I was not familiar with this term when I came across it today. As I read more, I now see how horribly pervasive this is in our culture, subculture, and in numerous personal practices. I was surprised I had not run across the term menticide in my exploration of the psychological damage from cults eg. MAGA, and similar related topics like brainwashing, deprogramming, examination of those committed to conspiracy 'rabbit holes', numerous studies on different features/aspects of personal bias, the erosion of critical thinking skills, etc.)
So I performed a search on this topic on my computer so I will share select quotes from several Menticide article sources. I did sense a theme in all of them, which certainly comports with some my own observations and experiences.
The term menticide was coined by Joost Meerloo in The Rape of the Mind, a seminal work on mind control written 70 years ago. Meerloo, who studied Nazi interrogations and later Korean War brainwashing cases, described menticide as the systematic killing of independent, rational thought. It does not always require a prison cell or physical beatings, though despotic regimes certainly deploy such tactics.
The mechanism at work is not merely skepticism. It is a dark process of psychological breakdown and reprogramming called menticide - the killing of the mind.
In a free society, menticide operates by confusing the target audience, degrading anyone who questions that confusion, demanding the rejection of contrary evidence along with the cultivation of perpetual doubt. The goal is to render the victim complicit in the surrender of their rational mind.
On platforms like X, this process unfolds through prominent voices that seize on peripheral details and spin them into sweeping alternative theories. Social media has blown all this into another dimension. Online 'investigators' and certain podcasters function as the new commissars of doubt. The result is confirmation bias. New information cannot be processed on its merits, it must go through the filter of a predetermined narrative. This is classic menticidal technique - keep the subject constantly confused in the early stages, then make them complicit in their own psychological degradation.
Menticide and Its Role in Social Media
Menticide is a term used to describe the systematic, intentional undermining of a person’s or group’s mental independence, often through psychological manipulation that erodes autonomy, critical thinking, and consent
While related to “brainwashing,” menticide is framed as a deliberate, large-scale act — not just individual persuasion — often carried out by corporate or state-aligned media systems.
How Social Media Enables Menticide
Social media platforms have become a primary vector for menticide due to their design and governance:
Algorithmic manipulation: Platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube use AI-driven algorithms to deliver content that reinforces existing beliefs, creating echo chambers and filter bubbles This limits exposure to diverse perspectives and deepens cognitive rigidity.
Sensationalism and outrage culture: Short-form, emotionally charged content (e.g., “rage bait”) is optimized for engagement, encouraging compulsive scrolling and reducing capacity for nuanced thought mediarevolution.org.AI narrative farms and synthetic media: Organized groups run multiple AI accounts to seed, steer, and swamp-like comment sections with coordinated messages, often to manufacture consensus or chaos
Echo chambers and polarization: Social media amplifies divisive narratives, framing “us vs. them” rhetoric that bypasses logic and fosters tribalism.
Censorship and suppression: Platforms may suppress contrarian views or flag dissenting content, reinforcing conformity to dominant narratives
Influencer and cultural manipulation: Celebrities and influencers set norms for beauty, success, and morality, while “cancel culture” instills fear of ostracization, leading to self-censorship
Examples in Modern Context
Propaganda and disinformation: Governments and corporations use coordinated messaging to control narratives, suppress dissent, or manipulate public opinion thrivewithmartin.com+1.Psychological warfare: In extreme cases, extremist groups or authoritarian regimes use isolation, emotional manipulation, and repetition to condition followers
Global scale: Oxford Internet Institute research found organized social media manipulation in 81 countries, with professionalized “cyber troops” running AI accounts to influence public discourse
Why it matters:
Menticide in social media is not accidental — it is by design in many cases. It can lead to:
Reduced critical thinking and problem-solving ability
Increased polarization and distrust
Erosion of personal autonomy and free expression
Manipulation of public opinion for political, commercial, or ideological gain
In short: Social media’s algorithmic, emotional, and networked nature makes it a powerful tool for menticide, enabling large-scale, covert manipulation of thought and belief at an industrial scale
Let me close with a quote from a practitioner/victim of menticide, when I questioned that person's sourcing, their unwillingness to examine the topic critically, or any effort to assist this person to identify (not even challenge) their confirmation bias. The person looked me dead in the eyes and said, "They said you would say that."
"It ain't what I don't know that gets me into trouble, it's what I know for sure, that ain't so."
- Mark Twain
That cadre made sure the knife stayed in and was twisted around in America's back following their callow U-turn/s ...
