Doublethink

[kentuck]

Blackwhite is defined as follows:

“ ...this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink. ”

—Orwell, 1984

[patrice]

1. All of which implies that YOU have no way of knowing whether the blue pill is actually the red pill

and vice versa.

So, any honest person will admit that fact up front, when dealing with others, because that's about the ONLY thing you CAN do about it.

[Taitertots]

2. It is alive and well in America today

Obama is both: A Muslim and a radical African American Baptist.
Deficits are both: Acceptable when Bush does it and Egregious when Obama does.
The Fed is both: Good when Bush is in office and Going to destroy the economy when Obama is in office.
We help the unemployed by taking aid from them.
The Bush tax cut is good, but the Obama tax cut (crickets....)

[patrice]

3. Any grown up figures out empirically how much of which in what kind of interaction at a given moment

That's called Life.

[uppityperson]

4. Chocolate rations will be increased.

[patrice]

5. Now there's a tasty metaphor!! nt

[felix_numinous]

6. The suspension of belief is a very powerful tool

to prepare people's minds for dramatic changes in society. Conflicting data, especially if it is an exact opposite, creates an annihilation reaction in the mind, one cancels the other out psychologically, in order to diffuse reactions. Even though we know it is a lie, every time we come across the false name, it interferes with our reasoning center until we consciously decide not to suspend our belief.

Good examples of this are the laws named for their exact opposite, Clean Air Act and No Child Left Behind. The false names suspended belief long enough for these laws to be enacted. That is all the time they need.