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{{short description|Expression for unorthodox thoughts in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four}}
⚫ {{Redirect|Crimethink|the anarchist organisation/experiment|CrimethInc.}}
{{Other uses|Thoughtcrime (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
⚫ {{redirect|Crimethink|the anarchist organisation/experiment|CrimethInc.}}


In the ]n novel '']'' by ], '''thoughtcrime''' is the criminal act of holding unspoken beliefs or doubts that oppose or question the ruling party. In the book, the government attempts to control not only the speech and actions, but also the ]s of its subjects. Unacceptable thought is known as '''crimethink''' in ], the ideologically purified dialect of the party.<ref>{{Citation |last=Orwell |first=George |last2=Rovere |first2=Richard Halworth |title=The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage |page=409 |year=1984 |origyear=1956 |location=San Diego |publisher=Harcourt, Brace |isbn=0-15-670176-6 }}.</ref> In the book, ], the main character, writes in his diary: "Thoughtcrime does not entail death: thoughtcrime ''is'' death." In the dystopian novel '']'', '''thoughtcrime''' is the offense of thinking in ways not approved by the ruling ] party. In the official language of ], the word '''crimethink''' describes the intellectual actions of a person who entertains and holds politically unacceptable thoughts; thus the government of The Party controls the speech, the actions, and the thoughts of the citizens of Oceania.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Orwell |first1=George |last2=Rovere |first2=Richard Halworth |title=The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage |page= |year=1984 |orig-year=1956 |location=San Diego |publisher=Harcourt, Brace |isbn=978-0-15-670176-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/orwellreader00geor_0/page/409 }}.</ref>


In contemporary English usage, the word ''thoughtcrime'' describes the personal beliefs that are contrary to the accepted norms of society; thus thoughtcrime describes the theological practices of disbelief and ],<ref>Lewis, David. ''Papers in Ethics and Social Philosophy'' (2000), Volume 3, p. 107.</ref> and the rejection of an ].<ref>Glasby, John. ''Evidence, Policy and Practice: Critical Perspectives in Health and Social Care'' (2011), p. 22.</ref>
== Thought Police ==<!-- This section is linked from ] -->

==Thought control==
{{main|Thought Police}} {{main|Thought Police}}
The '''Thought Police''' (''thinkpol'' in Newspeak) are the ] of the novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. It is their job to uncover and punish ''thoughtcrime''. The Thought Police use ] and psychological monitoring to find and eliminate members of society who challenge the party's authority and ideology.<ref>{{Citation |last=McCormick |first=Donald |title=Approaching 1984 |page=21 |year=1980 |location=Newton Abbot, Devon, England |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=0-7153-7654-3 }}.</ref> In the story of ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', the ''Thinkpol'' (Thought Police) are responsible for the detection and elimination of thoughtcrime, and for the social control of the populations of ], by way of ] and ]. Such psychological monitoring allows the Thought Police to detect, arrest, and kill thought criminals, citizens whose independence (intellectual, mental, and moral) challenges the political orthodoxy of Ingsoc (]) and thus the ] government authority of ].<ref>{{Citation |last=McCormick |first=Donald |title=Approaching 1984 |page=21 |year=1980 |location=Newton Abbot, Devon, England |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=978-0-7153-7654-6 }}.</ref> In the detection of thoughtcrime—and to overcome the physical impossibility of simultaneously policing every citizen of Oceania—the Thinkpol spy upon the populace through ubiquitous two-way ]s, and so can monitor any person's ], reflexive speech, and facial expressions:


⚫ {{Quote|Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by the ]; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was, of course, no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.|Part I, Chapter 1, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''}}
The ] of Orwell and their pursuit of ''thoughtcrime'' were based on the methods used by the ] states and ] of the 20th century. They are a satirical expression of Orwell's "power of facing unpleasant facts" and his willingness to criticise prevailing ideas, which brought him into conflict with others and their "smelly little orthodoxies".


The universal, physical presence of the telescreen, in public and in private spaces, exerted psychological pressure upon each citizen of Oceania to presume that they were under constant Thinkpol surveillance, and thus in danger of detection and arrest as a thought criminal; thus, whenever near a telescreen, Winston Smith was always mindful of that possibility: "If you made unexpected movements, they yelled at you from the telescreen."<ref>Part III, Chapter 1, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949)</ref> Such surveillance methods allowed the Thinkpol and the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) to become universally feared by the citizens of Oceania, especially by the members of the Outer Party, which includes Winston Smith.
The term "Thought Police", by extension, has come to refer to real or perceived enforcement of ideological correctness.


