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| George Orwell - Fabrizio Cassetta |
Two Orwellian concepts: Doublethink and Newspeak.
We live in the age of information; but are we open to hear all sides of a single issue or will we just hear what we want, what is more convenient for us, and stick to it? That is the million dollar question.
We live in the age of knowledge. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo etc made sure that we had all sorts of information available in seconds, to assist us in our intellectual evolution - an evolution that will come, and even though it may tarry, I will wait for it on any day that it will come. But do we all seek knowledge? Not at all. It's too time consuming, it occupies too much space of our mental-hard disk. And thus we fall prey to the Thought Police. We fall prey to fascists (be it Leftist or Rightist).
Do you Double-Think?
Yes, if you do the following:
"To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it (..) to forget, whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back into memory again at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again, and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself – that was the ultimate subtlety; consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved the use of doublethink" -- George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty Four
The above holds true in the case of politicians, the media, most of today's missionary and political activists.
Politicians
They are a perfect fit into the definition of Orwell's doublethink because they know the truth but when they speak and act they tell and decide based on "carefully constructed lies". They repudiate morality yet claim to it. They forget out of convenience and when convenient they recall.
Result of political doublethink: historical mistakes; disrespect for a People's history, traditions, culture; bloodshed.
Media
They know the truth but feel convenient to lie in order to stir emotions and profit from it. They consciously induce unconsciousness and then become unconscious of the hypnosis they performed.
Result of the media doublethink: mass brainwash; political interference; bloodshed.
Missionary Activists
One sided campaigners who, in their quest to create societal change from the grassroots, teach individuals a new language: Newspeak (i.e. controlled language used as a tool to limit freedom of thought and concepts [freedom, self-expression, individuality and peace] that represent a menace to their sponsors' regime/ideology). Old thought processes and potential acquisition of knowledge are erased so that a lie is always one step ahead of the truth.
Result of missionary activism doublethink: brainwash; collective hatred; racism.
Political Activists
One sided campaigners who, while working within the system to influence and create change, tamper with reality. They tell individuals deliberate lies while believing in them themselves. Any inconvenient fact is cast to oblivion, the objective reality is denied and taken into account at the same time, otherwise their activism is doomed to failure from inception.
Result of political activism doublethink: democratic demise; corruption; diplomatic terror.
Contemporary examples of Doublethink and Newspeak
A. The radical polarisation in US politics since 2001. Both conservatives and liberals distort reality and counterfeit facts. If we do not look for the facts ourselves we fall prey into their hands.
B. The International Left trying to persuade us that religion is the root of all problems while at the same time offering preferential treatment to Islam.
C. The International Community trying to convince us that we are very humanitarian when it comes to Africa while it destabilises it when convenient and when economically inconvenient rushes to the continent to fight the very same rebels it armed.
D. Newspeak: Palestine (legally the historical homeland of the Jewish People) is now an Arab country and "Jesus was a Palestinian". Doublethink: Arabs in Palestine were there before the Jews. Jerusalem is one of Islam's pillars (even though the city isn't even mentioned in the Quran). King Solomon and the Temple he built are a myth.
E. Fernado Collor de Mello was the bad guy and impeaching him was the best thing for Brazil (even though the accusations against him were baseless - but who dared to questioned whatsoever?). Vested interests and envy led to the removal of a decent politician who fought corrosive corruption (something rare in that country). What would've happened to Brazil if Collor de Mello hadn't been impeached?
Do you double-think? Are you proficient in Newspeak?
[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society. © 2007-2018 Author(s) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]
Comments
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Dissecting Society™ welcomes all sorts of comments, as we are strong advocates of freedom of speech; however, we reserve the right to delete Troll Activity; libellous and offensive comments (e.g. racist and anti-Semitic) plus those with excessive foul language. This blog does not view vulgarity as being protected by the right to free speech. Cheers
How do we avoid the doublethink? Everywhere we look and go we see biased information, how to decide which one is right?
ReplyDeleteHi Anon :D!
DeleteThe best way to avoid it is to get as much diverse information as you can - avoid sticking to one-sided opinions.
I would suggest you read history first (knowing history is the first step) and then read all sorts of opinions and informational pieces. The most important thing is to know all sides of the coin and then decide by yourself, not by what others tell you. That is real freedom.
Anon, thank you so much for your great comment :D.
