Newspeak: “In the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984), by George Orwell, Newspeak is the fictional language of Oceania, a totalitarian superstate. To meet the ideological requirements of Ingsoc (English Socialism) in Oceania, the Party created Newspeak, which is a controlled language of simplified grammar and limited vocabulary designed to reduce a person’s ability to think critically.”
See also: “the officer’s gun discharged” instead of “police shot the man”
I remember thinking this aspect of the book was far fetched, but holy shit was he spot on. Language really does inform how we think, and controlling that can be very powerful
Oh boy… are you opening the door to concept philosophy? Because that’s a fucking mind bender. First big assumption you need to let go of in this domain: mankind is not on some path of iterative progress where we find ourselves at the most knowledgeable and capable in the present. Rather, we’ve conveniently redefined what progress is in the first place.
I always thought Winston’s job, of literally rewriting history, would be an impossible task.
Nowadays? I’m not so sure. When we look at where most of the news comes from in America and follow the money up, you’ve got like 90% of it coming from about a dozen people.
Some of those people control LLMs along the way. They control our social media algorithms. They control the servers through which most of the internet routes their traffic. They control the certificate authorities that all of our web browsers intrinsically trust.
Shit even that sounded like a crazy conspiracy theory like 15 years ago, and while I’m being hyperbolic…I’m really not being that hyperbolic.
I always thought Winston’s job, of literally rewriting history, would be an impossible task.
They already are getting rid of the history of slavery. Banning it from schools, museums, etc.
Not closely related, but can when I was first reading the book, the idea of computer generated songs sounded like “flying future car” delusions, and learning AI in the early 2000’s even confirmed not the impossibility but the crazy limitations of all this.
I have just listened to a podcast last month that mentions how there are songs on Spotify made entirely by AI, and 97% of the people they asked couldn’t tell apart regular songs from the AI generated ones.
On one hand, it’s remarkable. On the other hand, we’re cooked. What’s even more depressing is that many-many, even more worrying things are getting pretty accurate. Maybe not back in 1984, but we’re witnessing the convergence.
Music makes sense though. There is a formula that gets followed to make 99% of the pop songs out there. Pop music is math, and computers are good at that.
Like, I can see AI replacing Ed Sheeran…but Thom Yorke? Completely different product.
Well, I didn’t necessary mean the structure of a song (that doesn’t have the complexity that would challenge an AI agent… in the early 2000’s, even), but more like coming up with their own lyrics that even make sense, and producing human speech with rhythm and musical tones.
The gun discharged, unprovoked
BBC bans journalists from telling the truth?
It’s so unprecedented!
/s
BBC is appeasing Trump. The UK is a lost cause. An Irrelevant ex-empire. Just like the US is going to be, once it finally implodes.
Can it please implode faster?
One part of me hopes so but if/when it does, I doubt something better will emerge - which is terrifying.
Kinda seems stupid to want to end it then, no?
Still has the largest navy in Europe so not irrelevant. More relevant if anything with US withdrawal.
Too bad the UK fluffs the US so hard 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
We know all their secrets. Who do you think they get to spy on their citizens?
As they say, keep your friends close…
They also murdered about 80 people when they kidnapped and trafficked them.
The BBC is no longer reputable
It stopped being reputable after the Iraq invasion in 2003. The Blair government stuffed it with loyalist apparatchiks to make sure the government line was never seriously questioned. This has been the case ever since.
September Dossier - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Dossier
The 45 minute claim lay at the centre of a dispute between Downing Street and the BBC. On 29 May 2003, BBC defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan filed a report for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in which he stated that an unnamed source – a senior British official – had told him that the September Dossier had been “sexed up”, and that the intelligence agencies were concerned about some “dubious” information contained within it – specifically the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of an order to use them.
It’s not a “war”, it’s a “special operation”. Anyone who says it’s a war is committing treason.
This was literally the header of the New York times on Sunday…Since only Congress has the power to declare war, people who care about accurate language (especially journalists!) use other terms to describe troop deployments outside officially declared wars.
The US military has had names for nearly all of their operations since the mid-1960s, and these traditionally have been used by the press. Operation Power Pack in 1965 (invasion of the Dominican Republic) was the first one I found in my cursory search.
Major ones I remember from my life include Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Strike (1990s), Operation Enduring Freedom (“war on terror” in Afghanistan after 9/11), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (“war on terror” expands inexplicably to Iraq).
This type of framing is not new, and it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a bunch of language nerds making sure that they use accurate terminology.
BBC is propaganda for the Empire.
Abducted, then
Perhaps “unfreed” could be used instead?
Adultnapped
Rehomed
Wouldn’t it be “unhomed”? ;)
Question : I break into someones home and take them to my home (from their bed) and lock them up. What’s that called?
It depends. What’s your net worth?
¿how many countries have you or the homeowners been el/la presidente of?
So if it’s a president, it’s not kidnapping, but just a surprise trip?
sparkling vacation
honestly, if the police does it with a warrant in their own country it’s certainly not called a kidnapping.
Hell, in the us right now they’re doing it without warrants
Depends on who’s writing history.
I’ll allow it, as long as they call it a war crime.
so much for that alleged freedom of the press
So BBC, while on the cusp of censorship for “defamation of Trump”, still sees it necessary to watch his arse?
These bootlickers man
They all have the same owners. Mainstream media is a compromised asset. Don’t go there for “news” they are all no better than fox these days.
Change “BBC” to “Global Media” and you are closer to the truth.
“Abducted” it is then.