===Crimestop===
== Technology and thoughtcrime ==
{{Redirect|Crimestop|anonymous crime reporting|CrimeStoppers}}
Technology played a significant part in the detection of ''thoughtcrime'' in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''—with the ubiquitous ]s which could inform the government, misinform and monitor the population. The citizens of Oceania are watched by the ] through the telescreens. Every movement, reflex, facial expression, and reaction is measured by this system, monitored by the ].
In the ] vocabulary, the word '''crimestop''' denotes the citizen's instinctive desire to rid himself of unwanted, incorrect thoughts (personal and political), the discovery of which, by the Thinkpol, would lead to detection and arrest, transport to and interrogation at Miniluv (Ministry of Love). The protagonist, ], describes crimestop as a conscious process of self-imposed ]:


{{quote|The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak. . . . He set to work to exercise himself in crimestop. He presented himself with propositions—'the Party says the Earth is flat', 'the Party says that ice is heavier than water'—and trained himself in not seeing or not understanding the arguments that contradicted them.}}
⚫ {{Quote|Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.|Part I, Chapter I, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''}}


Moreover, from the perspective of Oceania's principal enemy of the state, in the history book '']'', Emmanuel Goldstein said that:
At times, it seems as if the telescreen is constantly watching each citizen. Winston Smith recognises that he has no idea who is behind the technology, watching him or anyone else.


{{quote|''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.<ref>Orwell, George. ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949) Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, London, pp. 220–21.</ref>}}
{{Quote|If you made unexpected movements they yelled at you from the telescreen.|Part III, Chapter I, ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''}}
==In real life==

Various groups such as human rights organizations, journalists and activists have likened the Iranian regime, along with the IRIB and IRGC, to an Orwellian government. This sentiment is due to reports of the Iranian government distributing death sentences for the crime of "advertising against the holy system". “Zabane eghelab”, an Iranian phrase that translates to “tongue of revolution”, is used to describe the rhetoric used by the government to maintain ideological dominance over the population and is often compared to newspeak.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-10 |title=When the Thought Police Come for You |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/when-the-thought-police-c_b_7766282 |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-07 |title=قاضی‌هایی که طناب دار را گره می‌زنند |url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/c51g5zw1536o |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=BBC News فارسی |language=fa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wright |first=Robin |date=2018-06-14 |title=Iran's Orwellian Arrest of Its Leading Female Human-Rights Lawyer |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/irans-orwellian-arrest-of-a-leading-human-rights-lawyer |access-date=2024-02-19 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-20 |title=جمهوری اسلامی و اورول؛ در جهان ۱۹۸۴ رسانه بوق است |url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/blog-viewpoints-51181561 |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=BBC News فارسی |language=fa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Esfandiari |first=Golnaz |title=In Iran, No Space On Cyberspace For Dissenting Voices As Tehran Takes 'Orwellian Approach' To Muffle Critics |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/in-iran-no-space-on-cyberspace-for-dissenting-voices-as-tehran-takes-orwellian-approach-to-muffle-critics/30680295.html |access-date=2024-02-19 |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=مستند: «تبلیغ علیه نظام مقدس» |date=2024-02-17 |url=https://ir.voanews.com/a/7491762.html |access-date=2024-02-19 |language=fa}}</ref>
Because of this system of surveillance, the Thought Police and the Ministry of Love become universally feared by any member of the Outer Party or any one of the 'Proles' who is capable (or felt by the Party to be capable) of thoughtcrime.


== See also == == See also ==
* ] * ]
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* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* '']'', a 2003 film
*]


== References == == References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}


== Further reading == == Further reading ==
*{{Citation |last=Kretzmer |first=David |editor2-last=Kershman |editor2-first=Hazan Francine |year=2000 |title=Freedom of Speech and Incitement Against Democracy |publisher=Kluwer Law International |location=The Hague, Netherlands |isbn=90-411-1341-X }}. * {{Citation |last=Kretzmer |first=David |editor-last=Kershman |editor-first=Hazan Francine |year=2000 |title=Freedom of Speech and Incitement Against Democracy |publisher=Kluwer Law International |location=The Hague, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-411-1341-2 |ref=none}}.
* {{cite journal | last=Swaine | first=Lucas | title=Freedom of Thought as a Basic Liberty | journal=Political Theory | volume=46 | issue=3 | date= 2016 | issn=0090-5917 | doi=10.1177/0090591716676293 | pages=405–425| s2cid=151827391 }}


{{Nineteen Eighty-Four}}
== External links ==

* Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc. "''''".
* The Essayist, "''''" 24 July 1998.
* Evenson, Brad, "''''". National Post, 8 February 2003.
* Peabody, Michael "," Liberty Magazine, March/April 2008.
* Reuters, "'': U.S. Toughens Child Pornography Law''". 2 October 1996.
* ''Guardian'' report: 25 July 2000.
* New York Post, "''''". 3 March 2012.


