If you were brainwashed - how would you know?

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Hello everyone. I am new on this forum and interested to read many posts saying the same things over and over. Is this the sign of autism or brainwashing by media and government propaganda?

It is obvious that someone would not know it if they had been brainwashed. Is there are some kind of test that can tell you if what you believe is a result of being brainwashed?

Yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science

Brainwashing is the acceptance of ideas as facts, without examining the evidence. The process starts the moment we are born. We can't examine everything from first principles, we wouldn't get to the end of the street in a lifetime. Some people think that not accepting given ideas is a characteristic of autism. Either way, we are all brainwashed, its an essential part of being a member of society.

I have a strong feeling the OP has an agenda in making this thread.

Science can only enlighten you about certain sorts of beliefs, for example, whether or not the earth really is the centre of the universe, or whether or not the universe is only about 4,000 years old or whatever.

Brainwashing often concerns ideas about what moral values people should adopt, what political systems they should support, what will make them happy, who they can and cannot trust, and so on. Science is not sufficient to answer all these questions.

Maybe, but so what? It's an interesting question, whatever the OP's own personal beliefs are.

The wording of his post is loaded. It matters to me.

Simple.

If you disagree with Argumentinvalidator, you have been brainwashed.

If you agree with Argumentinvalidator, you are not brainwashed.

What things?

Probably, my guess would be some sort of bait-and-switch tactic in which one poster provides some hasty criteria off the top of their head for determining whether another is brainwashed, and then they or their friends apply the same criteria back on the one who provides it (well, that could depend upon whether or not they're the intended target of verbal bludgeoning I suppose). Of course that's only one possibility out of many. They could seriously want to know the answer to their question of their very first post on WP, but I don't know. Last time I was here, I began to doubt that any new member here was actually a new member - and in circumstances like these, such just heaps on more doubt. Not that I really care anymore. I've been away so long that the probability of an attack on me would be almost nil. I do wonder whom this would be targeting now though if it is meant to target anyone.