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Thought-terminating cliché

January 07, 2023

A thought-terminating cliché (also known as a semantic stop-sign, a thought-stopper, bumper sticker logic, or cliché thinking) is a form of loaded language, often passing as folk wisdom, intended to end an argument and quell cognitive dissonance.[1][2][3][4][5] Its function is to stop an argument from proceeding further, ending the debate with a cliché rather than a point.[2] Some such clichés are not inherently terminating; they only become so when used to intentionally dismiss dissent or justify fallacious logic.[6]

The term was popularized by Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, who referred to the use of the cliché, along with "loading the language", as "the language of non-thought".[1]

Origin and definitions

R. J. Lifton's definition

The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought-terminating cliché. The most far-reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief, highly reductive, definitive-sounding phrases, easily memorized, and easily expressed. They become the start and finish of any ideological analysis.

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, Chapter 22, Ideological Totalism (1961)

The earliest recorded definition of the term was published in Robert Jay Lifton's book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism in 1961 wherein he was describing the structure of language used by the Chinese Communist Party, defining the term as "the start and finish of any ideological analysis". It was listed as the sixth (of eight) totalistic themes.[1] The term is written under the sixth (of eight) criteria for thought reform 'Loading the Language', of which various authors and scholars also consider the term to be a form of loaded language.[1][7][8]

Charles "Chaz" Bufe in his book Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (1997) broadly put the use of the cliché as "thought-stopping phrases (that) include any use of the language, especially repeated phrases, to ward off forbidden thoughts" in describing his interactions with the Alcoholics Anonymous aid movement.[7] Author, show-host and doctor Robert "Bo" Bennett described the term as a substitute for "a person's actual position or argument with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version of the position of the argument" in his 2017 book Logically Fallacious, along with a proposed logical form of the cliché; "Person 1 makes claim Y. Claim Y sounds catchy. Therefore, claim Y is true."[6]

The Southern California law review, Volume 51, Part 1 describes the use of such clichés as "to capture the vehicles of thought and communication; 'Doctrine over reality' (which includes the rewriting of history and reinterpretation of one's past)" and as a property of 'ideological totalists'.[9]

Exception of the criteria

Bennett explains that exceptions are made to the use of phrases that would otherwise be considered thought-terminating, if they are used in addition to evidence or strong claims.[6]

Examples

  • "Lies of the devil." – Used as a response to any fact that threatens the integrity of an individual or group.[10]
  • "Stop thinking so much." – Redirects attention from the topic, idea, or argument at hand to the alleged overuse of thought itself.[11]
  • "It's all good." – Nullifies, without evidence, any possible debate by asserting the issue is already settled.[12]
  • "Here we go again." – Implies that the redundant, cyclical nature of a given disagreement means it will never be resolved.[13]
  • "So what? What effect does my action have?" – Used to dismiss an individual's involvement in a larger cause on the grounds that one person is too insignificant to ever have a meaningful impact.[4]
  • "Fake news." – Used to negate the sources of an argument, often while providing alternate or misleading information to push an individual's own interpretation of a subject. Usage popularized by politicians in the US in 2016.[14]

Criticism of use

Politics

A major criticism made by various journalists is that the use of the cliché tends to halt debate and restrict or censor freedom of speech, and it tends to be synonymous with language that would be used by totalitarian states as Lifton originally identified with Communist China. Chancellor Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany is remarked to have employed such clichés and platitudes to justify his actions prior and during the events of World War II for example.[15]

David Volodzko in The Diplomat in 2015 characterized China's justification for persecuting Tibetans, Uyghurs, Falun Gong, artists, journalists (including Liu Xiaobo), summed up as "for security reasons" as a thought-terminating cliché, going on to say "that's every bit as vapid as 'God moves in a mysterious way' or 'support our troops'. What it really means is that the Party is more important than the people."[16]

Religion

An example of the cliché in use provided by Chaz Bufe is "the admonition given to Catholic schoolchildren to recite the Hail Mary or rosary to ward off 'impure thoughts'. The use of repetitive chanting by the Hare Krishnas serves the same thought-stopping purpose."[7] Christian author Ann Morisy criticized the Christian Church for their uses of such clichés coinciding with their doctrines that intentionally reduce the possibility of dialogue, stating that failure to move beyond them risks falling prey "to a new version of gnosticism" along with alienating those not of the faith.[11] Scientology has also been criticized for using protocols, language and lexicons that use thought-terminating clichés to condition its members or to reaffirm a confirmation bias, which makes it difficult for members to think "outside the box".[17][18] The Guardian journalist Jenna Scaramanga mentions that when certain members of Islam label something haram (sinful), that employs the use of the tactic since it states that something is forbidden and "There is no need for any more consideration of whether it is bad."[19]

