Western superiority, anyone?; moral guidance/brainwashing. What's the difference?

Question

Western superiority, anyone?; moral guidance/brainwashing. What's the difference?

Answer 1

i think the difference depends on the intentions of the person trying to convince someone else. if they are giving advice, but can handle the other person doing something else, then it is moral guidance. if they feel the need to control the other person's reaction to the point of excluding all other possibilities, it is more like brainwashing.

what does this have to do with western superiority? i mean i can see how we try to control other countries, but why does the distinction between brainwashing and moral guidance have any bearing on that?

Answer 2

Huh?

What's the difference between moral guidance and brainwashing?

Moral guidance uses reason to rationally persuade a person. Brainwashing uses other techniques to get someone to think or act a certain way.

Answer 3

How bloody true, what a bunch of self riotous twats we westerners are, WTF makes us any better????????

Answer 4

I would say brainwashing is convincing someone that this is the ONLY way to do something, there is no other choice, but moral guidance is trying to show someone that this is the BEST way to do something. Other ways may be seen as inferior, but they are acknowledged to exist.

Clear to me anyway, even if I can't explain to others

Answer 5

Great question!

For me, it's one of those "that depends" replies.  That is, the literal definitions of moral guidance and brainwashing will indicate discernable differences then, depending on the experiences of the individual accessing those differences the tendency may be to override one in favor of the other -relative to explaining Western superiority.

For me, relative to Western superiority, moral guidance and brainwashing are too frequently bunk-mates.  That is, Western culture seems to have risen from the ashes with a heavy dose of religion as the so-called compass for civilization.  That religion -regardless of its name- comes with a literal component inherent in brainwashing, that is, "there is only one way ... and that is my (our) way."

As a simplistic point, it is universally considered that throughout history more people have been butchered and killed under the aegis of religion.  So, if we agree to that point then can't we at least consider that via the mask of moral guidance people are brainwashed?  

In other words, how can we (regardless of religious affiliation) explain the death and destruction of fellow humans under the name or guidance of god or the lord?  It not only seems hypocritical, it also seems preposterous.

One of the basic -and most formidable- tenets of religion is to have faith in matters that seem illogical, unexplainable, and mostly outside the realm of human experience.  Once internalized, that faith seems to restrict experience, devalue "otherness," and generally cut off the faithful from -well- everyone else that is not part of the faithful ... to me, that's simply ludicrous.

It then seems reasonable to assert that an "faithful" individual would be hard pressed to consider the views of anyone not of the same ilk; that is, a blind allegiance to the "faith" predisposes the faithful to reject views of others.  That is counterintutive to human nature.

As such, if the original plea for unmitigated faith is based in "moral guidance" and, upon examination it seems that such a myopic perspective is not condusive to living and sharing with fellow human beings (all 6.6 billion of us) then, in my view, it's quite difficult to separate moral guidance from brainwashing.

Now, on to American superiority.  For starters, that's a myth ... unless, of course, the notion of infinite expansion and gluttoness consumerism is somehow equated with superiority -if so, then I'm at a lost for words ... or at least open-minded discussion.

On the other hand, if we conjure up images of Western superiority relative to civilized standards of empathy and compassion, equality, fairness, love of life, protection for those who cannot protect themselves, and a right to voice (regardless of age, creed, or position), then it seems there may be a reason to consider that Western culture -indeed the 232 year experiment of American culture- is anything but superior.  And that's a dialogue for another day.