md
December 25th 07, 07:32 PM
frankly, 'reality control'. In
Newspeak it is called doublethink, though doublethink comprises much else
as well.
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in
one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party
intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he
therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise
of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The
process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient
precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a
feeling of falsity and hence of guilt. Doublethink lies at the very heart
of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious
deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete
honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to
forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes
necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is
needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to
take account of the reality which one denies -- all this is indispe
Newspeak it is called doublethink, though doublethink comprises much else
as well.
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in
one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party
intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he
therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise
of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The
process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient
precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a
feeling of falsity and hence of guilt. Doublethink lies at the very heart
of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious
deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete
honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to
forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes
necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is
needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to
take account of the reality which one denies -- all this is indispe