That mumsnet is the quintessential example that brainwashing works

[BoiledFrog]

It's actually quite scary, it went from people attacking those who were actively preparing for a pandemic. Telling them that they were mental for stocking up, its just a flu blah blah. To castigating those going against any guideline.

It is weird how we went from democratic to people snitching on their neighbours. I don't mean neighbours doing criminal things - I mean people counting how many deliveries their neighbours get and how often they go out.

It's surprised me how many posters impose a stricter lockdown on themselves than mandated by the law then get pissy that someone walked their dog or picked up a lamp at Tesco.

I don't think it's brainwashing, I think it's changing personal opinions along with the changing circumstances. I was scratching my head over people filling their cupboards with baked beans while it was concentrated in China, but when it hit Italy so hard and I saw footage of the bodies piled up it brought it home to me, and I started taking it a lot more seriously as it felt so much closer to home. I don't feel the media was brainwashing me with the footage - I'm sure the corpses were real enough - it was just a wake up call for me.

Or, um, people change their mind when presented with new evidence?
Of course, if you are controlling what evidence gets submitted, you can potentially influence outcomes, depending on the audience.
At what point does evidence become propaganda in your view, op? Has the media been subject to limitations on what they are allowed to publish? Did I wake up in North Korea?

There's no such thing as brainwashing, OP

There is no MN as you call it. There are individual posters, and that's it.

Have you got a spreadsheet, have you tracked those who started off in one camp and then moved to another? Probably not. Essentially your OP has no meaning other than you're posting about something you plainly disapprove of.

Yes, opinions have changed in a short space of time from not worrying about the virus in China to seeing it spread to fear and horror and wanting lockdown to being fed up and wanting some restrictions lifted.

Please tell me what your original thoughts are on the matter since you have criticised others for a lack of critical thinking.

I think your OP is somewhat misguided: stockpiling was criticized because it was selfish and the major cause of various shortages, not because the virus wasnt, by that time, viewed as serious.

There was, and still is, a divergence of opinion on mumsnet and other places as to how serious this virus is, there are plenty "its just a bad flu" types still around.

I admit I wasnt initially all that concerned about the virus in Dec/Jan, because it's not the first significant new virus to come out of China in the last decade or so, and the others weren't a huge deal in the UK. I think a lot of us (including the PM) were similarly complacent.

Seeing Italy in crisis was enough to cause me to reevaluate.

I think it would be odd not to change your mind on something when presented with a wealth of fresh evidence.

That's what I love about MN. People who know their groupthink from their brainwashing

I have spent months thinking about this and analysing what is behind it and what is the trigger.

What I'll do is give you a load of things that really struck a chord with me. Everything is about creating an awareness of possibilities. Many don't even know this stuff is possible so when you tell them, it sounds utterly ridiculous. You try to get your point across and they attack you. They gang up. It's not even about being one of the 'sheeple' - that in itself is a form of control. What better way of demoralising an opinion than having the majority telling you that you are wrong. Not even wrong.. but refusing to defend themselves. Who tells you to have that opinion? Who is creating the herd?

This documentary (which was launched on the bbc, for those who think YouTube spawns shite... which is does, mostly) is very interesting. It includes 5 or 6 episodes, so it's long. But get through it. You will end up with an understanding of propaganda in its earliest form. How it's works, why it was established and how it absolutely controls everything in our social structure today. EVERYTHING. More than you have ever realised. If they started this all these years ago, think
How sophisticated the methods are now.

Just food for thought.