{{1984}}


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Latest revision as of 08:44, 13 January 2025

Expression for unorthodox thoughts in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four "Crimethink" redirects here. For the anarchist organisation/experiment, see CrimethInc. For other uses, see Thoughtcrime (disambiguation).

In the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, thoughtcrime is the offense of thinking in ways not approved by the ruling Ingsoc party. In the official language of Newspeak, the word crimethink describes the intellectual actions of a person who entertains and holds politically unacceptable thoughts; thus the government of The Party controls the speech, the actions, and the thoughts of the citizens of Oceania.

In contemporary English usage, the word thoughtcrime describes the personal beliefs that are contrary to the accepted norms of society; thus thoughtcrime describes the theological practices of disbelief and idolatry, and the rejection of an ideology.

Thought control

Main article: Thought Police

In the story of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Thinkpol (Thought Police) are responsible for the detection and elimination of thoughtcrime, and for the social control of the populations of Oceania, by way of audio-visual surveillance and offender profiling. Such psychological monitoring allows the Thought Police to detect, arrest, and kill thought criminals, citizens whose independence (intellectual, mental, and moral) challenges the political orthodoxy of Ingsoc (English Socialism) and thus the legitimate government authority of the Party. In the detection of thoughtcrime—and to overcome the physical impossibility of simultaneously policing every citizen of Oceania—the Thinkpol spy upon the populace through ubiquitous two-way telescreens, and so can monitor any person's body language, reflexive speech, and facial expressions:

Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by the telescreen; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was, of course, no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.

— Part I, Chapter 1, Nineteen Eighty-Four

The universal, physical presence of the telescreen, in public and in private spaces, exerted psychological pressure upon each citizen of Oceania to presume that they were under constant Thinkpol surveillance, and thus in danger of detection and arrest as a thought criminal; thus, whenever near a telescreen, Winston Smith was always mindful of that possibility: "If you made unexpected movements, they yelled at you from the telescreen." Such surveillance methods allowed the Thinkpol and the Ministry of Love (Miniluv) to become universally feared by the citizens of Oceania, especially by the members of the Outer Party, which includes Winston Smith.

Crimestop

"Crimestop" redirects here. For anonymous crime reporting, see CrimeStoppers.

In the Newspeak vocabulary, the word crimestop denotes the citizen's instinctive desire to rid himself of unwanted, incorrect thoughts (personal and political), the discovery of which, by the Thinkpol, would lead to detection and arrest, transport to and interrogation at Miniluv (Ministry of Love). The protagonist, Winston Smith, describes crimestop as a conscious process of self-imposed cognitive dissonance:

The mind should develop a blind spot whenever a dangerous thought presented itself. The process should be automatic, instinctive. Crimestop, they called it in Newspeak. . . . He set to work to exercise himself in crimestop. He presented himself with propositions—'the Party says the Earth is flat', 'the Party says that ice is heavier than water'—and trained himself in not seeing or not understanding the arguments that contradicted them.

Moreover, from the perspective of Oceania's principal enemy of the state, in the history book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, Emmanuel Goldstein said that:

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.

In real life

Various groups such as human rights organizations, journalists and activists have likened the Iranian regime, along with the IRIB and IRGC, to an Orwellian government. This sentiment is due to reports of the Iranian government distributing death sentences for the crime of "advertising against the holy system". “Zabane eghelab”, an Iranian phrase that translates to “tongue of revolution”, is used to describe the rhetoric used by the government to maintain ideological dominance over the population and is often compared to newspeak.

See also

References

  1. Orwell, George; Rovere, Richard Halworth (1984) , The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage, San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, p. 409, ISBN 978-0-15-670176-1.
  2. Lewis, David. Papers in Ethics and Social Philosophy (2000), Volume 3, p. 107.
  3. Glasby, John. Evidence, Policy and Practice: Critical Perspectives in Health and Social Care (2011), p. 22.
  4. McCormick, Donald (1980), Approaching 1984, Newton Abbot, Devon, England: David & Charles, p. 21, ISBN 978-0-7153-7654-6.
  5. Part III, Chapter 1, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)
  6. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, London, pp. 220–21.
  7. "When the Thought Police Come for You". HuffPost. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  8. "قاضی‌هایی که طناب دار را گره می‌زنند". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 7 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  9. Wright, Robin (14 June 2018). "Iran's Orwellian Arrest of Its Leading Female Human-Rights Lawyer". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  10. "جمهوری اسلامی و اورول؛ در جهان ۱۹۸۴ رسانه بوق است". BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 20 January 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  11. Esfandiari, Golnaz. "In Iran, No Space On Cyberspace For Dissenting Voices As Tehran Takes 'Orwellian Approach' To Muffle Critics". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  12. مستند: «تبلیغ علیه نظام مقدس» (in Persian), 17 February 2024, retrieved 19 February 2024

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George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
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