Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with a set of beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors that are not based on critical thought or reason. It can take many forms, such as propaganda, censorship, and fear-mongering. A twisting of information and facts used to control or manipulate people, its negative impacts on society can be felt for generations.
There are many dangers associated with indoctrination. One of the most serious is that it can lead to people being unable to think critically for themselves. When people are indoctrinated, they are taught to accept certain beliefs or ideas without question. This can make them vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by those who would seek to control them.
Another danger of indoctrination is that it can lead to people developing cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are errors in thinking that can lead to faulty judgments and decisions. Some common cognitive biases include confirmation bias, anchoring bias, and availability heuristic.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs, and to ignore or dismiss information that contradicts them. Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely too heavily on the first information we are given when making a decision. Availability heuristic is the tendency to make judgments based on information that is easily available to us, even if it is not necessarily accurate or relevant.
Thanks to social media all three of these forms of cognitive bias have been exacerbated, algorithms have created echo chambers that we regularly seek information and affirmation from on a daily basis. We only see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear.
The collection of quotes below highlights the dangers of indoctrination. It includes quotes from some of history’s most deplorable despots showing the evil of indoctrination, as well as free thinkers, such as Baruch Spinoza, to show how one should be aware of indoctrination and fight against it. Question what the mainstream media and your FYP feeds you in terms of information. Do your research, educate yourself, and most importantly be open-minded, allow your beliefs to be challenged and changed when appropriate.
Quotes:
“Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men’s natural abilities as to restrain them.”
“The whole function of education is to create Nazis.”
– Bernhard Rust, Minster of Education in Nazi Germany
“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”
“School is the advertising agency which makes you believe you need the society as it is.”
“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”
“The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institutions.”
“…it is worthy of remark that a belief constantly inculcated during the early years of life, whilst the brain is impressionable, appears to acquire almost the nature of an instinct; and the very essence of an instinct is that it is followed independently of reason.”
– Charles Darwin, “The Descent of man,” 1871
“Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible. Even if all are miserable, all will believe themselves happy, because the government will tell them that they are so.”
– Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society,” 1953