DoubleSpeak: Mistakes

Deflection of Mistakes

If a corporation or politician makes a mistake, the mistake is never admitted; it is always framed as an intentional act that yielded unintentional consequences (i.e. they got caught) and is rationalized ad nauseum or minimized through gaslighting (it’s not as bad as you think it is).

Admission of Mistakes

If a corporation or politician admits to a mistake, they are deflecting from an intentional act that yielded unintentional consequences and are seeking to minimize negative perception by feigning natural fallibility and appealing to the public’s forgiving nature.

Thus, mistakes are ‘intentional acts’ and intentional acts are ‘mistakes’. One could be forgiven for confusing corporations and politicians with sociopaths.