Two plus two make five
From Freepedia
The phrase "two plus two make five" (or "2 + 2 = 5") is sometimes used as a succinct and vivid representation of an illogical statement, especially one made and maintained to suit an ideological agenda.
Its common use originates from its inclusion in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (Part Three, Chapter Two), where it is contrasted with the true, mathematical phrase "two plus two make four". Orwell's protagonist, Winston Smith, uses the phrase to wonder if the State might declare "two plus two makes five" as a fact; he ponders that, if everybody believes in it, does that make it true? In the very beginning of the novel, Smith writes, "Freedom is the ability to say two plus two make four. If this is granted, all else follows."
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History
Orwell
Orwell had used the concept before publishing 1984. During his employment at the BBC, he became familiar with the methods of Nazi propaganda. In his essay Looking Back on the Spanish War, published 4 years before 1984, Orwell wrote:
- Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as "the truth" exists. […] The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but THE PAST. If the Leader says of such and such an event, "It never happened"—well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five—well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs […]
Orwell most likely derived this notion from Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who once, in a debatably hyperbolic display of loyalty to Adolf Hitler, declared, "If the Fuhrer wants it, two and two make five!" ("Hermann Göring". Museum of Tolerance Multimedia Learning Center. URL accessed on May 28, 2005.)
Dostoevsky
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground, the protagonist implicitly supports the idea of two plus two making five, spending several paragraphs considering the implications of rejecting the statement "two plus two makes four."
His purpose is not ideological, however. Instead, he proposes that it is the free will to choose or reject the illogical as well as the logical that makes mankind human. He adds: "I admit that two times two makes four is an excellent thing, but if we are to give everything its due, two times two makes five is sometimes a very charming thing too."
Dostoevsky was writing in 1864. However, according to Roderick T. Long, Victor Hugo had used the phrase back in 1852. He objected to the way in which the vast majority of French voters had backed Napoleon III, endorsing the way in liberal values had been ignored in Napoleon III's coup.
Victor Hugo said "Now, get seven million five hundred thousand votes to declare that two and two make five, that the straight line is the longest road, that the whole is less than its part; get it declared by eight millions, by ten millions, by a hundred millions of votes, you will not have advanced a step."
It's very plausable that Dostoevsky had this in mind. He had been sentenced to death for his participation in a radical intellectual discussion group. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in Siberia, and he then changed his opinions to something that doesn't fit any conventional labels.
Popular culture
The concept was featured in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Chain of Command," in which Picard is tortured by a Cardassian, drawing heavily on the torture scenes from 1984. In this appearance, however, there are four lights shown—the Cardassian officer is attempting to make Picard admit there are five lights. At the last minute, Picard is rescued by his crew, proudly declaring once again that "there are four lights!". However, in a counseling session with Deanna Troi, Picard admits that he almost could see five lights at the end. This is reminiscent of a scene in 1984 where Winston Smith's torturer holds up four fingers and electroshocks him into saying that there are five ("Four! Five! Six! I don't know!").
The Slashdot icon for its education section depicts a chalkboard with "2 + 2 = 5" written on it.
Songs
- "2 + 2 = 5" is a song on Radiohead's 6th album, Hail to the Thief.
- In the song "George Orwell Must Be Laughing His Ass Off" by Mea Culpa, the second verse begins with "If 2 plus 2 don't equal 5 I guess I'm just no fun."
- Singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke published a song called "When Two and Two are Five" with Jennifer Kimball (as The Story).
- The Pet Shop Boys have a song called "one and one make five" on their 1993 album Very.
- The song "The Panama Deception" by Anti-Flag begins with the text "Their two plus two does not equal four. Their two plus two equals whatever they want us to die for."
Relevance to estimated errors
"2 + 2 = 5, for very large values of 2" is a reminder about the way estimation errors compound in numerical calculations.
