Discourse-tionary



A technical dictionary for public discourse.
Jun 13, 02020⸺Oct 27, 02021
Statedraft

The aims of this dictionary are fourfold:

  • to provide a set of consistent, precise, standard definitions to faciliate research;
  • to enrich the vocabulary in common use when talking about public discourse;
  • to collate in one place relevant concepts from multiple fields; and
  • to help others with an interest in public discourse familiarise themselves with the literature more quickly.

Definitions are important to the extent that having a rich, common language is important, but arguments about the scope or use of particular terms are usually not productive. Where possible, I have modelled the definitions closely on those currently used by researchers, or written them to a corresponding level of formality. If there is disagreement in the literature about a definition, I have taken a pragmatic (and inherently somewhat opinionated) approach to resolving them. If needed, explanation of the origin of a term and its definition are included under the heading 'Origin + Context'. Links to relevant literature (including, if available, the original appearance of the term in its given form) are listed under 'Key References'.

The dictionary is currently a work-in-progress. Immediately below this paragraph is an tentative list of the terms I intend to include, followed by the entries that have been written already.

a acrophily active measures active open-mindedness actor network theory adversarial collaboration advertising advocatus diaboli affirmation affordance agenda-setting agitprop agnoiology agnotology agonism agonistic pluralism ainigmology aletheia algorithmic anxiety algorithmic experience algospeak altercasting alternative facts amplification ampliganda anti-anti- antiviral design apodictic argument argument mining Arnstein ladder assumption astroturfing attention philanthropy attribution error Aumann agreement theorem authenticity infrastructure autopropaganda aver b Babel backfire effect backstop balkanisation behavioral surplus belief belief consonance bias biased assimilation big disinfo Big Tsintsum boosterism bot bothsideism bounded rationality brigading broetry bullshit burden of proof c calibrated questions callout culture canard captology caveat lector checkpoint video chumbox cinematic epistemology civil civil discourse civility click farm cognitive miser cognitive security cognitronics cold civil war collaboratorium common knowledge communication communicative capitalism complicate the narrative comprehensive coercion conciliatory journalism conductor social networks conflict entrepreneur conflict mediation conflict resolution conflict transformation conspiracy practice conspiracy theory conspiratorial thinking construal content moderation learning curve content provenance contestability context collapse contextualisation engine controversy controversy-industrial complex conversational receptiveness cooperative principle coordinated inauthentic behaviour corrigible counterfeit news counterknowledge counterspeech courtesy bias credibility cascade credible neutrality crisis informatics critical ignoring critical thinking Crocker's rules CSAM cultural cognition culture jamming culture war cyber attribution cyberbalkanisation d Daily Me damnatio memoriae dangerous speech dark ad data data void dead internet theory debiasing interventions decoupling deep canvassing deep fake deep lurking deliberation deliberative democracy deliberatorium deplatforming depolarisation depoliticisation dezinformatsiya dialectic dialectician dialethia dialogue differential bias digital ethnography directed reasoning disconfirmed expectancy discourse discourse power disfluency disinformation dismissive incomprehension dissimulation dogwhistle doomscrolling doublethink down-ranking doxastic Dunning-Kruger effect e echo chamber echofication elenchus elite polarisation empathy wall epistemic akrasia epistemic IKEA effect epistemic injustice epistemic modesty epistemic phase transition epistemic rationality epistemic security epistemic trespassing epistemic vigilance epistocracy erisology eristic esoteric essay evidence evidential pre-emption exit counselor exorable exoteric f fact fact-checking factiness fait divers fake news fallacy of unanimity false amplifiers false balance false concensus effect false flag operation false news false polarisation fast foodification fauxtography fiat narrative fiction filter bubble firehosing / firehose of falsehood flooding the zone with shit forfoughten framing freedom of expression freedom of impression freedom of speech friction fundamental attribution error g GAL-TAN gaslight Gell-Mann amnesia effect generalisability crisis glasnost glomar golden bridge grandstanding group attribution error groupthink Gutenburg parenthesis h hermeneutical injustice heteropolitics Historovox hoax homeopape homophily horse race journalism hostile media effect humanitas hyperobject hypocognition hypothesis i identity quake ideological consistency ideology illusory truth effect IMPED model implied truth effect influence equilibrium influence operation infodemic infodemiology information information campaign information cascade information deficit model information disorder information gerrymandering information hazard information intervention information laundering information operation information warfare infox instrumental rationality intellectual empathy intellectual humility intermediary liability intractable conflict intransigence ipse dixit isegoria j jawboning junk news justification suppression model k kleroterion knowledge l lapidation latitude of acceptance legal harm lese majeste liar's dividend liquid democracy load-bearing myth localism lottocracy Lügenpresse m malign creativity malinformation Manichaeism mass polarisation mass-reporting maybe-belief media literacy memetic propaganda memetic warfare metacognition metadiscourse metapolitics middleware midinformation mindshare minimal group paradigm misinformation mismatch hypothesis moral contagion moral foundations theory moral panic motivated reasoning motivational interviewing motive attribution assymetry multipartiality n narrative laundering neotruth netnography neuro-weaponry news literacy no platforming non-fiction noosphere normative nutpicking o objective oikos Okrent's law online field theory online targetting onus probandi operative belief opinion Overton window p parasocial relationship parody parrhesia participatory moderation partisanship pasquil pasquinade perception gap perceptual hashing performative power pernicious polarization phetasy pink-slime journalism platform platform manipulation pluralism pluralistic ignorance plurality poisoning the well polarisation polis political isolation political technologist political technology politicisation polysemy positive post-fact post-modernism post-truth pragma-dialectics pre-moderation pre-propaganda prebunking preference for delusion priming problematic information procatalepsis propaganda propagandon proteophobia pseudo-event pseudo-profound bullshit pseudoscience psychological inoculation public affairs public choice public diplomacy public discourse public reason public relations public sphere publicity q quantum platitude r rabbit hole radicalisation radioactive data Rapoport's Rules rational irrationality rational-critical discourse reality apathy reasoning refractory period relativism rephrase retcon rhetoric rhetorical arena rhetorician ritual view of communication Rogerian argument Russell conjugation s Santa Clara Principles satire Schrodinger's douchebag scientific curiosity scientific literacy scout mindset sealioning sectarianism selective exposure self-scandalise Semmelweis reflex shadow banning shadow promotion silos sine ira et studio sliv social cybersecurity social epistemology social exhaust sociometer sock puppet soldier mindset sorting sortition source hacking source-checking specious spin spiral of silence strategic news coverage strategic silence street epistemology subjective surveillance capitalism symmachy t table d’hôte approach takedown technocognition telematic testimonial injustice The Inversion the view from nowhere theory thoughtcrime three men make a tiger tipline traffic arbitrage trashing tribal psychology tribalism trivialism troll factory troll farm trolling trust trust and safety truth truth decay truthiness u ultracrepidate unread library effect user tampering v videotox infox w water army whataboutism winner-loser gap wishful thinking x xuanchuan y yellow journalism

