Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room
Why George Orwell wrote 1984
40hz:
To define the terms and scope pf a discussion is to control it.
We're already seeing it happen today in the "nuanced" testimony and comments of those in power who place their own self-serving re-definitions on words such as: collateral, redaction, privileged, and legal
We can expect to see even more of this in the future if we continue to allow it to go unchallenged. Unchecked, and it will eventually lead to something resembling this scene in Orwell's 1984:
(Comrade Syme speaking to Winston Smith about how Newspeak, the chief tool of Big Brother, will eventually remove the cognitive capability to effect change.)
‘You haven’t a real appreciation of Newspeak, Winston,’
he said almost sadly. ‘Even when you write it you’re still
thinking in Oldspeak. I’ve read some of those pieces that
you write in ‘The Times’ occasionally. They’re good enough,
but they’re translations. In your heart you’d prefer to stick
to Oldspeak, with all its vagueness and its useless shades of
meaning. You don’t grasp the beauty of the destruction of
words. Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in
the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?’
Winston did know that, of course. He smiled, sympa-
thetically he hoped, not trusting himself to speak. Syme bit
off another fragment of the dark-coloured bread, chewed it
briefly, and went on:
‘Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to
narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make
thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no
words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever
be needed, will be expressed by exactly one word, with its
meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings
rubbed out and forgotten. Already, in the Eleventh Edition,
we’re not far from that point. But the process will still be
continuing long after you and I are dead. Every year fewer
and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a
little smaller. Even now, of course, there’s no reason or ex-
cuse for committing thoughtcrime. It’s merely a question
of self-discipline, reality-control. But in the end there won’t
be any need even for that. The Revolution will be com-
plete when the language is perfect.
Newspeak is Ingsoc and Ingsoc is Newspeak,’ he added with a sort of
mystical satisfaction. ‘Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the
year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will
be alive who could understand such a conversation as we
are having now?"
J-Mac:
Oh my... only 10 days into the new year and you guys are getting me depressed already. Well, that is, you guys AND any news article/program/etc. (And on my birthday, no less!)
I know that all this crap was still there back in the 1950s and 1960s, but I was too young to be anything other than blissfully ignorant of all of it. :)
Now let me go to my room and draw the shades, turn out the lights, and weep quietly in the knowledge that I have spent an entire lifetime without being able to change anything significantly.
Jim
PS- OK, OK... so the part about my room and weeping, etc. was crap. I actually went downstairs and ordered a pizza. 8)
40hz:
@J-Mac - First, I'd like to wish you a very Happy Birthday and a fantastic New Year.
Second, please consider: the main reason some of this discussion can get depressing is because there's still something to lose.
If the game were already over it wouldn't matter. But so as long as it feels disturbing, there's still hope. It's when it doesn't feel like anything that we'll really need to worry.
Or so it seems to me. ;) :Thmbsup:
P.S. Don't know about you, but a pizza (esp. a Sicilian or Red Margarita) has always been a terrific confidence booster for me! 8)
Renegade:
When you choose evil without coercion, even if it is a lesser evil, there's something seriously WRONG there.
-Renegade (January 10, 2014, 08:02 AM)
--- End quote ---
Not.. necessarily. Take a US election, with two candidates, and other marginalized ones. You can vote for the one that would do the least harm. Or you can vote for someone else. Or you can not vote at all.
Not voting at all is not making a choice. Similarly, if pragmatically your candidate won't win... that's not really a choice either. Those kinds of choices for the non-mainstream candidate are made before an election and during the campaign. Not at the ballots. Once it becomes obvious that the marginalized candidate won't win, all you do by voting for them is reduce the pool of effective votes.
Voting for the lesser evil in that case, is the pragmatic choice. You're not actually choosing the lesser evil- you're choosing against the greater one.
-wraith808 (January 10, 2014, 12:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
You are far more optimistic than I am.
As far as I can see, voting is at very best a complete waste of time. It's simply supporting controlled opposition where your choices are only facets of the same beast.
