Timeline for Why did ‘brainwash’ develop to be a negative word?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
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| Jun 1, 2022 at 23:34 | comment | added | Abigale Moore | @MichaelLorton The negative connotation for brainwash was developed in reference to POWs. Later usages are incidental and were dependent on this initial development. The use of "brainwash" to describe Maoist policies is the same as the use of "brainwash" in fiction- it is used because the reader is already familiar with the term. Even if Mao and his policies in China didn't exist, brainwash would still be a negative word due to its use in Hunter's reports on Korea. | |
| Jun 1, 2022 at 0:48 | comment | added | Abigale Moore | Aside from the discussion here, Edward Hunter wasn't talking about brainwashing as being part of any dictatorship discussions- he used it in reference to POWs who defected during the Korean War, and the term went on to be used as an excuse for why POWs were reporting about allied use of biological weapons. Whatever the opinion, the origin of the word is unrelated to Chinese governance. | |
| May 31, 2022 at 10:47 | comment | added | JBentley | I'm not challenging the premise, but offering a current day citation of "brutal, genocidal dictatorship" (Uighur camps) doesn't really support a claim which relates to the year 1950. Perhaps a more relevant citation would improve this answer? | |
| May 30, 2022 at 16:54 | comment | added | jsw29 | It may be helpful if it were clarified whether the newsreports that first brought the word into English were about oppression in China generally (which is what the answer suggests in its present version), or were specifically related to the Korean War (as indicated in one of the comments above and in one of the other answers). | |
| May 29, 2022 at 20:52 | history | edited | Michael Lorton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| May 29, 2022 at 20:52 | comment | added | Michael Lorton | @towr — I don’t understand people how could genuinely believe — or lower themselves to pretending to believe — that the actions of the Chinese Communist Party, including the Famine, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution are somehow morally ambiguous or up for question. | |
| May 29, 2022 at 20:42 | history | edited | Michael Lorton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| May 29, 2022 at 17:21 | comment | added | towr | @Ben The word brainwashing originates from the Korean war 1950-1953. The Great Chinese Famine caused by Mao's ill-informed reforms was from 1958-1962. So we're talking here about a communist China from before they ended cyclical famines. | |
| May 28, 2022 at 22:33 | comment | added | WS2 | You say it is unfortunate that no phrase has evolved to mean "improve the condition of one's mind". But wasn't that exactly what the Chinese intended "brainwashing" to mean?The difference between the original Chinese interpretation of "brainwashing" and our interpretation is occasioned by the different perception placed upon it - one of benign acceptance, and another of cynicism. Personally I take the cynical view - as do most western people. But who's to say who's right? It could be a millennium more before we find out. | |
| May 28, 2022 at 17:11 | comment | added | Stuart F | This is true, but needs references. The Wikipedia page on brainwashing tells the same story. | |
| May 28, 2022 at 17:02 | history | answered | Michael Lorton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |