George Orwell
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The Media also use it to a great extent.A dangerous new craze has been infecting our nations youth... bible reading.66% Voted for by petethemeat, Makessenseright, Energizer Bunny, nanoinfinity.
This insidious past-time has a bloody history to it, historians believe it played a key role in many bloodbaths, including the crusades and the Spanish inquisition.
Indeed the tome itself graphically portrays scenes of murder, rape and incest- all staining the minds of our youngest and most vulnerable.
Groups of bible abusers often meet in seedy areas known as churches. There has been reports of the leader of these churches known as priests to have sexually abused children in the name of the bible - some poor youths have actually believed this nefarious lie.
Cathy Stewart of BibleBgone pressure group- believes that banning bibles is the only answer- "Bible reading has been linked to the murder of doctors and pregnant women, as well as the burning alive of harmless female OAP's - Ban Bibles Now!"
Please note that this is all satirical done in the style of media spin- I do not believe bibles are dangerous... I deliberately used this topic to show the power of spin on something so harmless. -
To give an exampleWhat got me thinking about this - really thinking was the Israeli campaign in Lebanon last year (remember that one?). Over here, we had an Israeli official come on t'radio and talk about who was responsible. He said that, since the Lebanese government had responsibility for controlling their border yet insurgents had still used it to mount attacks on Israeli territory, then they were responsible for the attacks themselves, and therefore the war was their fault. Is this not manipulating the word 'responsible', switching between two possible meanings - i.e., responsible as in 'in charge of' and responsible as in 'blameful for'? What do we think? Can anyone think of any other decent, recent examples of this sort of linguistic skullduggery?Voted for by Lost Identity.
I must point out that I'm not particularly interested in anybody's opinion on the Israel-Palestine debate. I'd like this discussion to be primarily concerned with linguistics and politics. -
hypnotic languagethis kind of influential language is everywhere these days, you just have to know it to see it, and for those of you who don't think it exists, i'd be happy to give you some examples or anything.....Voted for by hypnorocker.
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May 1, 2007
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To follow uup on your point, though, logic, in general, is flawed, because we equate one concept with another through the medium of languages that have as many interpretations as to meaning (which, as meaning, itself, is a concept, could be argued indefinitely regarding the exact definition of the word as per interpretations for different circumstances) as there are individuals to have an opinion. Because none of us can truly know exactly what is going on the mind of another person, we use language as a medium with which to communicate, although we do so only by decreasing the probability of alternate interpretations. Our language, our communications, and our perceptions are not exact, they are concepts relative to the observer and the oberserver's peers. This is why there are miscommunications. Spin artists don't just lie, they convey to us a way in which some obscure person COULD have interpreted the events/ phrases in question. It isn't just spin artists, though, we all do it, such as when we're having a conversation with a beautiful stranger and the burly mate comes over and you say, "So, our church meeting is at 8pm, feel free to call for directions." As a sidenote, as you've stated yourself, this "new craze" has been going on for some time, and so can hardly be said to be a "new" craze, as you put it.
Makessenseright
May 1, 2007
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Good example
That's a good example of how sharing only half the story, a using extreme language can totally alter how we perceive a situation.Jackymania
May 5, 2007
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valid points
firstwordspoken..........you have given some very valid points and basic facts about language and communications...... kudosPlease register or login to comment! It's totally free