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George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

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Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#51

Post by bitwize »

feralimal wrote: post #10

Great to hear that science (neuroscience) here is catching up with Orwell. It is a great book, and Orwell was spot on with so much of what he wrote. How did he do it? I think I know. I don't think Orwell (Erik Blair) was writing a book about a dystopian future. No. I think he was writing about the dystopian present he was already aware of, and then projecting that a little into the future. From personal experience wi…

> No. I think he was writing about the dystopian present he was already aware of, and then projecting that a little into the future.

He was extrapolating mostly from Stalin's USSR. This is well-known.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#52

Post by graderjs »

aebtebeten wrote: post #40
graderjs wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like your take. My take, is that Orwell is actually a closet totalitarian, and was singing the praises of such, albeit covertly and in the guise which he knew the public could fawn about and accept. I imagine Orwell smoking his pipe and chuckling to himself, "...and they thought it was against totalitarianism, that's why they swallowed it whole!" After all, the Party is really the victor and hero of the novel. The…

Having read other Orwell works, in which he appears pretty pinko, I'm not sure about your take, but am happy to discuss its motivations. Certainly I believe that he could chuckle over Animal Farm being eagerly taken up and sold as an anti-communist, rather than an anti-dog-and-pig, book.

Well, I think if you take that to the extreme you end up with totalitarian.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#53

Post by dennis_jeeves »

Yajirobe wrote: post #3
dennis_jeeves wrote: post #2

From the article: >Are such perceptual and cognitive distortions possible? Is this unknown? I think it's been know for a long time. What is difficult is reliably use it to get a desired result. FYI, most of the HN crowd here are proles here who are incapable of identifying any truth in Orwell's writings.

> FYI, most of the HN crowd here are proles here who are incapable of identifying any truth in Orwell's writings. can u elaborate

I have been down voted _and_ flagged. See what I mean?

Like someone mentioned here, they buy into the larger propaganda, which could be the govt, society, a professional group, a cultural group etc.

Their have no ability of independent thought, anyone with a different point of view other than what their thought leaders suggests can be the target of their ire.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#54

Post by dennis_jeeves »

feralimal wrote: post #44
gameswithgo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly i say this not to be mean but to try and help, it sounds like you are not mentally well. There are many real threats to the well being of the masses enacted by various powerful people and groups but masks and vaccines are not one. they are just the best way we know how to deal with a virus that is killing thousands of people a day.

My ability to comment has been restricted apparently - "I'm commenting too fast." My last post was 3hrs ago. I have expressed an opinion that Covid is a mass hoax being perpetrated on humanity to weaken the general population and entrench those who govern us still further - that we have been living in 1984 since at least 1948. Apparently this is not an opinion that can be allowed on HN - it needs to be quashed. (If a…

feralimal, I cannot upvote you more than once, pity.

Lol, someone once commented that I was mentally unwell, when I suggested that most people around us are nuts.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#56

Post by feralimal »

dennis_jeeves wrote: post #54
feralimal wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My ability to comment has been restricted apparently - "I'm commenting too fast." My last post was 3hrs ago. I have expressed an opinion that Covid is a mass hoax being perpetrated on humanity to weaken the general population and entrench those who govern us still further - that we have been living in 1984 since at least 1948. Apparently this is not an opinion that can be allowed on HN - it needs to be quashed. (If a…

feralimal, I cannot upvote you more than once, pity. Lol, someone once commented that I was mentally unwell, when I suggested that most people around us are nuts.

Thank you! I've been getting some flak on my 1984 comments!

On mental health, I still like the old quote: "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" (Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Cheers!

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#57

Post by Enginerrrd »

kardianos wrote: post #29
Enginerrrd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, my wife is a nurse in an ICU that has had to triple capacity in the last 6 weeks and still has less than 15% capacity remaining, so, yeah, I'd imagine I'd have some inkling.

So, like 2018? https://www.statnews.com/2018/01/15/flu-hospital-pandemics/ SARS2-COVID-19 is a novel virus. True. Would we notice without modern medicine and rtPCR tests? I'm not convinced.

>Would we notice without modern medicine and rtPCR tests? I'm not convinced.

With all due respect, this statement tells me with near-certainty that you've never worked a patient-facing role in healthcare. The fact that you feel free to espouse your opinion on the subject directly related to patient-facing care should be a red flag to you.

I have worked in healthcare as a paramedic. My wife is a nurse. My mother is a nurse. My brother-in-law is an MD. The public-health policy makers usually have worked in patient-facing healthcare. My local public health director was one of the best and brightest physicians I've EVER met. He cut his teeth working on eradicating smallpox in his youth, and has remarkable depth in his knowledge of epidemiology. ...All of us agree that this definitely IS different than the status quo. It is NOT different from historical precedent though, and there are many people that are quite alert to these things. These same people would notice unusual clusters of patients suggesting a terrorist attack, chemical exposure, water contamination, etc. Just because it requires knowledge you do not have doesn't mean that experts wouldn't have identified this. Which, funny enough, is exactly what DID happen.

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#58

Post by dennis_jeeves »

feralimal wrote: post #56
dennis_jeeves wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

feralimal, I cannot upvote you more than once, pity. Lol, someone once commented that I was mentally unwell, when I suggested that most people around us are nuts.

Thank you! I've been getting some flak on my 1984 comments! On mental health, I still like the old quote: "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" (Jiddu Krishnamurti) Cheers!

That is actually a great quote. I actually have that quote ( along with some of mine) listed on a webpage:

https://realminority.wordpress.com/quotes/

Re: George Orwell’s 1984 through a neuroscience lens

#60

Post by ukj »

mistermann wrote: post #59
ukj wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It stands indeed. It stands a few lines below the answer.

The answer being...?

>Falsifying one’s own biases is much more fun...

Meaning... Looking for evidence AGAINST the very thing you've convinced yourself of.

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