells us that something good and that we should like it,and everybody starts liking it. We're like sheeps.. we don't know the right path,we just go with the herd.

Why do you feel this way? Well, elaborate, I mean.