mindwiping
Forced mental amnesia
Mindwiping is erasing or suppressing someone's memories, typically through technology, magic, or psychological manipulation.
The term comes from science fiction and fantasy, where characters might be mindwiped to forget traumatic events or sensitive information: The agency mindwipes agents before they leave.
It can describe any forcible mental reset: Social media algorithms are mindwiping our attention spans.
Pathological loss of recall
- obliterationTotal destruction or erasure
- deletionRemoval of content
- expungeDelete entirely, officially
- effacementAct of erasing completely
eradication · purge · elimination · wiping · blanking · cleansing · scrubbing · voiding
Coercive psychological manipulation
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- reprogrammingAltering original functional instructions
conditioning · subjugation · thought control · propaganda · compliance · obedience · domination · programming
Opportunity to restart unburdened
- clean slateRecord wiped clear
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- tabula rasaUnmarked mental starting point
- starting overBeginning again from scratch
Pathological loss of recall
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
- fugueContrapuntal musical form
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
blocking · memory loss · blackout · psychological defense · coping mechanism · selective amnesia · mental escape
Franchise about alien-monitoring agents
- reprogrammingAltering original functional instructions
- cyberpunkDystopian tech-noir fiction
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
- neurotechnologyBrain-device interface discipline
amnesia
Pathological loss of recall
- obliterationTotal destruction or erasure
- deletionRemoval of content
- expungeDelete entirely, officially
effacement · eradication · purge · elimination · wiping · blanking · cleansing · scrubbing · voiding · clearing
brainwashing
Coercive psychological manipulation
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
reprogramming · conditioning · subjugation · thought control · propaganda · compliance · obedience · domination · programming
fresh start
Opportunity to restart unburdened
- clean slateRecord wiped clear
- rebirthSpiritual or physical regeneration
- tabula rasaUnmarked mental starting point
starting over · reinvention · second chance · new beginning · mental reset
amnesia
Pathological loss of recall
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
- fugueContrapuntal musical form
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
repression · blocking · memory loss · blackout · psychological defense · coping mechanism · selective amnesia · mental escape
Men in Black
Franchise about alien-monitoring agents
- reprogrammingAltering original functional instructions
- cyberpunkDystopian tech-noir fiction
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
mindwipingmemory preservation
Maintaining ability to recall
memory retention · remembering · memory enhancement · total recall · recollection
mindwipingmind uploading
Digitizing a person's consciousness
knowledge transfer · indoctrination · enlightenment · awakening · consciousness expansion