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One minor point of difference though - I don't believe it was the majority of the American populace who thought Jan. 6 was OK, and were who changed those guys' minds > It was the majority of the "Republican Party" that believed the J6 white-washing effort. And specifically, it was the most radical end of that (formerly not good but nearly so bad as at present) party who were the ones who would be showing up in primary, and general, elections.
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At the time that (as an estimate) equated +/- to 80% of the 45% who termed themselves Republicans >> meaning about 36% of the country. The other 20% percent of them who didn't go along with the election denial BS were promptly run out of town. Independents have since dropped off of that bandwagon at a 2 to 1 margin and renounced Trump (mainly due to the economy and tariffs). But unfortunately that group remained swayed just long enough - as you said, due in large part to the machinations of the likes of McConnell and Graham - to vote him into office again in 2024.
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Damn! I can't wait to be rid of the rest of these jokers / looters / evil, greedy & incompetent idiots !!
Lynsey and Mitch, that is, for their U-turn after Jan 6. Having had to run for their lives from a MAGA-crazed mob, they rightly condemned Trump and his white supremacist thugs in the days that followed. Then when the poll numbers started showing that a majority of Republicans still bought into the lies about a stolen election and thought the Jan 6 rioters (who, let's remembered, murdered a capital police officer, beating him to death with a fire extinguisher) were heroes and patriots.
What should have happened in the days that followed Jan 6 is that Trump should've been impeached and convicted and banned from holding any government office. That could've happened if Mitch and Lynsey had shown some backbone.
But it didn't, and here we are.
The old guard are shuffling off at a reassuring rate. Lindsey Graham has gone, Mitch McConnell may have gone or may simply have been miraculously transformed into a zombie. Who else is really, really old and unlikely to be viable for much longer? Obviously the orange turd is high up on this list and is likely in pole position.
And I would just like to say
Pessimistic
I have a feeling we're going to see ever more climate-induced disasters like in LA, Valencia and many others.
Pessimistic
I would agree with that. A lot of people feel that they have no power to change things, or that it is somebody else's responsibility. And regarding climate change, those in a position of power don't care enough to do anything significant about it. This, combined with a personal sense of entitlement decrees that people feel they have the right to do what they like irrespective of the harm it causes the environment. Add the two together and things don't look so bright. Look at the world leaders and they look worse.
Maybe it will take the suffering of those in power to make them instigate change. A terrible suggestion, but they don't seem to care enough about anything outside their own, or supposed national interests to do anything different unless they are under threat themselves.
Incidentally - I can only find this page when someone else puts an entry in. Same goes for the Daves Picks 52 section.
Right on the Mark, Daverock ...
That was very eloquently stated.
“Stop Global Warming”
On the front of Mick Jagger’s shirt at the Montreal show in December 1989.
There’s a video of that show and he’s wearing the shirt, but I don’t know if he wore it for every show on that tour.
So yeah, 1989, we were well aware of the dangers then……
Climate change becoming less important?
Here in the Netherlands, polls suggest that climate change is sinking down the list of things that people feel the government should be dealing with. In 2020 it was in the top three. By last year it had dropped to sixth place and this year it had sunk to tenth place. There could be any number of reasons for this. As the government consistently fails to get a grip of economic and social problems, the difficulties faced by people on a day-to-day basis naturally are top of their priorities. This is hardly surprising but the effects of climate change in the Netherlands are already clear and will only become more extreme in the future. Fortunately we haven't yet experienced any really major climate-induced disasters up to now but it is surely only a matter of time before something really catastrophic happens.
Who Cares…
About the climate/planet/Arctic Sea
The loss of free democracies
Genocide
Potential World and/or civil war…
“my groceries are too expensive”
Edit: 89?…stoner Bobby was trying to wake everyone the fuck up years before that. Hell they did that whole 88 MSG run for the rainforest and spoke at the UN. No offense to the boys but it’s kinda sad that they had to be one of the early voices telling the world to wake up….unfortunately, people were more interested in getting cheap fast food burgers and drive huge gas guzzling behemoths just to get one person to work etc
THINK GLOBALLY...
...ACT LOCALLY
that was the poster we
had hung on the wall
of the staircase landing wall
at our apartment
and that was 1991!
Wo-oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?
go back and read your OLD RELIX magazines,
EVERY issue in the late '80's and early '90's had articles
about what we can do about OUR WORLD!
