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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   3720 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 12, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I recall reading about an interrogation tactic of PoWs (maybe in Korean War?) where the prisoner is gradually made to relinquish his patriotism through very gradual criticism of his country beginning at a microscopic level (“well, there is one small thing wrong with America…). Actually I think this was posted at one point here. What is this interrogation tactic?

I believe this was laid out in Robert Cialdini's book 'Influence'.

I couldn't find my book so I just looked it up online and it's the 2nd principle of Influence, Commitment. Basically people want to their beliefs to be consistent with their values. This desire for consistency and commitment means if you can get someone to admit to a small thing, they will gradually be moved to admit and agree to bigger things in order to be consistent with their past actions. Here's a summary: https://www.shortform.com/blog/psychological-manipulation-of-korean-war-american-pows/

This is the origin of the term "brainwashing" in English, being a direct translation of a Chinese phrase coined by Maoists during the civil wars to describe their ideological conversion tactics.

Can't answer your question, but this makes me think of how anti-western (and anti-white and anti-male) sentiment is gradually shaped throughout western education.

lol I actually just found it! https://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2021/02/02/what-interrogation-american-pows-can-teach-us-social-media-polarization/4334685001/

Difficult to find via googling

It was also a 0HPL thread, it was slightly different, and I remember it and not this article linked somewhere in these parts.

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