One of the beasts heads threatens you with X, and the other with Y. At any time those threats might change to J and K. Voting against X or Y or J or K is still supporting the beast and validating its existence.
The only rational option I can see is to not play the game, because by playing it, you are guaranteed to lose.
If the game were already over it wouldn't matter. But so as long as it feels disturbing, there's still hope. It's when it doesn't feel like anything that we'll really need to worry.
-40hz (January 10, 2014, 01:55 PM)
--- End quote ---
Excellent point.
To define the terms and scope pf a discussion is to control it.
We're already seeing it happen today in the "nuanced" testimony and comments of those in power who place their own self-serving re-definitions on words such as: collateral, redaction, privileged, and legal
We can expect to see even more of this in the future if we continue to allow it to go unchallenged. Unchecked, and it will eventually lead to something resembling this scene in Orwell's 1984:
-40hz (January 10, 2014, 12:21 PM)
--- End quote ---
Absolutely.
If we want to look at it humorously, the system is very Humpty Dumptyish:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12/pg12.txt
'And only ONE for birthday presents, you know. There's glory for you!'
'I don't know what you mean by "glory,"' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't--till I tell
you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument,"' Alice objected.
'When _I_ use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it
means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many
different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master--that's
all.'
--- End quote ---
While that may seem a bit extreme, it really isn't all that out of line with reality. You can look at any set of laws or any contract/agreement and you will always see a set of definitions. Quite often the definitions are far from what you would expect.
For example, when a police officer asks you if you "understand", that isn't asking whether or not you comprehend - it's asking if you agree. We're pretty far down the rabbit hole already...
But you can look in the news to find examples of truly twisted Orwellian language used on a daily basis. e.g. "Global warming" means that the world gets colder. Very double-plus-ungood. "National Security". Nuff said.
We still have a lot to lose. The way things are going, we're headed for "Camp Earth" where everywhere is like Camp 14. A prison planet if you will.
IainB:
So whenever given a choice between A and B, it's important to remember there's also a third option: neither.
-40hz (January 09, 2014, 09:58 PM)
--- End quote ---
Exactly.
On the topic of total control...
Camp 14 : Total Control Zone
FAIR WARNING: This is about a fellow who was born into a North Korean death camp and escaped. It might not be all that wonderful for some to watch. Of particular note is how and what he thought, e.g. that beating a girl to death in a school classroom was normal, that torture was normal, that he thought the rest of the world was exactly like where he was, etc. Oddly enough, if you think about it a little bit, you probably know (or are) people who have similar though patterns, though your circumstances be different...
http://www.camp14-film.com/
______________________________
-Renegade (January 10, 2014, 01:03 AM)
--- End quote ---
Very interesting movie. Thanks for the link.
We have the capability to hold different paradigms and images in our minds. The image that is in our minds of "the way things are" tends to be set by our experiences/interpretations of what passes for us as reality. We might never even question it, though when it is challenged by a potentially contradictory opinion/view of reality, we may tend to fiercely protect it (e.g., as in some of the discussion above).
But there is also potentially an image of "the way things might/could be for the better". This idea was discussed in a rather profound and wise Stanford Research Institute report The Changing Images of Man. (You will read it when you are ready for it.)
In it, they gave a diagram illustrating a theory of mankind's development as being a constant spiralling push-pull dance between two changing things:
(a) The "operational" images of man in the minds of men;
(b) The "behavioural" image of man imposed by society.
Sometimes one thing has the role of leading, pulling the other upwards, then a role switch occurs as their paths briefly intersect. When they are furthest apart there would be the greatest tension and pressure to come together, but always forwards and upwards.
This theory offers a most profound piece of hope, requiring only imagination.
As Freddy Mercury sang:
"This could be Heaven.
This could be Heaven, for everyone."
_____________________
--- End quote ---
Some things stand repeating. There is potentially life-changing wisdom in this, for those who want to or can see/imagine the implications, which is why I repeat it here.
YMMV though. ;)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version