Commercials

The use of slogans is often considered to be a form of the cliché: "Brief, reductive labels you can stick on things, and which end thought on the subject".[19]

Art and media

An article published by Gamasutra mentions that, during the debate regarding whether or not pornographic games should be available on the Steam market place, simply calling such games porn is "thought-terminating" as it does not progress debate.[20]

Fictional applications

  • George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four – The totalitarian state Oceania implements Newspeak, a "pared-down version of English in which 'dangerous' words like 'freedom' no longer exist". Kathleen Taylor suggests in a case study that the words that remain as a result of the diminishing of the English language are ideologically loaded, and are "clear examples of Lifton's thought-terminating clichés".[8][15]
  • Aldous Huxley's Brave New World – The "Utopian" Society uses thought-terminating clichés more conventionally, most notably regarding the drug soma as well as modified versions of real-life platitudes, such as, "A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away."[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lifton, Robert J. (1989) [1961]. "Chapter 22, Ideological Totalism". Thought reform and the psychology of totalism: A study of brainwashing in China (reprint ed.). UNC Press. p. 429. ISBN 9780807842539 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b Gabbert, Elisa (4 April 2013). "Don't Read the Comments: 10 Logical Fallacies in the Comment Stream". Business 2 Community. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  3. ^ Jenicek, Milos (2011). Medical error and harm: understanding, prevention, and control. New York: Productivity Press/CRC Press. ISBN 9781439836958. OCLC 680038936.
  4. ^ a b Chiras, Daniel D. (1992), "Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Biology & Environmental Science Classrooms", The American Biology Teacher, 54 (8): 464–468, doi:10.2307/4449551, JSTOR 4449551
  5. ^ Yudkowsky, Eliezer (24 August 2007). "Semantic Stopsigns". Less Wrong. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Bennett, Bo (2017). Logically Fallacious: The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies. eBookIt.com. ISBN 978-1456607371 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c Bufe, Charles (1 December 1997) [1991]. "Chapter 9: Is AA a Cult?". Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (2nd, revised ed.). See Sharp Press. ISBN 1884365752 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b Taylor, Kathleen (27 July 2006) [2004]. "The birth of a word". Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control (illustrated, reprint ed.). OUP Oxford. pp. 17, 21. ISBN 0199204780 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Law Center, University of Southern California (1978). "Southern California Law Review, Volume 51, 1977–78". Southern California Law Review. 51: 68 – via HeinOnline.
  10. ^ Martin, Paul (1993). Cult proofing your kids. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House. p. 189. ISBN 0310537614. OCLC 26973667.
  11. ^ a b Morisy, Ann (2009). Bothered and bewildered: enacting hope in troubled times. London: Continuum. ISBN 9781441163929. OCLC 680017855.
  12. ^ Gwazi, Dinfa (20 May 2017). "The Rise of The Thought Terminating Cliche & Bumper Sticker Logic in The Era of Trump". Medium. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  13. ^ Clampitt, Phillip G.; Williams, M. Lee (Winter 2007), "Decision Downloading", MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 48, no. 2, retrieved 25 October 2016
  14. ^ Wendling, Mike (22 January 2018). "The (almost) complete history of 'fake news'". BBC.com. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Soni, I. M. (August 2017). "Cliches are like base coins". Alive. p. 88.
  16. ^ Volodzko, David. "China's Biggest Taboos: The Three Ts". The Diplomat. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  17. ^ Peterson, Britt (19 March 2015), "Scientology's enturbulating lingo", Boston Globe, retrieved 25 October 2016
  18. ^ Sanders, Ash (24 June 2019). "Children of Scientology: Life After Growing Up in an Alleged Cult". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  19. ^ a b Scaramanga, Jonny (12 January 2016). "What does brainwashing do?". Leaving Fundamentalism. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  20. ^ Cross, Katherine (24 May 2018). "So, you want to talk about porn on Steam". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 May 2019.

