Mar 14 2008
Definition
Here’s the word of the day. A friend emailed me this definition today and I thought it would be useful, if not insightful, to see how prevalent you think this word is in our society.
Crimestop
Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to Ingsoc, and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity. But stupidity is not enough. On the contrary, orthodoxy in the full sense demands a control over one’s own mental processes as complete as that of a contortionist over his body.
This definition is from George Orwell’s famous book 1984, which, by the way, isn’t taught in many Southern California schools anymore.
It’s kind of fitting, isn’t it?
For more definitions and information on the world of Orwell’s 1984, see The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein.
Who’s Emmanuel Goldstein you ask? He’s actually a character in the novel.