Discussion»Questions»Health and Wellness» I think of "brainwashing" as a bad thing, a negative thing, an undesirable thing. Can brainwashing ever improve a situation? How?
It's a form of manipulation, and manipulation can be either good or bad. Passing on my beliefs to my sons is a "good" (trust me on that) form of brainwashing.
Two definitions from the internet.
In psychology, the study of brainwashing, often referred to as thought reform, falls into the sphere of "social influence." Social influence happens every minute of every day. It's the collection of ways in which people can change other people's attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.
Mind control (also known as brainwashing, coercive persuasion, mind abuse, thought control, or thought reform) refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated