Fnord

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Fnord is an artificial word that was best known through the Illuminatus trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea and the Principia Discordia . It symbolizes conditioning through the targeted introduction of information and disinformation (see also communication guerrilla ) and the resulting manipulation possibilities , especially for the mass media and the state . The word has not only become code among Discordians and Illuminatus readers, but is also used in real life as a synonym for disinformation, for example as a name for a web server software or as a metasyntactic variable .

origin

In the Illuminatus trilogy, in a program by the Illuminati, children in school are conditioned to feel a feeling of insecurity and discomfort every time they read and listen to “Fnord” (see also Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt ), but without that Consciously perceiving the word. If a government or media report is to be collectively perceived as bad or disturbing by all recipients of the message, only enough fnords need to be incorporated into it to achieve the desired effect. Initiates (“Illuminated”) who are aware of this type of manipulation “see” the Fnords and thus break out of the conditioning.

However, this knowledge of Fnords can also be applied in reverse, in order to select and unmask those messages that are used for manipulation.

The blind acceptance of the fnord is advertised in the trilogy with the sentence “If you don't see the fnord, it can't eat you either”. Although it appears to be a statement about Fnords, the sentence itself is also an example of Fnord. Due to its structure, it suggests a threatening situation that it only creates by introducing the term "Fnord", and in this way has a mystifying effect itself. In particular, the bizarre sound shape (initial fn rarely occurs in European languages) refers to a paradoxical , fictional entity : a secret and invisible signal. The sentence goes back to the classic technique of all mystifying disinformation, the credibility and invulnerability of a proof (here: the existence of Fnords) to be underpinned by the fact that it must remain incomprehensible or invisible to unbelievers and critics.

literature

  • Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea: Illuminatus! Collective edition. Hugendubel Verlag, Kreuzlingen and Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7205-2320-9
  • Principia Discordia : The great opiate of Malaclypse the Younger. Which explains absolutely everything worth knowing about absolutely everything. How I found the goddess and what I did to her when I found her. Phenomenon-Verlag, Lüchow 2000, ISBN 3-9333-212-04

Web links