<P>There's a joke that a "Rawlsian theorem" -- an argument by the philosopher John Rawls -- goes like this: I will show . . . I will show . . . I will show . . . I will show . . . As I have shown.
<P>In a more sinister vein, didn't Goebbles call demonstration by repetition the foundation of his Big Lie technique?
<P>jks
<P> <B><I>Michael Pollak <mpollak@panix.com></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>I'm beginning to get intrigued by how much credence it seems any assertion<BR>can gain purely through repetition, quite apart from every other mechanism<BR>used to persuade. The modern finesse on the big lie technique seems to be<BR>to mix in the word "might" which makes almost every assertion true. And<BR>then to imply that anyone who doesn't take this "possibility" seriously<BR>is dumb and a pansy, the two things every person who aspires to importance<BR>fears. And then repeat, repeat, repeat, knowing full well the "might"<BR>which is so useful in the early stages will eventually drop out.<BR><BR>There seems to be some kind of socio-linguistic background assumption that<BR>anything that has "stood the test of time" is assumed to be true. The<BR>campaign of constant repetition seems to play on that. And of course<BR>putting it in the mouths of figures of authority helps. But it also h
olds<BR>true for urban legends.<BR><BR>I'm kind of dazzled at how simple it seems to be. And how effective. It<BR>seems there must be some classic work that discusses this somewhere, no?<BR>But outside of some famous quotes, I can't think of anything that<BR>addresses this directly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.<BR><BR>Michael<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
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