Why 2+2=5
Fair question…There’s a lot in a name; it’s not just that we are mathematically challenged (we prefer mathematically liberal if anything). The term “2+2 = 5″ actually comes from George Orwell’s novel 1984, a statement used to exemplify the disparity between what the dictatorial “Party” allows and the inherent truths of the world. Protagonist Winston Smith writes “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes 4. If that is granted, all else follows.” The obvious inequation comes to represent the sovereignty over one’s self to declare basic, uncorrupted facts, not subject to approval or amendment by a controlling interest. Smith uses a technique called “doublethink” in his attempt to rationalize the problematic math problem that goes against the basic number laws he has adhered to his entire life. Doublethink allows for two contradicting beliefs to live in harmony within one’s mind, as opposed to the cognitive dissonance practiced by those who respect reason above all else. At www.2plus2equal5.com, we are willing to admit that perhaps Big Brother actually had one or two things right. After all, who would want to live in a world in which nothing can be left up to creativity, chance or even dumb luck? Though we recognize that ideas can be ignorant and offensive, who is to say one person’s assertion is the absolute truth? We encourage opening the mind to new ways of thinking and challenging traditional thought patterns with daily brain-bending mental exercise.