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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsExtremely Useful, Technical Term: "Fnord"
Per Wikipedia:
Fnord is the typographic representation of disinformation or irrelevant information intending to misdirect, with the implication of a worldwide conspiracy. The word was coined as a nonsensical term with religious undertones in the Discordian religious text Principia Discordia (1965) by Kerry Thornley and Greg Hill, but was popularized by The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975) of satirical conspiracy fiction novels by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.[1]
* * * * *
In these novels, the interjection "fnord" is given hypnotic power over the unenlightened. Under the Illuminati program, children in grade school are taught to be unable to consciously see the word "fnord". For the rest of their lives, every appearance of the word subconsciously generates a feeling of uneasiness and confusion, and prevents rational consideration of the subject. This results in a perpetual low-grade state of fear in the populace. The government acts on the premise that a fearful populace keeps them in power.
In the Shea/Wilson construct, fnords are scattered liberally in the text of newspapers and magazines, causing fear and anxiety in those following current events. However, there are no fnords in the advertisements, encouraging a consumerist society. It is implied in the books that fnord is not the actual word used for this task, but merely a substitute, since most readers would be unable to see the actual word.
To see the fnords means to be unaffected by the supposed hypnotic power of the word or, more loosely, of other fighting words. A more common expression of the concept would be "to read between the lines." The term may also be used to refer to the experience of becoming aware of a phenomenon's ubiquity after first observing it. The phrase "I have seen the fnords" was famously graffitied on a railway bridge (known locally as Anarchy Bridge) between Earlsdon and Coventry (U.K.) city centre throughout the 1980s and 1990s, until the bridge was upgraded. The bridge and the phrase were mentioned in the novel A Touch of Love by Jonathan Coe.
(Links and more at the Wikipedia link above.) Explains a lot, doesn't it?
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Extremely Useful, Technical Term: "Fnord" (Original Post)
snot
Jun 2012
OP
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)1. Why does your posting have so many blank spaces?
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)2. If you don't see the fnord it can't eat you!
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)6. Famous last words
He's baaaa-aaaack...and he's gunnin' for YOU!
snot
(10,538 posts)5. I was thinking more along the lines of Faux :)
Describes them perfectly
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)7. I absolutely loved the Illuminatus! trillogy when I was a kid. nt
snot
(10,538 posts)10. I need to send it to my younger relatives!
JHB
(37,163 posts)8. There's an app for that...
http://www.sjgames.com/apps/fnorder/
The Fnorder
Our first iPhone project. It's free! We created it for practice, for fun, and to further the plots of the Secret Masters. The Fnorder brings you messages from the Illuminati . . . encoded information and instructions for world conquest, for your eyes only. This is all for real! Honest!
Use it to boggle your friends . . . or ask it for help when you need to make a decision. Think of it as the I Ching for paranoids.
It also includes a variety of beautiful Illuminated wallpapers which you can use for your iPhone.
Original Fnorder design by Steve Jackson and Creede Lambard. Coded for the iPhone by Kira.
The Fnorder
Our first iPhone project. It's free! We created it for practice, for fun, and to further the plots of the Secret Masters. The Fnorder brings you messages from the Illuminati . . . encoded information and instructions for world conquest, for your eyes only. This is all for real! Honest!
Use it to boggle your friends . . . or ask it for help when you need to make a decision. Think of it as the I Ching for paranoids.
It also includes a variety of beautiful Illuminated wallpapers which you can use for your iPhone.
Original Fnorder design by Steve Jackson and Creede Lambard. Coded for the iPhone by Kira.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)9. Hell, you don't need the app if you have...
(Unless you absolutely have to have the wallpapers.)