Inyri Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Brainwash is actually a funny concept, being as how you can't possibly know/understand what you aren't familiar with or haven't experienced. That type of situation is typically where people start shouting "omg brainwashing!", but... we're all guilty of being in that position. So does that make us all equally brainwashed to our own culture? I think knowing that you don't know everything is the first step to taking a big step back and realizing "hey, just because I do it this way doesn't mean that way doesn't work as well." Open-mindedness.... ahhhhh. <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathan7 Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Brainwash is actually a funny concept, being as how you can't possibly know/understand what you aren't familiar with or haven't experienced. That type of situation is typically where people start shouting "omg brainwashing!", but... we're all guilty of being in that position. So does that make us all equally brainwashed to our own culture? I think knowing that you don't know everything is the first step to taking a big step back and realizing "hey, just because I do it this way doesn't mean that way doesn't work as well." Open-mindedness.... ahhhhh. <3 That was first articulated by Socrates; "True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing", though I'm guessing not in English I know this, the more I learn the more I realise how little I know. However I have observed that most people cannot tell you why they think or behave in the way they do, western culture is very shallow and people do not think out questions such as 'why do I exist?'. I DONT believe in democracy, but I also know from my many Chinese friends studying here for a year or two then heading back, that most think their government are 'good' and the western media is lying. Read into that what you will... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totenkopf Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 I don't believe democracy is stable either. It's unwieldy/impractical when talking about populations measured in the 100000s-1000000s+. A republic is a better bet, but also has a shelf life that could be longer. Of course, your chinese friends were probably victims of their own encultuartion or paranoia, depending on their circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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