Doublethinking

The Orwellian capacity, often enforced by a group or regime, to hold two contradictory beliefs simultaneously and accept both, especially as a result of political indoctreration. The group learns to consciously engage in intellectual dishonesty to remain loyal, accepting that "war is peace," "freedom is slavery," and that the party's latest doctrine has always been true, even if it directly contradicts yesterday's truth. It is groupthink weaponized to break individual reasoning.

Example: In a totalitarian state, citizens practice Doublethinking by genuinely celebrating both the leader's supreme, infallible genius and the constant purges of his closest advisers for "treasonous errors." The group norm requires accepting that the leader could never make a mistake, and that the disgraced advisers were always flawed, without perceiving the contradiction.

by Dumuabzu February 5, 2026