PEACE for ALL!
uncle_tripel
Wo-oh, what I want to know is, are you kind?
Act locally
That's a good point, Uncle Tripel. I think, to be fair, a lot of people feel overawed by the sheer scale of what is going wrong in the world. It can make us feel utterly helpless, so that we can be tempted to turn our back on it all and turn on into our own private world.
Personally, I think we all have a responsibility, and we can all effect change by making small moves in a more altruistic direction, in a way that is manageable for us and our circumstances. For example - I drive my car as little as possible. It is fuelled on petrol, so every time I take it out I am damaging the environment. I drive about a mile a week. For me this is an easy thing to achieve. I live in England, am retired and am comparatively fit. This would not be so easy if you lived in the States or were still working, for example. But that doesn't mean that there is nothing else that could be done. We are all responsible - and we can all make a difference.
And then turn on into out own little world . You don't have to turn into a saint !
Dave’s picks won’t get delivered…
Unless tptb change things.
Due to contract nonsense, UPS will no longer deliver to Post Offices so anything addressed with a PO or PO Box will be sent back!!!
Rhino has to either get physical addresses from all those effected (up to 31 million Americans) and ship directly to that address via UPS, or use USPS exclusively.
Don’t believe me, look it up!
What do you think the odds are this has been considered before 53 goes out in two weeks?
Oro
For me, and you too I think, our DaP parcels go UPS to the Denver UPS sorting facility then UPS drives it over to USPS there in Denver at the USPS sorting facility before going out USPS to smaller USPS offices. That should not affect us I don't believe. At least that's what the tracking indicates. I was puzzled by your other post regarding this subject so I did some research and that is what I found.
Cheers
Edit - Not sure about box sets though. Can't remember the tracking on those.
Thanks ISTSHOW
But do you get home delivery or PO Box only?
We can only get Mail delivered to a PO Box so it will be sent back.
If UPS sees a PO address or PO Box it will be sent back, if you get your mail normally, delivered at home, you’ll supposedly be ok as UPS will skip the handoff to USPS and just deliver to your house, instead of the mail person.
The problem is how items need to be addressed.
For those who can only get mail at PO Box etc because we cannot put any additional information on the item or it will get sent back.
So in order to get DaP, we HAVE to use only the PO Box number,
inversely to get UPS the item can only have the physical address…it’s a real hassle purchasing/dealing with vendors since when you try to order the service people don’t understand this and often cannot answer how their item will ultimately be shipped. And since most people get home mail delivery, unfortunately most of these folks don’t care, which means we have a lot of stuff addressed the wrong way that gets sent back, UGH…
In the past, most of the boxes have been sent normal UPS ground or we were given the option to use normal UPS, last year I think was different?
If we could just pick our own method, even at a premium, (like in the past) life would be easier and so much less stressful…
So for rhino to deliver our DaP via UPS only, they would have to get our physical address, which hasn’t happened. If they just go completely USPS, using our PO Box number on file, then we’ll be ok. Fingers crossed…
Oro
OK, I get it now. Well explained. This IS going to be an issue it seems. Wonder what would happen if the sender would put both P.O. box and street address? Mail Innovations needs to get this shi+ together! I get street delivery here but what a pain for our friends in the rural areas. You got a trusted nearby friend with a street address? Hmm.. maybe not the best alternative as it adds too many extra steps. Or wait, doesn't the "UPS Store" in town advertise that you can get a box with them that has their street address on it? Aha, that's their evil plan! More business for them. Good luck.
Cheers
Good Questions
If you put both addresses on it our PO will send it back…crazy, I know.
For a while they we’re allowing us to use a hybrid variation…but that’s been done away with, now, it’ll get sent back. It’s like the soup nazi I tell ya: one wrong dot and No Soup For You!
If vendors could just tell us upfront how they will be shipping beforehand like
“DaP 107 will be shipped via carrier pigeon, to a blue space shuttle, then parachuted to depot where trains will transport to regional facility where it will be taken to your local PO via hover craft, but hand delivered by low security work release inmates to your door” at least you’d know lol
But seriously if we knew, for sure, how something was coming it’s as simple as then providing the proper address…sigh.
OR..if there was regulation where both addresses COULD be used…
Of course the Real issue is money. USPS wants more money to process the increases of UPS items their handling and UPS doesn’t want to pay, or so is my understanding…money, money, money, money….. money!