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aver

verb To assert the truth of (information).

bullshit

verb To communicate information without concern for whether or not it is true.

noun Information that is communicated without concern for whether or not it is true.

ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

This definition is based on the discussion in ‘On bullshit’, a 1986 essay by philospher Harry Frankfurt. Frankfurt proposes that the essence of bullshit is a disregard for the truth.

It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction. A person who lies is thereby responding to the truth, and he is to that extent respectful of it. When an honest man speaks, he says only what he believes to be true; and for the liar, it is correspondingly indispensable that he considers his statements to be false. For the bullshitter, however, all these bets are off: he is neither on the side of the true nor on the side of the false. His eye is not on the facts at all, as the eyes of the honest man and of the liar are, except insofar as they may be pertinent to his interest in getting away with what he says. He does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose.

Gerald Cohen (2012) has since argued that bullshit should be bullshit, regardless of the process by which it was created.

Bullshit as insincere talk or writing is indeed what it is because it is the product of something like bluffing, but talking nonsense is what it is because of the character of its output, and nonsense is not nonsense because of features of the nonsense-talker’s mental state.

If the goal is to find a definition of bullshit that fits with its everyday use, then this is a valid criticism. But for our purposes, we have stuck to the Frankfurtian definition, because there are other terms available to describe plain falsehoods and nonsense (eg. ‘falsehood’ and ‘nonsense’).

pseudo-profound bullshit
canard

noun Information that was initially formulated with the intent to deceive or harm.

ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

This definition focuses on original intent rather than truth status: the information could be false, or true but misleading.

‘Canard’ originally comes from French, in which it is also the word for ‘duck’. Etymologies vary for the meaning defined here. Perhaps the most likely is that it originates with the French idiom ‘vendre un canard à moitié’, which translates literally as ‘to half-sell a duck’ but means to trick people with information that is technically true but misleading. Wiktionary speculates that this idiom originates in a folk story.

A [seller of live ducks] is successful and content as the only duck seller on a street, selling his ducks for eight francs each. A new duck seller moves in across the street who steals all the business by offering his ducks for seven francs each. Then a price war ensues, back and forth, until the new duck seller is down to three francs for a duck. The original duck seller is beside himself with worry and frustration, but finally he puts up a big sign that says, ‘Two francs’ and then in small print at the bottom ‘for half a duck.’

disinformation; malinformation
disinformation

noun Information that is both

  • false, and
  • communicated with the intent to deceive or harm.
misinformation; malinformation
echo chamber

Deprecated. Use selective exposure or homophily instead.

ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The echo chamber metaphor was popularised in 2001 by Cass Sunstein, who further developed it in a series of books, the latest iteration of which is ‘#Republic’. It is intended to describe the tendency of people to preferentially connect with like-minded information sources on social media, and hence be deliteriously insulated from the diversity of views present in society.

In ‘Are filter bubbles real?’ (2019), Axel Bruns points out that the term is not clearly defined, suggests a degree of online segregation rarely observed, and exaggerates the role of technology as a driver in the formation of insular online communities.

filter bubble
epistemic injustice

noun Wrong done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower.

testimonial injustice; hermeneutical injustice
filter bubble

Deprecated. Use selective exposure or homophily instead.

ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The filter bubble metaphor was popularised by Eli Pariser in his 2009 book ‘The Filter Bubble’. It was intended to describe the tendency of people to preferentially communicate with like-minded others on social media, and hence be deliteriously insulated from the diversity of views present in society.

In ‘Are filter bubbles real?’ (2019), Axel Bruns points out that the term is not clearly defined, suggests an impermeability of online information spaces rarely observed, and exaggerates the extent to which algorithmic filters are to blame for non-representative information exposure.

echo chamber
groupthink

noun A failure mode of group decision-making characterised by the following symptoms:

  1. Invulnerabilityan illusion of invulnerability, shared by most or all the members, which creates excessive optimism and encourages taking extreme risks;
  2. Rationalecollective efforts to rationalize in order to discount warnings which might lead the members to reconsider their assumptions before they recommit themselves to their past policy decisions;
  3. Moralityan unquestioned belief in the group’s inherent morality, inclining the members to ignore the ethical or moral consequences of their decisions;
  4. Stereotypesstereotyped views of enemy leaders as too evil to warrant genuine attempts to negotiate, or as too weak and stupid to counter whatever risky attempts are made to defeat their purposes;
  5. Pressuredirect pressure on any member who expresses strong arguments against any of the group’s stereotypes, illusions, or commitments, making clear that this type of dissent is contrary to what is expected of all loyal members;
  6. Self-censorshipself-censorship of deviations from the apparent group consensus, reflecting each member’s inclination to minimize to himself the importance of his doubts and counterarguments;
  7. Unanimitya shared illusion of unanimity concerning judgments conforming to the majority view (partly reulting from self-censorship of deviations, augmented by the false assumption that silence means consent);
  8. Mindguardsthe emergence of self-appointed mindguards—members who protect the group from adverse information that might shatter their shared complacency about the effectiveness and morality of their decisions.
ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The eight symptoms listed above are taken verbatim from Irving Janis’ 1971 book, ‘Victims of groupthink’.

hermeneutical injustice

noun A type of epistemic injustice that occurs when a gap in collective interpretive resources puts someone at an unfair disadvantage when attempting to make sense of their experiences.

testimonial injustice
homophily

noun The tendency for contact between similar people to occur at a higher rate than among dissimilar people.

ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The definition above is a slightly modified version of that given by Miller et al. in their 2001 review paper, ‘Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks’.

selective exposure
information disorder

noun An umbrella term for misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.

information hazard

noun A risk that arises from the dissemination or the potential dissemination of true information that may cause harm or enable some agent to cause harm.

malinformation

noun Information that is both

  • true, and
  • communicated with the intent to deceive or harm.
misinformation; disinformation
misinformation

noun Information that is both

  • false, and
  • not communicated with the intent to deceive or harm.
disinformation; malinformation
pasquil

noun A pasquinade.

pasquinade

noun A short section of prose or verse that is

  • satirical,
  • public, and
  • usually anonymous.
ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The term comes from the ‘Pasquino’, a statue in Rome that was used in the sixteenth century as a public noticeboard for such commentary.

pasquil
pseudo-profound bullshit

noun Bullshit that is meaningless but presented as if it is meaningful and true.

Santa Clara Principles

noun The following three principles that relate to transparency and accountability in content moderation:

  1. Numberscompanies should publish the numbers of posts removed and accounts permanently or temporarily suspended due to violations of their content guidelines.
  2. Noticecompanies should provide notice to each user whose content is taken down or account is suspended about the reason for the removal or suspension.
  3. Appealcompanies should provide a meaningful opportunity for timely appeal of any content removal or account suspension.
ORIGIN + CONTEXT SHOW +

The three principles listed above are taken verbatim from santaclaraprinciples.org [accessed May 2, 2021].

They were proposed at the 2018 Content Moderation at Scale conference by a partnership of technology-focused academics, foundations and research institutes.

selective exposure

noun The tendency of people to, when faced with a diversity of potential information sources, preferentially expose themselves to information sources that reinforce their existing beliefs.

homophily
testimonial injustice

noun A type of epistemic injustice that occurs when prejudice causes a hearer to give a deflated level of credibility to a speaker’s word.

hermeneutical injustice