What "Orwellian" really means - Noah Tavlin 

"Department of Defense" is always a good one, implying that our nations are never the military aggressors (as that would require a "Department of Offense").

Imagine being such a great author that they make up an adjective out of your name.

"Language is the currency of politics." That was so well said, Noah!

Deaths during war are called casualties. This makes them sound “casual” like something that just happens, man isn’t that just the worst?

These animations are off the fucking rails.

All animals are equal but some are more equal. Classic orwellianism!

"Control Language and you control thought; Control Thought and you control action; Control action and you control the World." Genius.

I claimed to loved dystopian novels but how ironic it is that I haven't yet read Orwell's 1984. This should be in my TBR this year.

the video was double plus good

One of the most important parts of the illusion is when we talk about this Orwellian dystopia, it must be with the mindset of “this could happen”, so we won’t realize it already has.

“How many fingers, Winston?”

The older I get, the more I realize that Orwell was an optimist.

Just watched this one and the Kafka one. Now you need a "Lovecraftian" video

These TED-Ed videos should be shown in schools more often.

"Enhance Interrogation Techniques" = Torture Bisayawa

Very good, "the deceptive and manipulative use of language" IS on the right track, to which I'll try and finish: to achieve a state of doublethink in individuals, the acceptance of two contradictory notions in their heads at the same time, after which logic fails and can only be replaced by loyalty through obedience.

A Spanish teacher named Alfonso López Quintás also says that there are some words that are manipulated nowadays. He calls them "talisman words". For example, the word "change" is viewed usually positive in politics, although politicians don't specificate if it is a bad or a good change. Also "freedom", "equality" and other words... 1984 is more than a distopy. It is an unintentional mirror of our actual culture.

That hamster wheel imagery was extremely poignant.

This is why 1984 is my favourite novel ever. It's far from having deep characters (many are taken from Zamyatin) and it has a very didascalic style, but he made me Reflect like no books had ever made, Orwell can applied on everything

In the words of Picard: "There are four lights." Never let someone convince you otherwise.

Is it not bribery, its contribution.

The fact that there are Trump and Hillary supporters bashing each candidate in the comments reveals to us that they failed to understand this video and are continuing the progress of a totalitarian society....

Thank you for focusing on the importance of language in regards to a free society. Whenever I hear ads or the classic cable news, I always get a feeling of disgust at the way language is used and how it calls back to Orwell's ideas.

"it's possible their statements are more Orwellian than whatever it is they're criticizing." lmao

My favorite one yet! Excellent narration (as always), awesome content, and outstanding animation. Keep up the great work :)

So Orwell isn't warning us of a wolf, but warning us not to become sheep?

the animation is really Deep, it's on another level, Respect to the Animators of this video

This is the greatest issue we have in politics today! Politicians use fancy words to excuse themselves from horrible acts that if I were to say the exact meaning but with different words would be berated. Or how in the world filled with manipulation, there are news outlets that rather on focusing on telling the truth, they rather tell everyone that they're wrong or manipulate the viewer itself for more views.

Oxford dictionary's word of the year: Post-truth I would say thats pretty fucking Orwellian.

"Alternative facts"

I really appreciate the talent of TedEd's animators and Addison Anderson's voice is just so easy on the ears. Big Ups to them. Easily my favorite channel

"Books like 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 are not meant to PREDICT the future but rather helps recognize the danger of a future like the ones seen above." a good point , and yet they seem to have done exactly that . the rise of an orwellian government can be seen in almost everything today , slowly but surely his writings have begun to look like prophecies ! and we are watching those prophecies come to life !

"And the way that we use ready-made phrases and responses, gleaned from media reports or copied from the Internet, makes it easy to get away with not thinking too deeply or questioning your assumptions." 4:04

A contemporary example of the power of language can be seen in the word 'advertising', which was actually coined in the 1950s by Edward Bernays (Freud's nephew), the father of consumer capitalism, to replace the word 'propaganda', thus eliminating the obviously negative association attached to 'propaganda'. It's rather ironic, therefore, that we tend to view 'advertising' as something good or neutral, and yet condemn any use of 'propaganda'. They are the exact same thing.

excellent video as always! the vibes are exquisite

This is actually TERRIFYING especially since it’s already happening

I'm impressed by the content and all the visual references. I watch Ted-Eds regularly, but this one is shockingly sophisticated. Congrats to everyone involved.