P.O. and climate
I will be POed if 53 does not get delivered to my PO Box. The Whole Earth Catalog first came out in 1968, that cover shot of earth from space credited with increasing mass awareness of our fragile planet. And for some climate based concerns in lyric, check out Eskimo Blue Day on Volunteers, 1969, JA, right around the time Tuna got Hot.
climate etc
There has been an increasing awareness of our relationship with the planet, at least since the 1960's, when I was growing up - then and in the 1970's. Such concerns were often ridiculed by mainstream culture. Prince Charles, as he then was, was often mocked for his expressed concerns.
Several other things that have become more mainstream now, were mocked or side lined when I was growing up. Meditation, Eastern religion and vegetarianism come to mind. None of those things existed within my parents circle of relationships, and comedians of the day had a field day with them.
The Environmental Godmother?
Don’t forget Rachel Carson!
Perhaps the progenitor of it all?
Back in the fifties and the impact her famous book Silent Spring had.
Many have tried, but when the self absorbed public won’t change simple behaviors nothing improves….actually, it gets worse : (
Oro & the Environment
You mentioned "small changes".
I think it was Obama's science guy who said something to the effect that if we painted every roof white this would reflect light back into space and reduce greenhouse gases. He said but you can't even get people to do this!
I know in Plano, most have dark color roofs. I think the shingle people know dark color shingles dry out faster than the silverish ones I grew up with in Jersey. House I grew up in had same silver roof over 30 years.
Solar panels on your roof
Not only do they generate electricity but they also cast a shadow on your roof which helps keep the attic and house cooler. Good for hot locations.
Though in a cold, snowy location the dark shingles absorb heat and warm up the attic.
A house down the street from me has roof panels, but they’ve been covered in snow and not generating electricity.
My neighbor looked into getting panels but the batteries to store the electricity were too expensive. You can also ‘rent’ your roof to a company that installs panels and you get electricity from them during the day but there are no batteries to store the electricity for at night.
Solar Ice Cream
One of the more recent things I saw, was instead of "batteries", they used the electric from the day to run a compressor, at night the compressor blew a small wind generator.
I thought, great idea.
Like dropping cable solar panels are always on the list of things to do. Right after I replace the chimney cap on my highest roof! The cap is made, just need to drag it up 30ft and drop on chimney!
Dennis
The compressor is a good idea, but does it run continuously or only when there is demand?
It’s unfortunate for the fire situation in L.A., but it’s also an opportunity to put solar panels on every new house built.
There may already be a CA law that solar panels have to be included in any new construction.
There should also be solar, wind, and geothermal powered desalination plants on the CA coast. The coast shouldn’t be reliant on the Sierras for water.
The desalinated seawater could also be piped to Vegas to waste on worthless fountains.
Ice Cream Compressor
I would think that would depend on use and size of storage tank for the air.
One can only imagine the size of the storage tank needed to run a generator for 12 hours!
I still like the concept,,,,, batteries aren't really earth friendly.
Ceasefire in Gaza
The reported ceasefire and hostage - prisoner exchange sounds promising. We can but hope, pray or whatever we do.
Huh. Lots of familiar faces on this side of the site....
....Colin Gould led the way.
Watching from across the pond.
I'll be watching with interest as America transitions from democracy to oligarchy. Unfortunately I suspect no part of the world will remain unaffected by what's to come.
Not good
A deeply shameful day in American history. It's a shame no one can explain to this man that America has never been great. Simply a work in progress, like everywhere else. I can't help thinking that this tragedy could have been averted by sentencing to a spell in prison. An opportunity to put things right that wasn't taken.
Watching from Denmark..
..Soon to be state 51..
Unfortunate.
It's unfortunate that the orange one is a businessman, not a politician. As a result he is only concerned with the accumulation of wealth and has no idea how the world works, not that he cares. As a result, his isolationist masterplan to make America great again is almost certainly doomed to cause worldwide mayhem.
America, love it or leave it.
To quote Pink Floyd
Big man, pig man
Ha ha, charade you are
It's time to play my new national anthem by the Exploited:
Look up ___ ___ USA
A very unfortunate day in this nation
Instigate an attack on the US Capitol? You, too, can be President!
Be a convicted felon? You, too, can be President!
Using a nation's military to round up specific groups of people? Sound familiar?
Ugh. Just despicable.
GOP = Gang Of Pigs
Swine.
Wendy O. Williams: a pig is a pig, and that's that
Can't Watch
We'll be avoiding any of the hoopla today on TV. I'll wait for the political pundits to lambaste him on the late night shows. Besides, I spent all day yesterday watching two great football (American) games. Time to play some Dead. Loud.
