It attempts
to clarify words and meanings for simple people like me. For example, when I searched
for a difference between ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ it provided
me with (in part):
War crimes, which may be committed during civil
war or interstate wars, include summary execution, the exploitation of private
property, torture, and the deportation of people against their will. The Geneva
Convention’s Article 147 specifies that these acts are war crimes when they are
committed in times of war (Richards, 2000). Crimes against humanity can be defined as the deliberate
persecution of civilians on the basis of factors such as race, political
beliefs, culture, or religion
(Bassiouni, 1999). Crimes against humanity, which are often committed by
government officials, usually result in acts of sexual violence, extermination,
imprisonment, and human enslavement (Holocaust Encyclopedia, 2016).
I tried
again by asking for the difference between Islam and Muslim. The response (in
part) was:
Misuses of Islam and Muslim
- Islam: grammatically speaking, Islam should only refer to the religion or acts done in the name of that religion, never a person who practices that religion. Islamic community and Islamic art are correct, Islamic man is not.
- Muslim should be used to describe all people of the Islamic faith but not the faith itself. You may say that you are interested in the religion of Muslims, but never in the Muslim religion.
So far, so
good. Let me try again. What is the difference between a journalist and a
reporter? The answer, in part:
The Reporter is the
person who reports on an event taking place anywhere in the world. He/she does
not add their opinion or analysis to the report. Journalism, however,
unlike reporting, would involve getting ‘under’, or ‘beneath’, the news. It can
involve steps like investigation, analysis, and well thought out commentary or
opinion. A journalist goes through all these steps when he writes a piece. In
the case of an airplane incident, the journalist
would go a few steps further than just reporting what happened. He would
investigate the history of crashes for that airline or aircraft model, and talk
about the maintenance issues, etc.
Hey, this is
good. Good game, good game. I think we’re on a roll here. One more try, please.
What is the
difference between a statesman and a diplomat? No explanation offered. Oh.
OK, what is
the difference between a bigot and a fundamentalist? No explanation offered. Oh, dear.
One final
attempt. What is the difference between a Prime Minister (or Premier) and a
President? No explanation offered.
Aw, c’mon.
Something isn’t right here. Here’s a good one: What is the difference between
justice and revenge? No explanation offered - AGAIN!
Hmm. Makes
you think, don’t it? Maybe computers aren't all they're cracked up to be. Maybe it really is a case of GIGO.
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Looking for definitions the old fashioned way - longhand!
British Dictionary definitions for education:
education
/ˌɛdjʊˈkeɪʃən/
1.
the act or process of acquiring knowledge, esp systematically during childhood and adolescence
2.
the knowledge or training acquired by this process: his education has been invaluable to him
3.
Official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion. The information may be true or false, but it is always carefully selected for its political effect.
Umberto Eco was an Italian novelist, literary critic, philosopher,
semiotician (look it up), and university professor. He is best known internationally
for his 1980 novel Il nome della rosa (Name of the Rose), a historical mystery combining
semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies, and
literary theory. (According to Wikipedia, that is).
the act or process of imparting knowledge, esp at a school, college, or university: education is my profession.
British Dictionary definitions for propaganda:
propaganda
/ˌprɒpəˈɡændə/
noun
1.
the organized dissemination of information, allegations, etc, to assist or damage the cause of a government, movement, etc
2.
such information, allegations, etc
propaganda in Culture
propaganda definition
Official government communications to the public that are designed to influence opinion. The information may be true or false, but it is always carefully selected for its political effect.
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Do you know the name: Umberto Eco? Permit me to introduce him.
Umberto Eco was an Italian novelist, literary critic, philosopher,
semiotician (look it up), and university professor. He is best known internationally
for his 1980 novel Il nome della rosa (Name of the Rose), a historical mystery combining
semiotics in fiction with biblical analysis, medieval studies, and
literary theory. (According to Wikipedia, that is).
He was born on 5th January 1932 and grew up under Mussolini's fascist regime and he died last year from pancreatic cancer.
I am grateful to Open Culture (.com) for making me aware of Eco's written list of the common features of fascism. In today's climate, they make interesting reading.
"It is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it", he believed.
- The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”
- The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
- The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
- Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
- Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
- Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”
- The obsession with a plot. “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”
- The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
- Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
- Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
- Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
- Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
- Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
- Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”
Does it remind you of anybody?
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