Department of Homeland Security or Dept. of Homeland Subjugation? Defense budget or conquest budget? Secretary of Defense or Emissary of War? Department of Education or Miseducation?

Great commentary and brilliant graphics. A good lesson to revisit in 2021

This was so well explain and simple, I love it and more people need to know this.

This is a bit off topic but some of you might be able to relate. I read 1984 a little over a year ago and while I liked it well enough at the time, in retrospect I liked it far more. Being reminded of it by videos like this always makes me miss the time when I was in the process of reading it. I think the atmosphere of the book and the sense of immersion it creates is really what causes this. This is something I've never really had with another book, not even A Song of Ice & Fire which I love.

Good work on performing an excellent analysis and very clear and easy-to-understand differentiation of the terms. Explicit examples of the misuse of "Orwellian" in modern context would further improve the efficacy of this public service message.

The imagery for each idea or concept in this vid was spot on!! Easy education :)

WOW this not just deserves but NEEDS BILLIONS of VIEWS!!! Amazing piece @Noah Tavlin 😱👍

The “Patriot Act”.... That is all

the visuals were very well thought out and conducive wow

Good and clear video! Also can we take a minute to appreciate the awesome graphics/animations in the video

Good thing we have this updated definition of the term... I love you Big Brother...

Such an amazing video! The narration, the animation, the clarity with which the idea was presented...

One of the best channel, content, videos and uploads in the entire youtube.

TEDの動画はいろいろ見て来たけど、ここまで徹底的に公正な内容の人は初めてだな

The pen is mightier than the sword. Words can affect the actions of people by altering the way they perceive an idea, or subject. Those with power have the greatest responsibility for how they use their words, and should be held responsible for actions taken by the misuse, or abuse of their position.

Not only did this video give me a new and more profound look on Orwell as a writer but it also gave me a way to bridge a connection between Orwell and Montesquieu in a philosophy project I'm making, which I am very grateful for.

best animation on teded

this is one of the most important videos i watched growing up. im glad i had this when i was younger

I would just like to say the animation in this video is astounding.

1984 by Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley should be required reading by everyone.

Watching this just gives me that creeping feeling that we already live in an Orwellian society, and have been for awhile. Hm.

This channel is really great !! It’s made my day.. Guys can you recommended a channel like this with a politics theories & affairs anything related with that ?

Oh, man. I really need to read this book now!

It is happening in Hong Kong over the controversy of "Extradition Law"... thanks for the video which gives me a starting point to think deeper about the dispute and other life and society aspects.

Such a beautiful and deep presentation. Loved it!

Thank you Ted-ed, from the bottom of my heart

The individuals who created the artwork to accompany this video deserve an award.

one of the top videos in Ted is this one.

Such an incredible good video. Long time not seen such quality! Love the animation

I was fixed and completely concentrated on this lesson. Noah did a really good job narrating this, and for some reason I felt moved at the end of these 5 minutes. I have to read 1984 again...

Beautiful animation - so many clever visual metaphors :)

Why is this the aspect of his book that gets focused on? I was really intesrested in the brainwashing and mind control and getting him to turn against her.

I live in Iran and this is the most accurate picture of it. 😓 P.S: Waiting for one of their mercenaries to reply to this comment, call me a liar, and bombard me with insults. 🙃

Thank you so much! It was really thought provoking.

Love this series, easy to understand !!

"first they take the words then they take the meaning" - George Orwell, 1984

This will remain RELEVANT throughout mankind's history.

3:59 oh boyyy. this visual alone means so much

Beautifully done. Bravo ted ed...again

Neologism is real, yes. Thank you Noah for a absolutely composed video! Genius.

It would have been nice to see a longer video comparing Orwell's thinking to Huxley's regarding social control, but nice job regardless. :)

The script is so well written

Inspiring. Thank you for uploading 🙏🏻

Wow! This made sense. I've read the book and made my inferences, but this actually fine-tuned what I had in my mind.

More and more evidence suggests that our vocabulary truly does influence our thoughts. There are small cultures where people may not have a descriptive word for certain phrases, which causes them not to be able to understand certain types of concepts. For example, I think there was a tribe that didn't have words for numbers past four, so it was very difficult for them to understand how to count groups of sticks more than 5 or so.

Very beautiful video. Thanks for the amazing explanation. I agree the book 1984 itself is much more about language and how they affect our thought rather than predicting a future of dystopia. Thus your explanation that "Orwellian" means language and it's effect on our thoughts rather than an authoritative government.

