How to Coach Yourself and Others Beware of Manipulation | Page 201

Edward S. Herman, political economist and media analyst, has highlighted some examples of
doublespeak and doublethink in modern society. Herman describes in his book, Beyond Hypocrisy the
principle characteristics of doublespeak;
What is really important in the world of doublespeak is
the ability to lie, whether knowingly or unconsciously,
and to get away with it; and the ability to use lies and
choose and shape facts selectively, blocking out those
that don’t fit an agenda or program. In his essay
"Politics and the English Language", George Orwell
observes that political language serves to distort and
obfuscate reality. Orwell’s description of political
speech is extremely similar to the contemporary
definition of doublespeak;
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the
defense of the indefensible… Thus political language
has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging
and sheer cloudy vagueness… the great enemy of clear
language is insincerity. Where there is a gap between
one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were
instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, ...
Theoretical Approaches although the theories that
premise doublespeak are still indefinite, there are some
theories that have parallels with the theory of
doublespeak and Orwell's ideology in Nineteen Eighty-Four and might possibly provide a better
understanding of where doublespeak's theories could have come from