January 07, 2023
thought, terminating, cliché, thought, terminating, cliché, also, known, semantic, stop, sign, thought, stopper, bumper, sticker, logic, cliché, thinking, form, loaded, language, often, passing, folk, wisdom, intended, argument, quell, cognitive, dissonance, f. A thought terminating cliche also known as a semantic stop sign a thought stopper bumper sticker logic or cliche thinking is a form of loaded language often passing as folk wisdom intended to end an argument and quell cognitive dissonance 1 2 3 4 5 Its function is to stop an argument from proceeding further ending the debate with a cliche rather than a point 2 Some such cliches are not inherently terminating they only become so when used to intentionally dismiss dissent or justify fallacious logic 6 The term was popularized by Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism who referred to the use of the cliche along with loading the language as the language of non thought 1 Contents 1 Origin and definitions 1 1 Exception of the criteria 1 2 Examples 2 Criticism of use 2 1 Politics 2 2 Religion 2 3 Commercials 2 4 Art and media 3 Fictional applications 4 See also 5 ReferencesOrigin and definitions EditR J Lifton s definition The language of the totalist environment is characterized by the thought terminating cliche The most far reaching and complex of human problems are compressed into brief highly reductive definitive sounding phrases easily memorized and easily expressed They become the start and finish of any ideological analysis Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism Chapter 22 Ideological Totalism 1961 The earliest recorded definition of the term was published in Robert Jay Lifton s book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism in 1961 wherein he was describing the structure of language used by the Chinese Communist Party defining the term as the start and finish of any ideological analysis It was listed as the sixth of eight totalistic themes 1 The term is written under the sixth of eight criteria for thought reform Loading the Language of which various authors and scholars also consider the term to be a form of loaded language 1 7 8 Charles Chaz Bufe in his book Alcoholics Anonymous Cult or Cure 1997 broadly put the use of the cliche as thought stopping phrases that include any use of the language especially repeated phrases to ward off forbidden thoughts in describing his interactions with the Alcoholics Anonymous aid movement 7 Author show host and doctor Robert Bo Bennett described the term as a substitute for a person s actual position or argument with a distorted exaggerated or misrepresented version of the position of the argument in his 2017 book Logically Fallacious along with a proposed logical form of the cliche Person 1 makes claim Y Claim Y sounds catchy Therefore claim Y is true 6 The Southern California law review Volume 51 Part 1 describes the use of such cliches as to capture the vehicles of thought and communication Doctrine over reality which includes the rewriting of history and reinterpretation of one s past and as a property of ideological totalists 9 Exception of the criteria Edit Bennett explains that exceptions are made to the use of phrases that would otherwise be considered thought terminating if they are used in addition to evidence or strong claims 6 Examples Edit Lies of the devil Used as a response to any fact that threatens the integrity of an individual or group 10 Stop thinking so much Redirects attention from the topic idea or argument at hand to the alleged overuse of thought itself 11 It s all good Nullifies without evidence any possible debate by asserting the issue is already settled 12 Here we go again Implies that the redundant cyclical nature of a given disagreement means it will never be resolved 13 So what What effect does my action have Used to dismiss an individual s involvement in a larger cause on the grounds that one person is too insignificant to ever have a meaningful impact 4 Fake news Used to negate the sources of an argument often while providing alternate or misleading information to push an individual s own interpretation of a subject Usage popularized by politicians in the US in 2016 14 Criticism of use EditPolitics Edit A major criticism made by various journalists is that the use of the cliche tends to halt debate and restrict or censor freedom of speech and it tends to be synonymous with language that would be used by totalitarian states as Lifton originally identified with Communist China Chancellor Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany is remarked to have employed such cliches and platitudes to justify his actions prior and during the events of World War II for example 15 David Volodzko in The Diplomat in 2015 characterized China s justification for persecuting Tibetans Uyghurs Falun Gong artists journalists including Liu Xiaobo summed up as for security reasons as a thought terminating cliche going on to say that s every bit as vapid as God moves in a mysterious way or support our troops What it really means is that the Party is more important than the people 