Cheers
Hi Max like so much these subjects... most of time we are being subjected to trash info, propaganda, and while diverted, there are always someone thinking in what will be the next diversion.... so the truth can be stumbled upon here and then, unfortunately most of the times, to late so that we can take a real decision... wich is the one that can based in real facts. This is a tough post.... because nowadays the society trend is structuring to gain having several faces .... all the best!
ReplyDeleteHey Gallardo :D!
DeleteI like these subjects too and I glad you do as well.
You are correct about the amount of propaganda to which we are subjected nowadays. Like I told Anonymous: we need to look at all sides of the questions, we need to listen to every opinion and most of all we need to know the history of things. By knowing its genesis we are less exposed to manipulation. Let's just say that information is Power indeed.
Yes, I agree with you: it is a complex subject. However, we can still catch the loose thread :).
G, thank you so so much for your great comment :D.
Cheers
Hehehe loved the examples of doublethink. To me pro-Arab activists are the most thought controllers and Newspeakers of the century! They perverted the truth and created a new language to control public opinion about Israel and it's about time the process is reversed. Would we need to resort to doublethink as well? If so, so be it!
ReplyDeleteHey Ana :D!
DeleteWhy would we need to resort to doublethink?
Ana, thank you so much for your comment, girl :D.
Cheers
Anyone falling for the doublethink or practising doublethink is in what I call The Slumber of the Clueless! Those guys are clueless. Like you said Max, information is power, a kind of power accessible to anyone. Great post, btw!
ReplyDeleteHi Michael :D!
DeleteOh yeah, the Slumber of the Clueless: I had forgotten about it. Great stuff, man.
True. Accessible to anyone who bothers to look for it. It's a choice one makes between being manipulated and intellectually independent.
Thanks, I am glad you liked it *bowing*.
Mike, thank you so much for your comment, mate :D.
Cheers
Who me? You must be joking Max! You can't find a bigger singlethinker and a more pitiable failure in newsspeak than me.
ReplyDeleteHi Rummy :D!
DeleteLOL and that is why I am honoured to call you my friend *bowing*. I'm like you in that department.
Thank you so much for your comment :D.
Cheers
Hmmm. It seems to me that as the opinions out there become increasingly diverse, the opinions people hold become increasingly uniform.
ReplyDeleteI would add liberal arts professors to your list, except that might present a different problem: It you can't "think", then presumably you can neither single-think, nor double-think, nor triple-think.
Out here in California, the latest related event is the lynch mob going after the Los Angeles Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, for having made racist comments. Seems a bit double-kneejerkish to me, since I can't identify any participant in the story who has actually done some identifiable thinking yet.
Hi Looney :D!
DeleteIt is a paradox, isn't it? But the opinions only become uniform because people have become uniform, I think. They have selected a trend to follow and ceased to think for themselves; instead they repeat mantras without knowing the history of things.
You are right: I forgot about those. No, the thing is: you can't think for yourself; you must think what the collective thinks (which is the thoughts imposed by the regime, that makes use of doublethink to prevent you from thinking individually).
Ah, the Donald Sterling episode: something is not quite right in that story. I am not buying what is being sold, not entirely. I am not saying the man isn't a witless being (because in his position he should know better) but I am not buying the whole racist mask they are putting on the man...I mean, he slept with a black woman, he lives surrounded by black people and now he is am outright racist? Something is fishy but I don't know what is...
Looney, thank you so much for your comment :D. Always a pleasure.
Cheers
hmmmm, thats quite a food for thought. I agree with your thoughts completely. The only problem is there is no real solution at sight. We all believed Media to be as an watchdog of the society and disseminate genuine news for collective good, but today it has become a propaganda medium in its fight to gain high TRPs and falling bottomlines. Media have had enormous powers, proven from the fact that every government directly or indirectly try to control them through a carrot and stick approach, and every political party, when they get into power try to create a media house first. All over the world cutting all barriers, the first thing when a person wakes up in the morning is scroll through the newspapers or watch a news channel and if the media (especially the stronger ones) played a positive neutral role, things could well have been different.
ReplyDeleteIf I can come to a probable solution, whether feasable or not, maybe public funding (not government funding) through co-operative or societal funding may change things for the better.
Hi Kalyan :D!
DeleteWell, the best problems seem to be the ones with no visible solution at sight (for it exercises the mind better) ;)
Indeed, I also thought the media played that role: but apparently we were wrong. Neutrality is dead, my friend.
That sort of funding would propose another type of problem: the media would be open to foreign manipulation and propaganda - as it happens already in many countries around the world.
K, thank you so much for your comment :D. Always a pleasure.
Cheers