doublethink
Holding opposing truths
Doublethink is the mental capacity to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and accept both as true.
George Orwell coined the term in *1984* to describe how totalitarian regimes condition citizens to embrace logical impossibilities: war is peace, freedom is slavery.
The word now applies broadly to any willful self-deception or cognitive dissonance that allows someone to ignore contradictions in their own thinking: The company's doublethink lets them claim environmental leadership while expanding oil drilling.
Totalitarian surveillance authority
- thoughtcrimeProhibited beliefs under authoritarianism
- OceaniaPacific island collective
- Ministry of TruthState falsification agency
- memory holeDevice for erasing history
unperson · telescreen · Room 101 · proles · blackwhite · goodthink · duckspeak · 1984
Discomfort from contradictory beliefs
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- mental gymnasticsConvoluted reasoning to justify beliefs
- rationalizationInventing acceptable motives afterward
denial · contradiction · ambivalence · motivated reasoning · confirmation bias · willful ignorance · selective attention · mind games
Systematic uncritical belief instillation
- brainwashingCoercive psychological manipulation
- disinformationIntentional deceptive falsehoods
- spinRapid rotation around axis
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
gaslighting · messaging · narrative control · echo chamber · talking points · reframing · manufactured consent · agitprop
State controls everything absolutely
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- regimeSystem of governance
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
surveillance state · party line · orthodoxy · state media · revisionism · airbrushing · cover-up · ideological conformity
Big Brother
Totalitarian surveillance authority
- thoughtcrimeProhibited beliefs under authoritarianism
- OceaniaPacific island collective
- Ministry of TruthState falsification agency
memory hole · unperson · telescreen · Room 101 · proles · blackwhite · goodthink · duckspeak · 1984 · Winston Smith
cognitive dissonance
Discomfort from contradictory beliefs
- compartmentalizationDivision into distinct sections
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- mental gymnasticsConvoluted reasoning to justify beliefs
rationalization · denial · contradiction · ambivalence · motivated reasoning · confirmation bias · willful ignorance · selective attention · mind games · bad faith
indoctrination
Systematic uncritical belief instillation
- brainwashingCoercive psychological manipulation
- disinformationIntentional deceptive falsehoods
- spinRapid rotation around axis
manipulation · gaslighting · messaging · narrative control · echo chamber · talking points · reframing · manufactured consent · agitprop · sloganeering
totalitarianism
State controls everything absolutely
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- regimeSystem of governance
oppression · surveillance state · party line · orthodoxy · state media · revisionism · airbrushing · cover-up · ideological conformity · loyalty test
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- Sci-Fi/Fantasywand, spell, potion, rune, incantation
- Coined Wordschortle, galumph, nerd, robot, quark
- AllusionsAchilles heel, Pandora's box, Trojan horse, forbidden fruit, Midas touch
- contradictionsparadox, oxymoron, contradiction, paradoxes, oxymorons
- Literary Phrasesto be or not to be, carpe diem, et tu Brute, call me Ishmael, once upon a time
doublethinklogical consistency
Freedom from self-contradiction
coherence · rational thought · consistency · clear thinking · non-contradiction
doublethinkintellectual honesty
Commitment to truth over ego
truthfulness · sincerity · candor · self-awareness · acknowledgment
doublethinkfreethinking
Intellectually independent reasoning
skepticism · questioning · dissent · nonconformity · free thought
think, double, thought, thinking, doubled, thinker, thinks, rethink, doubling