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The Mathematics of Mind Control: Modeling Brainwashing and Ideological Power in Totalitarian Regimes

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  • Heng-fu Zou

Abstract

This paper develops a mathematical framework for analyzing brainwashing and ideological control as employed by totalitarian regimes from the Cold War era to the present. Drawing on classic psychological studies from the Korean War and Chinese reeducation campaigns, as well as more recent research on propaganda, surveillance, and mass conformity, we construct a system of nonlinear differential equations to model the dynamic interaction between political power, belief conformity, and institutional memory. Simulations demonstrate how regimes consolidate control through feedback mechanisms of coercion and indoctrination, how ideological collapse can cascade into political breakdown, and how some regimes recover through adaptive belief reconstruction.By integrating historical case studies-ranging from Maoist China and Stalinist Russia to North Korea and digital authoritarianism in the 21st century -- this study provides a rigorous account of how totalitarian brainwashing operates and endures. The model offers predictive insights into regime stability, vulnerability to ideological shocks, and the long-run entropy of enforced belief systems.

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  • Heng-fu Zou, 2025. "The Mathematics of Mind Control: Modeling Brainwashing and Ideological Power in Totalitarian Regimes," CEMA Working Papers 766, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cuf:wpaper:766
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    1. King, Gary & Pan, Jennifer & Roberts, Margaret E., 2013. "How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 326-343, May.
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