Something to "think" about.
The Thought-Terminating Cliché is a form of mind control.
http://jorgenmodin.net/index_html/wikpedias-now-deleted-page-on-thought-terminating-clicheThought-terminating cliché
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A thought-terminating cliché is a commonly used phrase, sometimes passing as folk wisdom, used to propagate cognitive dissonance (discomfort experienced when one simultaneously holds two or more conflicting cognitions, e.g. ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions). Though the phrase in and of itself may be valid in certain contexts, its application as a means of dismissing dissent or justifying fallacious logic is what makes it thought-terminating.
The term was popularized by Robert Jay Lifton in his 1956 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. Lifton said, “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. These become the start and finish of any ideological analysis.” [1][2]
In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the fictional constructed language Newspeak is designed to reduce language entirely to a set of thought-terminating clichés. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World society uses thought-terminating clichés in a more conventional manner, most notably in regard to the drug soma as well as modified versions
of real-life platitudes, such as, “A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away.”
Non-political examples
“Everything happens for a reason.”
“Don't judge.”
“Why? Because I said so.” (Bare assertion fallacy)
“I’m the parent, that’s why.” (Appeal to authority).
“When you get to be my age you’ll find that’s not true.”
“You don’t always get what you want.”
“You win some, you lose some.”
“Ah well, swings and roundabouts.”
“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.” (Appeal to ridicule if said sarcastically)
“It works in theory, but not in practice.” (Base rate fallacy)
“It's just common sense.”
“It makes sense to me, and that's all that matters.”
“To each his own.”
“Life is unfair.”
“Such is life.”
“We already had this conversation.”
“It is what it is.”
“It was his time.”
“Whatever.”
“There you go again.”
“It's not worth discussing.”
“Whatever will be, will be.”
“Be a man and…”
“Who cares?”
“It's a matter of opinion!”
“You only live once.” (YOLO)
“Just forget it.”
“We will have to agree to disagree.”
“We all have to do things we don't like.”
“You are not being a 'team player'.” (Ignoratio elenchi)
“That's just wrong.”
“You just don’t do that.”
“Just do it.”
“Link or it didn't happen.”
“Don't be that guy.”
“Because that is our policy.”
“Don't be silly.”
“There's no smoke without fire.” (used to convince others that a person is guilty based on accusation or hearsay and to
discourage further examination of evidence)
“I'm just sayin'.”
“So it goes.”
“Me thinks thou dost protest too much.” or “The more you argue, the less we believe you.”
"Rules are rules."
"Who do you think you are?"/"Who are you to..."
"It's all relative."
"People are going to do what they want."
"That's just your feelings."
“Can't everybody just drop it and get along?” (used as an attempt to stop an ongoing debate or argument)
"It's the way of the road."
Political examples
Thought-terminating clichés are sometimes used during political discourse to enhance appeal or to shut down debate. In this setting, their usage can usually be classified as a logical fallacy.[citation needed]
"...and if you legitimately think that's a good idea then you're too brain damaged to be worth talking to"
Religious examples
Thought-terminating clichés are also present in religious discourse in order to define a clear border between good and evil, holiness and sacrilege, and other polar opposites.[citation needed] These are especially present in religious literature.[citation needed]
"The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." Job 1:21
"Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!" (opposing same-sex marriage)
"That's not Biblical."
"God moves/works in mysterious ways."
"God never gives you more suffering than you can bear.”
"Only God can judge."
"God has a plan."
"The Lord works in mysterious ways."
The religious or semi-religious ideas of cults, heretics, and infidels are also often used as thought-terminating clichés, e.g. "Do not listen to him, he is an infidel," (a guilt by association fallacy) or "That line of thought sounds like a cult" (also a guilt by association fallacy).
As an autological phrase
The statement "that is a thought-terminating cliché" can itself function as a thought-terminating cliché. Once the stator has identified a first statement as a thought-terminating cliché, they may feel absolved of needing to determine whether that first statement is indeed a thought-terminating cliché, or provides useful insight, in the context under discussion.
Vaccine Cult Examples
"vaccines work"
"vaccines are safe and effective"
"vaccines save lives"
"got polio?"
"got small pox?"
"just vaccinate your god damn kids"
"omg measles!"
"at least my autistic kid is still alive"
"not going to waste my time"
"I really have no interest"
"I'm not even gonna bother reading this drivel"
"vaccinations that save billions of lives"
"You have fun with your middle school level education"
"minor injection site reactions like redness and swelling"
"I do not have the energy to deal with your specific brand of fallacy"
"I'm not saying it's not a conspiracy, I'm saying it's a toxic one that I don't want nor do I need to hear about."
"Occams Razor"
"correlation does not equal causation"
"You're obviously stupid beyond hope. We're done here."
"Watched half. Clearly an anti-vax research hack."
"Don't waste your time like I did mine."
"And... this is where I stopped reading. This is just too hilarious to continue"
"you're not worth my time"
"at least the mom in your video still has her son"
"I don't really care about this"
"I don't understand medicine, you don't understand medicine. They do."
"You're wasting your time and efforts worrying about this"
"We've already been through that"
"Responding to me anymore is a waste of time"
"Sounds like something you just made up"
"Now I'm turning off notifications because your lack of competence is disturbing"
"Rofl. Do whatever you want, buddy"
"I am just tired of talking to you"
"You are ao [bleep] stupid, its sad"
"he's a known quack. I literally do not care what he has to say. He is batshit insane"
"I'm tired of your [bleep], to be honest."
"It's clear you don't understand biology or vaccines"
"It's so infuriating and obviously makes no sense"
"don't want to waste their time arguing with a conspiracy theorist"
"how can we be sure you didn't just fabricate that graphic on your own computer?"
"You've been temporarily banned from participating in r/DebateVaccines"
please subscribe to /r/DebateVaccine/
Science Cult Examples
"zzzz"
"Stopped reading, see the video you were provided"
"Stopped reading, you've confused facts about how cameras work with opinion"
"Some grade-A babbling right here, thanks for the laugh"
/r/conspiracy examples
"I ain't clicking on all that [bleep]. Sorry"
"Jesus Christ the cringe."
"Not going to waste my time looking at all your links but the only proof this shows is peoples gullibility"
"I don't have to waste my time correcting the errors, other people in this thread already have"
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