16 Religion Edit An example of the cliche in use provided by Chaz Bufe is the admonition given to Catholic schoolchildren to recite the Hail Mary or rosary to ward off impure thoughts The use of repetitive chanting by the Hare Krishnas serves the same thought stopping purpose 7 Christian author Ann Morisy criticized the Christian Church for their uses of such cliches coinciding with their doctrines that intentionally reduce the possibility of dialogue stating that failure to move beyond them risks falling prey to a new version of gnosticism along with alienating those not of the faith 11 Scientology has also been criticized for using protocols language and lexicons that use thought terminating cliches to condition its members or to reaffirm a confirmation bias which makes it difficult for members to think outside the box 17 18 The Guardian journalist Jenna Scaramanga mentions that when certain members of Islam label something haram sinful that employs the use of the tactic since it states that something is forbidden and There is no need for any more consideration of whether it is bad 19 Commercials Edit The use of slogans is often considered to be a form of the cliche Brief reductive labels you can stick on things and which end thought on the subject 19 Art and media Edit An article published by Gamasutra mentions that during the debate regarding whether or not pornographic games should be available on the Steam market place simply calling such games porn is thought terminating as it does not progress debate 20 Fictional applications EditGeorge Orwell s Nineteen Eighty Four The totalitarian state Oceania implements Newspeak a pared down version of English in which dangerous words like freedom no longer exist Kathleen Taylor suggests in a case study that the words that remain as a result of the diminishing of the English language are ideologically loaded and are clear examples of Lifton s thought terminating cliches 8 15 Aldous Huxley s Brave New World The Utopian Society uses thought terminating cliches more conventionally most notably regarding the drug soma as well as modified versions of real life platitudes such as A doctor a day keeps the jim jams away 15 See also EditFighting words Godwin s law Indoctrination Language in Thought and Action by S I Hayakawa SoundbiteReferences Edit a b c d Lifton Robert J 1989 1961 Chapter 22 Ideological Totalism Thought reform and the psychology of totalism A study of brainwashing in China reprint ed UNC Press p 429 ISBN 9780807842539 via Google Books a b Gabbert Elisa 4 April 2013 Don t Read the Comments 10 Logical Fallacies in the Comment Stream Business 2 Community Retrieved 9 May 2019 Jenicek Milos 2011 Medical error and harm understanding prevention and control New York Productivity Press CRC Press ISBN 9781439836958 OCLC 680038936 a b Chiras Daniel D 1992 Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Biology amp Environmental Science Classrooms The American Biology Teacher 54 8 464 468 doi 10 2307 4449551 JSTOR 4449551 Yudkowsky Eliezer 24 August 2007 Semantic Stopsigns Less Wrong Retrieved 26 August 2018 a b c Bennett Bo 2017 Logically Fallacious The Ultimate Collection of Over 300 Logical Fallacies eBookIt com ISBN 978 1456607371 via Google Books a b c Bufe Charles 1 December 1997 1991 Chapter 9 Is AA a Cult Alcoholics Anonymous Cult or Cure 2nd revised ed See Sharp Press ISBN 1884365752 via Google Books a b Taylor Kathleen 27 July 2006 2004 The birth of a word Brainwashing The Science of Thought Control illustrated reprint ed OUP Oxford pp 17 21 ISBN 0199204780 via Google Books Law Center University of Southern California 1978 Southern California Law Review Volume 51 1977 78 Southern California Law Review 51 68 via HeinOnline Martin Paul 1993 Cult proofing your kids Grand Rapids Mich Zondervan Pub House p 189 ISBN 0310537614 OCLC 26973667 a b Morisy Ann 2009 Bothered and bewildered enacting hope in troubled times London Continuum ISBN 9781441163929 OCLC 680017855 Gwazi Dinfa 20 May 2017 The Rise of The Thought Terminating Cliche amp Bumper Sticker Logic in The Era of Trump Medium Retrieved 10 May 2019 Clampitt Phillip G Williams M Lee Winter 2007 Decision Downloading MIT Sloan Management Review vol 48 no 2 retrieved 25 October 2016 Wendling Mike 22 January 2018 The almost complete history of fake news BBC com Retrieved 23 June 2022 a b c Soni I M August 2017 Cliches are like base coins Alive p 88 Volodzko David China s Biggest Taboos The Three Ts The Diplomat Retrieved 9 May 2019 Peterson Britt 19 March 2015 Scientology s enturbulating lingo Boston Globe retrieved 25 October 2016 Sanders Ash 24 June 2019 Children of Scientology Life After Growing Up in an Alleged Cult Rolling Stone Retrieved 7 August 2019 a b Scaramanga Jonny 12 January 2016 What does brainwashing do Leaving Fundamentalism Retrieved 10 May 2019 Cross Katherine 24 May 2018 So you want to talk about porn on Steam Gamasutra Retrieved 9 May 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thought terminating cliche amp oldid 1122624305, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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