Big Lie

[Lunar4]

The Big Lie is a propaganda technique. It was defined by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf as a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". Another famous use of the "Big Lie" occurs in Plato's The Republic (Plato) when Socrates, speaking through Plato, formalizes the "Myth of the Metals" which essentially states that in an idealized republic, the people are made to believe that they are infused with a particular type of metal, either gold, silver, or bronze, thereby relegating that person to their respective hierarchical societal roles.

Later, Joseph Goebbels put forth a slightly different theory which has come to be more commonly associated with the expression big lie. Goebbels wrote the following paragraph in an article dated 12 January 1941, 16 years after Hitler's first use of the phrase big lie, entitled "Aus Churchills Lügenfabrik," translated "From Churchill's Lie Factory." It was published in Die Zeit ohne Beispiel.
That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.[1]

The phrase was also used in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile:[2]

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Lie

Do you think it would be possible for a "Big Lie" to be used today?

many americans believe theyre own country uses this tactic, IMO theyre right, but whats your opinion??

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Hitler believed in a 'big lie' himself - that the Jews were actually pulling the strings in the world, when they weren't. Socrates, theoretically, could be right, but these are very vague concepts and questions our view of reality itself. There is no conclusive evidence to support a 'Big Lie' today, unless you want it so badly that you are willing to see some there that there isn't.

[Bovril]

I think humans are a lot more subtle than 'big lie theory' allows for. What might seem like a 'big lie' to one person is inevitably the result of much reasoning, evidence and emotional reaction on the part of another. People don't just believe something because its an impressive claim.

[Exarch]

the french king used 'A Big Lie' to take down the knights templar too, accusing the templars of devil-worship,sodomy, idolatry and heresy, and extracting 'confessions' via torture....

[Lunar4]

yuppp

[rathelios]

Tony Blair and Alistair Campbell lied about the reliability and extent of evidence for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq prior to the invasion. The consequences of such a blatant fib being untrue were so enormous that many people believed them, assuming they couldn't possibly be that stupid or reckless.
That is textbook 'big lie', isn't it?

[Pontifex Maximus]

nope

[Legionem Insanis]

Politicians lie and deceive all the time.

That said, I think big conspiracies are hard to keep under wraps.
I don't believe the 9/11 conspiracy garbage or chem-trails or any of that other crap. If the gov't was really that powerful they would have "found" all kinds of WMDs in Iraq. Oh, but thats part of the conspiracy to make us think they dont! Ya, right.

[Da Skinna]

Isn't that the Biggest Lie, that if they did exist we would certainly know?

[Lunar4]

Isn't that the Biggest Lie, that if they did exist we would certainly know?

[MasterOfNone]

The best way to avoid falling into believing lies is to seek to make knowledge your own. Too many believe what they are first taught. Too many assume an established institution such as an education system or government must be more reliable than the less popular schools of thought. Too many parrot the attitude of the mass media after it has been slung at them for so many years. Too many assimilate the views of their peers or culture too readily and with more regard to being accepted than to truth.

Though truth may well be taught, it is not ours until we make it our own - and that takes an independent mind and spirit. It takes courage and effort. We must want to find truth, and find it for the right reasons or else we become prey to every species of deceit and disinformation.

[Da Skinna]

The best way to avoid falling into believing lies is to seek to make knowledge your own. Too many believe what they are first taught. Too many assume an established institution such as an education system or government must be more reliable than the less popular schools of thought. Too many parrot the attitude of the mass media after it has been slung at them for so many years. Too many assimilate the views of their peers or culture too readily and with more regard to being accepted than to truth.

Though truth may well be taught, it is not ours until we make it our own - and that takes an independent mind and spirit. It takes courage and effort. We must want to find truth, and find it for the right reasons or else we become prey to every species of deceit and disinformation.

[Legionem Insanis]

Isn't that the Biggest Lie, that if they did exist we would certainly know?

That would be a really naive assumption but I don't see it as a "Big Lie"
Of course we can not be certain but it does not mean we should not stop trying. I don't want Ahmadinejad , Kim Jong Il or Al-Qaeda to have WMDs

[Da Skinna]

That would be a really naive assumption but I don't see it as a "Big Lie"
Of course we can not be certain but it does not mean we should not stop trying. I don't want Ahmadinejad , Kim Jong Il or Al-Qaeda to have WMDs

Is that what we're talking about? Whether we want them to have WMD's or not?

Is that the question we have to answer, YES meaning what exactly? And NO meaning what exactly?

[Legionem Insanis]

Is that what we're talking about? Whether we want them to have WMD's or not?

Is that the question we have to answer, YES meaning what exactly? And NO meaning what exactly?

what exactly are you saying?

[Denny Crane!]

Lunar4, there is a new Big Lie. It is the Big Lie that everything is a conspiracy. We have a new world now in which every man has access to all sorts of information, the vast majority of it not subject to any form scrutiny, from either experts or historians. Most of the time the proponents don't even ask "Who is the source?" The garbage I find my brain exposed to these days is quite extreme.

The holy "internet" is not the information messiah it is made out to be. It is an unregulated hornets' nest of paranoid thought-patterns.

Learn to discern and discriminate. Learn to utilize logic.

EDIT: I wonder if I could propagate a rumour that could spread around the entire world among certain circles? I am not silly, I have a brain.....you know what?! I might just do it.....the system allows me to.

The internet is in terms of information the same as any other source throughout time. There has always been a lot of rubbish and bias, the prerequisite to disseminate has always existed if you wish to really learn anything.

[Burnum]

Do you think it would be possible for a "Big Lie" to be used today?

many americans believe theyre own country uses this tactic, IMO theyre right, but whats your opinion??

Spreading the truth about the Aliens that caused 9/11?

[Exarch]

the main reason i reckon why 'the big lie' will usually work is becuz ppl will trust, or rather, want to trust authority, and want to believe that the authority/government is acting for the beneficience of the population, because the alternative is sometimes too scary to comprehend.

[boofhead]

Lunar4, there is a new Big Lie. It is the Big Lie that everything is a conspiracy. We have a new world now in which every man has access to all sorts of information, the vast majority of it not subject to any form scrutiny, from either experts or historians. Most of the time the proponents don't even ask "Who is the source?" The garbage I find my brain exposed to these days is quite extreme.

The holy "internet" is not the information messiah it is made out to be. It is an unregulated hornets' nest of paranoid thought-patterns.

Learn to discern and discriminate. Learn to utilize logic.

EDIT: I wonder if I could propagate a rumour that could spread around the entire world among certain circles? I am not silly, I have a brain.....you know what?! I might just do it.....the system allows me to.

[Legionem Insanis]

Lunar4, there is a new Big Lie. It is the Big Lie that everything is a conspiracy. We have a new world now in which every man has access to all sorts of information, the vast majority of it not subject to any form scrutiny, from either experts or historians. Most of the time the proponents don't even ask "Who is the source?" The garbage I find my brain exposed to these days is quite extreme.

The holy "internet" is not the information messiah it is made out to be. It is an unregulated hornets' nest of paranoid thought-patterns.

Learn to discern and discriminate. Learn to utilize logic.

i get a laugh reading them...

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifesty.../15-11/st_best

http://www.oddee.com/item_92285.aspx

EDIT: I wonder if I could propagate a rumour that could spread around the entire world among certain circles? I am not silly, I have a brain.....you know what?! I might just do it.....the system allows me to.

For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Ship High In Transit have already been done.