[Basic] Skill of the week: Brainwashing (and Brain Hacking)

[Flyndaran]

It's almost trivially easy to alter people's memories right now for minor things. I don't think it's a crime anywhere though.
Eyewitness testimony is the least reliable of all, for example.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It's almost trivially easy to alter people's memories right now for minor things. .

I was not talking about suggesting a conflicting version of events.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I was not talking about suggesting a conflicting version of events.

If you don't mean altering memories, then what do you mean?

Sorry if I seem dense. I'm still recovering from a bad cough/cold, so am denser than usual.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

If you don't mean altering memories, then what do you mean?
.

I do mean altering memories. But there is a significant difference between confusing a witnesses recollection of a briefly seen perpetrator and removing said witnesses memory that a violent event event even occurred.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Using it 'for good reasons' is a concept I have a hard time wrapping my head around.

There is always the Madness Dossier "lesser evil" option. If brainwashing can prevent something else really bad happening, you have at the least an ethical dilemma. That could involve, say, subverting a terrorist faction who've acquired nukes. However, that also throws up out-of-game dubious implications, as people start contorting possibility to propose all sorts of highly unlikely and artificial bad situations which might somehow demand and justify use of brainwashing, thereby excusing study of the skill -- which is then sitting there in the toolbox, being tempting...

In The Madness Dossier itself, it's used to prevent something really, really, really bad, at explicitly fantastical levels -- though even then, using such techniques explicitly and implicitly corrupts the character.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I do mean altering memories. But there is a significant difference between confusing a witnesses recollection of a briefly seen perpetrator and removing said witnesses memory that a violent event event even occurred.

I'm talking about slightly more extreme alteration. Like making people remember seeing Bugs Bunny at Disney Land.
Human memory is very poor. Right now such manipulation is haphazard and depends on numerous hard to determine variables. But it wouldn't take super science to boost its effectiveness.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I'm talking about slightly more extreme alteration. Like making people remember seeing Bugs Bunny at Disney Land..

How is that more extreme than "You never saw a shooting"?

[sir_pudding]

Aren't cult deprogramming, addiction rehab and military training examples of "good" brainwashing?

[ericthered]

I'm surprised that Mental Surgery from psionic powers didn't make the list. I assume it ought to, as its basically a specialization of the option to use brainwashing as the controlling skill for the conditioning enhancement of mind control. My oldest active gurps character was built around this skill (actually, my first gurps character to play with other players as well).

I kind of side stepped the ethics of it through a combination of making a ruthless and amoral character that happens to work for the good guys and through the campaign stakes being really high (the destruction or survival of a world or each chapter).

The ability hasn't actually seen much use. The style of play has been too fast paced for much mental surgery, and he's mostly used his secondary telepathic abilities, which are ideally suited for the foes he's faced. So I have a skill of 20 that's never really been used, at least not in anything related to the central plot. Its been a nice trick to have in the bag though.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Aren't cult deprogramming, addiction rehab and military training examples of "good" brainwashing?

Military training isn't. But yes, cult deprogramming and addiction rehab are things you could use Brainwashing skill for.