Cheers
Abraham Lincoln
He is alleged to have said "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time". Jus' sayin'.
I am so embarrassed for this country....
....buckle up friends. This roller-coaster is going to be a rough ride.
Today feels like JGB day.
Judgment at Nuremberg
There is a line in the movie, I think Richard Widmark says it. Every witness before the court claims they weren't a Nazi. Widmark leans into his co-council and says, "to hear them tell it there wasn't a Nazi in Germany"
That's what you'll hear in four years when things go to shit,,,,, "I didn't vote for him".
No one did!
I not saying everyone that voted for his orange-ness was stupid, but all stupid voted for him,,,, along with white supremacist.
We'll see, but I doubt things will be better in 4 years.
Fooling everyone
Simon Rob
‘I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours’. I think Bob Dylan said that.
On a positive note, having a convicted felon as president shows the country is committed to rehabilitation. It would be better if they had showed some contrition but you can’t have everything.
I hope you enjoy your ‘national emergency’ on your southern border.
As BD also said. ‘Don’t follow leaders, watch your parking meters’.
Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg....
.....seated with the trump family. They even got better seats than cabinet members. Bought and paid for. Dark times.
Did he just say "expand our territory"??
He did...
As the great Stevie Wonder sang
Heaven help us all
Forward
Or, as the grate Bobby Weir sang....
....Heaven Help The Fool.
At least The Kremlin is…
At least The Kremlin is having fun
Or as I posted before but got censored…
MAGA is not about what some think, it’s about a return to a gilded age of robber barons and oligarchs. (Look up Robber Barons, great u tube: Robber Barons to Bezos) Canada and Greenland will make more sense…
So not looking to return to 1940s and 50s but to the late 1800/early 1900s when Crooks were kings! Toss in a little 1930s fascism and yeah, good times! I can hardly wait, this is gonna be greaattt!
Cue up Morning Dew, just in case…
Onward! Through the nuclear fog!
But hey, my groceries are too expensive…
Names.
Once the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the Gulf of America, presumably the state of New Mexico will also have to be renamed. Also, after Greenland has been invaded and annexed, it will most likely be renamed Orangeland.
It already feels great
Oh wait, that’s only because I just took a giant dump.
The official election results are that Trump got 49.9% of the popular vote.
Didn’t even get 50% of the vote.
I don’t belong to either party and am wishing for a legitimate 3rd party. You’re often told that it’s red or blue, but in fact this country is majority purple. The problem is that the parties that make up the duopoly constantly file lawsuits to block third party candidates from getting on ballots.
Not just earth either
He's going to invade Mars next.
Musk just gave a heil salute....
....at least they have stopped faking it.
well now....
Born and raised in Los Angeles 1950...my parents were born here, my maternal grandparents lived close to Tombstone AZ in the early 1900's...my grandfather (who had Yaqui blood) would say "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us"...my paternal grand parents were from Chihuahua Mexico and came to the States around 1895...I survived Viet Nam, the Civil Rights Movement and ensuing civil unrest and Nixon & Kissinger...BUT...this is the first time I will feel compelled to have to carry a copy of my birth certificate along with my original Social Security card I was issued in 1967...May you live in interesting times indeed....
The Kremlin...
...and Putin, saw fit to invade Georgia in August 2008 when George W. Bush was president, then Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in February 2014 when Barrack Obama was president (after Obama had promised then Russian president Medvedev that he would have more flexibility after the 2012 elections), and then Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 when Joe Biden was president (after Biden stated he might not respond to a "minor incursion"). Russia did not invade any of its neighbors when Trump was president. But yeah, somehow Trump is who Putin wants in office.
Cool Putin story....
....breaking news. By executive order, the US is withdrawing from the World Health Organization.
Awesome 👌. Also out of the Paris Accords.
And to everyone who thought Project2025 "was just a joke bro", yeah. About that.
We're screwed. And I'm white.
Pigs on the wing
Keep your umbrellas of steel up
If pigs could fly...
Bacon would go up. 🐷
Anything goes.
I noticed this morning that he's also given a pardon to those people he encouraged to riot 4 years ago after having falsely claimed to have won that election. Worrying where this approach could go - if you can break the law, encourage others to do the same, and then change the law to legitimise what you and they have done.
He has also said that there will now only be two genders. I know which part of which gender Trump could be described as.