5 ms·

> On the other, Rao much more optimistic than Orwell, who declared doublespeak the lingua franca? If time travel were possible, one of the first things I'd do

> On the other, Rao much more optimistic than Orwell, who declared doublespeak the lingua franca? If time travel were possible, one of the first things I'd do is introduce Orwell to the 'algospeak' of today. This would do two things, firstly it'd show him a decent piece of evidence that Newspeak isn't as effective a tool for limiting human thought as he believed, and secondly he'd have to write another version of Politics and the English Language aimed at the language sins of attention economy era social media.

PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
and then I'd show him a news broadcast from last week, where the president of the United States of America literally said "War is peace".
- wavemode 7mo ago
  Is the use of "literally" here, and the use of quotes, meant to be taken literally (as in, he literally said this)? Or is this the sense of "literally" which actually means "figuratively"?
  - yakz 7mo ago
    A post to the Truth Social account for Donald Trump included: "The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!" That's the closest thing I'm finding. Not seeing reporting that he literally said "war is peace".
    - rl1987 7mo ago
      That sounds more like "peace through superior firepower" rather than "war is peace".
      - pphysch 7mo ago
        There's a vast gulf between "having" superior firepower as a deterrent and "using" superior firepower for mass murder, particularly against elementary schools and desalination plants. The latter is war, at its worst.
      - nyeah 7mo ago
        Can we be literal? It means peace through using superior firepower to kill people.
        randallsquared 7mo ago
        Sure, but it's not equating the states of war and peace, but asserting that war is a method for achieving peace, presumably when everyone on the other side is incapable or undesirous of attacking or threatening same.
        tovej 7mo ago
        Are we forgetting the context of who started the war?
        randallsquared 7mo ago
        It's just not relevant to the statement "I'm punching until they can't punch back" who threw the first punch.
        deleted 7mo ago
        [deleted]
        tovej 7mo ago
        I'm not sure I follow. What I mean is that it makes no sense to say you're fighting a war to achieve peace if you're the one who started the war, breaking the peace that existed before then. If peace is your goal, then the status quo was already in line with your goal. Starting the war contradicts your stated goal of peace. Do I really have to spell all that out?
    - xorcist 7mo ago
      Beatings will continue until morale improves? You can't make this up.
    - deleted 7mo ago
      [deleted]
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
  - asdfasvea 7mo ago
    I love that we ruined our escape character in language. We now need a new way to convey to listeners that our words need to be taken literally. Perhaps the VBA method and just double the 'literally's: I took a flaming shot of tequila and my mouth is literally literally on fire
    - PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
      The escape term is "actually". "My mouth is actually on fire".
gsf_emergency_7 7mo ago
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PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago

and then I'd show him a news broadcast from last week, where the president of the United States of America literally said "War is peace".

wavemode 7mo ago
Is the use of "literally" here, and the use of quotes, meant to be taken literally (as in, he literally said this)? Or is this the sense of "literally" which actually means "figuratively"?
- yakz 7mo ago
  A post to the Truth Social account for Donald Trump included: "The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!" That's the closest thing I'm finding. Not seeing reporting that he literally said "war is peace".
  - rl1987 7mo ago
    That sounds more like "peace through superior firepower" rather than "war is peace".
    - pphysch 7mo ago
      There's a vast gulf between "having" superior firepower as a deterrent and "using" superior firepower for mass murder, particularly against elementary schools and desalination plants. The latter is war, at its worst.
    - nyeah 7mo ago
      Can we be literal? It means peace through using superior firepower to kill people.
      - randallsquared 7mo ago
        Sure, but it's not equating the states of war and peace, but asserting that war is a method for achieving peace, presumably when everyone on the other side is incapable or undesirous of attacking or threatening same.
        tovej 7mo ago
        Are we forgetting the context of who started the war?
        randallsquared 7mo ago
        It's just not relevant to the statement "I'm punching until they can't punch back" who threw the first punch.
        deleted 7mo ago
        [deleted]
        tovej 7mo ago
        I'm not sure I follow. What I mean is that it makes no sense to say you're fighting a war to achieve peace if you're the one who started the war, breaking the peace that existed before then. If peace is your goal, then the status quo was already in line with your goal. Starting the war contradicts your stated goal of peace. Do I really have to spell all that out?
  - xorcist 7mo ago
    Beatings will continue until morale improves? You can't make this up.
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- asdfasvea 7mo ago
  I love that we ruined our escape character in language. We now need a new way to convey to listeners that our words need to be taken literally. Perhaps the VBA method and just double the 'literally's: I took a flaming shot of tequila and my mouth is literally literally on fire
  - PaulDavisThe1st 7mo ago
    The escape term is "actually". "My mouth is actually on fire".

gsf_emergency_7 7mo ago

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