This is my all time favorite Ted Ed video.

Excellent video. I always knew Orwellian had to mean more than simple authoritarianism, but I never knew what. Thank you!

I love 1984 and my favourite part is the appendix of the book which focuses entirely on newspeak

It’s when TED tells you what to groupthink & what newspeak to regurgitate.

I think watching a Ted ed every morning while I'm on the can, is the most productive thing I do all day.

Fantastic animation.

Amazing book! Highly recommended

Happening in the Philippines right now. Facts are disregarded, words are changing its meaning. The word UNITY, the word MACHIAVELLIAN. The amount of historical revisionism and lack of critical thought by the citizens. Parents are turning against their children for leaning on the opposition. This is a very dangerous situation I want to migrate to another country.

Whoever made this video deserves a raise!

And people are even missing the point in the comments. Its bad enough that most people in real life miss the point. Orwell thought that nuanced. deliberate language is power, not just power for the state but power for the citizen. He believed quite literally that the pen is mightier than the sword, that it can be empowering for the weak and disempowered. He wanted people to know every meaning, nuance and implication of every single word they spoke and he wanted people to understand the meaning, nuance and implication of every single word somebody else spoke. When the meaning of words are undermined and muddled to the point that a conversation cannot occur you cannot develop a nuanced opinion. For the record, the phrase "politcal correctness" is doublespeak. Be frank, you have a belief that somebody else thinks is offensive and abhorrent. The phrase "political correctness" victimizes your speech, and therefore, your belief while demonizing their speech, and therefore, their belief. Its disingenuous and paints a story where the people interacting aren't equal. Don't sugarcoat the fact that you have a belief that is (currently) irreconcilable with somebody else's. Every single mentally competent adult alive has a lifestyle and belief that another will find obscene, gross, offensive, egregious, abhorrent, hateful, bigoted, vile, disgusting, etc. Own that rather than contributing to doublespeak while at the same time decrying it. That is the easy way out and in this instance its the wrong way. Additionally, surveillance was unnecessary in Oceania, or at least it no longer became necessary at the point in which the events take place. Orwell even made a point of that in the first third of the book. They didn't need evidence. You knew you were guilty of thoughtcrime, and you were guilty in a manner that was so unavoidable that it wouldn't be unreasonable to presume that anybody the state persecuted was guilty of it. It makes everybody too worried about the consequences of themselves getting involved to get help others. Furthermore, speaking out against the persecution of another citizen would mean questioning authority, and since questioning authority is thoughtcrime anybody who speaks out is logically a bonafide thoughtcriminal, which means persecution would be swift and inevitible. This has been so ingrained and conditioned into the people in just one generation, Winston Smith's generation, that surveillance is completely and utterly unecessary. The cameras are unneeded, expensive and impractical. They round you up for whatever reason, it matters not, because it doesn't matter to the population what truth or justice is, it matters that it isn't happening to them.

Thank you for this video, i always thought surveillance was one of the least important subjects in 1984, everything else is what matters, yet people always bring that thing up like Eric Cartman. And by the way, it was weird reading the comments, where everyone was like ''PC is orwellian''. I hate it when people whines about the ''whitewashing'' in Ghost in the Shell and things like that, but i think they are far from being orwellian. Actually, it's kinda ironic now that i think about it, but calling them orwellian isn't something orwelian on itself? You can get called ''racist'' or ''SJW'' for the silliest things, and those words, or separating people in groups like that and calling them things like ''fascist'' or ''orwellian'' doesn't solve any problem, it distractes us from the important things and ultimately, it's only useful to place every person into one side or another in a discussion, and i think that's the biggest problem nowadays: everything is black and white. I might be wrong, but i think a lot of people in the comments where missing the point.

語言該要用正面/負面的意義，所謂難聽字詞都是經過使用才能有的「感受」，字詞定義幫助民眾增長智慧。很感謝這部影片。

I've read the '1984', a great book, definitely worth to read

lovecraftian animations to describe orwellian notions. Perfect!

english before orwellian : "angst, anger, dissapointment, depression, feeling of unjust" english after orwellian : "sigma male grindset"

The pen is mightier than the sword . Nơ I can interpret this statement and be more aware of how we use language everyday. Thank you Ted for providing such useful information to the world

"You must love Big Brother" has to be the most terrifying line ever written