Talk:Thought reform

Does hypnotism fit into this topic? Also, what about cults or is that a different kind of brainwashing/mind control? It seems pretty similar to the idolation that Mao received. Chris Day 07:22, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Hypnotism does not especially fit. At least as it is usually defined, it requires a cooperative subject.

Cults are not irrelevant, although they are a relatively recent development in terms of the development of this formal definition. By and large, the Western cult didn't exist in the fifties and sixties, when the key concepts of thought reform, brainwashing, etc. were defined.

It's valid to bring in the concept of what cults do, although the social models differ. The point needs to be continued that in neither case is there true "mind control" in the sense of unconscious programming.

One reason I've avoided that area is the problem of defining "cult", as opposed to a fairly well established ideology. Is a suicide bomber under thought control? Was State Shinto a cult, or was the idea of sacrifice literally part of centuries of Japanese warrior culture, so the kamikaze was simply an extension. Is a radical Islamist suicide bomber a member of a cult? Howard C. Berkowitz 14:58, 10 February 2009 (UTC)