brainwashing is a type of mind control, they are not one in the same. i dont disagree that one could interpret competitive ad campaigns that target easily influenced minds as some form of 'brainwashing', although i think that is a bit extrapolated. some people are shepards and some are sheep.

your 'higher ups' didnt strong arm you into getting a cellphone anymore than they strong armed you into wearing clothes to work and not having tattoos on your face. to work in nearly any industry there are certain requirements, and if you want a job you have to meet those requirements. there is no conspiracy to cellphone usage, there is a ever increasingly competitive market place and to be have any success you must stay competitive. if that means everyone else gets cellphones to increase communitive capabilities, you must follow in suit or prepare to go out of business. the same thing happened with computers between 1980-1990, and the same thing happened with the internet between 1990-2000. although i dont know why people need to keep explaining this, as jibber did a decent job already.

Why are ppl so bent about cell phones.

In most part, TV is doing a lot more harm than good. Mainstream news has gotten downright dangerous, the logjamming of reality TV is downright mindnumbing, the amount of intelligence insulting commercials and the overall commercialization of everything now is excruciating, and there's so much stupid sh*t on the TV, it lowers our standards for just about everything.

Of course the exact same thing could be said for the internet, but it has more positive uses to make up for it.

no dude,

the only person you can change is yourself. the women who chose to idolize hollywood do so themselves. if they don't have the mental fortitude to stand on their own two metaphysical feet then i don't want to bother with them.

people are allowed to be stupid. you don't have to be. you don't need to try and change them or get them to do anything, if you are doing it right then they'll be coming to you.

I know that the mass media sometimes feels like a consipiracy. Sometimes I feel like society is trying to pacify music with mainstream bubblegum rock, sometimes I have to stop and wonder why television seems to appeal to so many people as a decision-making tool, sometimes I feel like the world has become so reliant on in-your-face mass distributed information that the ability to think is starting to leave us. These are not facts though, these are feelings and opinions. Each person usually has their own, even if they took it from somewhere else. I in no way think that you are less capable then anyone else here, but I can see how you picked-up that impression. My advice is to always remember to be open to the possibility of being wrong, or to even go as far as to say "Oh, I guess I completely misunderstood what you said" In fact, I say it all of the time. It's how my person opinions grow. In honesty if your still bent on comparing the ability to argue a point (or judge how smart someone his by how well they argue a point) it isn't in the words. It's in the ability to look at how your argument may be wrong, or aspects of it may be wrong, and to use others opinions to create your own.

A thing is not evil. A thing is what it is. The problem begins when we as human beings forget exactly what it is and begin to apply undue meaning to an object or source of information instead of learning to question what we hear and to verify what we're told.

With that said, the less mentally capable of society make up the majority of it, and the media is controlled by those people who are very good at manipulating those peoples thoughts and feelings for their own benefit.

So no, TV is not a brainwashing device. But it can be used as one, although people have nobody but themselves to blame if they fall prey to that. If it wasn't TV it would be something else, lest we forget the panic ensuing from the original radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds?

Both statements alone speaks volumes... My question is, isn't that a form of soft brainwashing...

Oh, It's brainwashing for sure!
It's just how much you take in and much you can resist idealistic values portrayed on the screen.
I haven't got a problem with it as long as you use your mind and don't get obsessed or brain dead over a bunch of pixels.

I think it comes in more forms than T.V...

Vague, explain please..