Dr Meryl Nass seems to be firing on all worldly cylnders at all times. I wonder if Santa has an impressive army of little helpers.
The Orwell quote on Russian totalitarianism is interesting; probably quite apt in the 1940s. The first comment zooms in on this. I wonder how he would have phrased it today
The AAPS article itself is thought-provoking. AAPS itself arose from a Christian right perspective so you might find some value judgments in there whose labels could do with the application of the critical thinking the article itself advocates.
ED
Can we start to speak plainly? Try practicing right now.
Professional language, and even some casual language, frequently obscures meaning rather than illuminates. Is this a reflection of our society, in which truth is very hard to come by?
An unattributed article in the journal of the American Association of Phyicians and Surgeons grabbed so many wonderful turns of phrase from George Orwell that I had to reproduce them. I am going to savor these phrases, roll them around in my mouth, and remind my friends of them. Letās stop being āpolite.ā Can we simply say what we mean? Can the beating around the bush end? It will be very hard to convince people of the wonders of the Great Reset if you have to actually tell them what you mean.
Your mother might have encouraged you when other kids said mean things: āwords will never hurt you.ā But words are more powerful than sticks and stones. False accusations can ruin your career, as in sham peer review, unwarranted reports to medical boards, or sexual harassment allegations.
Saying the wrong words today can also ruin you, if you are accused of microaggression, misgendering, or misinformation.
Changing the meaning of words can also make evil seem good, or good evilāand even destroy a civilization.
As George Orwell wrote in his essay āPolitics and the English Languageā: āIn our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensibleā¦. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vaguenessā¦. Consider for instance some comfortable English professor defending Russian totalitarianism. He cannot say outright, āI believe in killing off your opponents when you can get good results by doing soāā (Politics and the English Language | The Orwell Foundation ).
Political language, including that in medical journals, is generally complex and elaborate. Orwell writes: āThe inflated style is itself a kind of euphemismā¦. The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between oneās real and oneās declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out [black] inkā¦. Political languageā¦is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.ā ā¦