'Being Right is the mentalism of the New Century'

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Bonnie Greer has just said this in a trail for an essay on radio 4. Is netspeak infecting the real world?

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes. And yes to you too, Ed.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Did 'mentalist' start out on the net? I thought of it as a jokey rave thing.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:21 (twenty-three years ago)

You just made me turn on Radio 4 and it was the Archers bah.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:22 (twenty-three years ago)

I actually thought I'd invented it myself about five years ago.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Probably infact I can remember saying it as an 8 year old, but Bonnie
Greer is normally more eloquent that that.

N. its a play about Thomas Hardy, the Greer programme is coming soon.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:23 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought the word 'mentalist' was coined by Alan Partridge?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Ha ha - I only gave it 5 seconds. It sounded like the Archers.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, and suzy to thread!

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Its on at three, the Abstract is here.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't "mentalist" an old word for something like psychiatrist? The OED is in the next department over.

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Its one of those, columnist takes on the R4 listenership. The Brian Sewell one of these was fabulous, he called two members of the great british public stupid and sulked a little when people came up with good arguments against his position.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:29 (twenty-three years ago)

[Ed-Lynch-Bells-Computer:~] dali% dict mentalist No definitions found for "mentalist", perhaps you mean: wn: mentalism [Ed-Lynch-Bells-Computer:~] dali% dict mentalism 1 definition foundFrom WordNet (r) 1.7 [wn]:

mentalism n : a doctrine that mind is the true reality and that objects exist only as aspects of the mind's awareness

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:30 (twenty-three years ago)

ha ha Radio 4 must be the only station on Earth to have 'abstracts' for previews.

[although it's only Ed calling it that]

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought preview was far too low a word for R4.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:31 (twenty-three years ago)

That reminds me - old skool mentalism is mentioned in passing in a brief but quite good update on consciousness research in the Guardian today.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Ed, how about 'precis'?

I didn't invent 'mentalist', sorry, N. That sounds like inner London playground stuff to me (cf. White Teeth and 'chief').

One of the pleasures of language (especially English) is attempting to add to the dictionary or lexicon some weird turn of phrase ya thunk up at 2am one night.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I am unsure as to wether Miss Greer was using the word in the defined sense or in the other sense. Given that she was referring to Bush, Blair, Saddam and bin Laden I don't know.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I really like Bonnie Greer; she's like the lecturer who *should* have been at my college but wasn't.

Gotta listen to this, sounds good.

::Ed faints; girlfriend listening to R4 of own volition::

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Not faints but I'm not going back to the library till its over.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Bugger, the quote is actually:

'The spawn of right is fundamentalism, the first plague of our new century.'

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Can we write her and suggest edits?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:55 (twenty-three years ago)

You can ring her and get on her programme.

(+44)(0)870 010 0444

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Hmm.. reading ILE and listening to Bonnie Greer at once is hard.

Ah good - it's turned into a mentalist phone-in!

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate you people who can listen to the radio at work.

― Lara (Lara), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Can you not even tune into inter web radio.

A silly ning has brought god into this.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:09 (twenty-three years ago)

They have taken our sound cards. They have stolen our speakers.

― Lara (Lara), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:10 (twenty-three years ago)

She's invoked the cosmological argument for the existence of God! All bets are off!

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not at work.

New man: "Let's just forget about religion for a moment (not that I could). Let's read history!"

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:12 (twenty-three years ago)

White van man has just called USUK 'The British Diaspora'.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey - I like that.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I was searching for a word for it earlier to describe the nations with an Anglo Saxon basis, at least in law. I works quite well.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Posho man is quoting an obscure Italian tome from 1565!

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:16 (twenty-three years ago)

WVM brought milton into it, it restores faith in the GBP somewhat.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Why did you call him White Van Man in the first place - just cause of his accent?

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Some Momus reference, isn't it?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Yup, instant prejudice. There's no reason why a white van driver should not have read milton. I haven't and I'm meant to be educated like.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned, are you making a joke I don't get or are you just a failed Anglophile?

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

WVM = people most likely to shout 'ARRRRRRRR!' at Nick for eyepatch reasons or generally menace him; that's why he hates them. I really can't say I blame him. WVM's not usually over-fond of exams or school past 16 generally.

I'd be completely unsurprised if a despatch rider had a Milton fetish, though.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:41 (twenty-three years ago)

there are some gs and hs missing there.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Mentalist! Get thee to a library!

(yes they do go AAAAARGH at him, too)

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 30 January 2003 15:52 (twenty-three years ago)

ARRRRR!! Come on - pirate jokes are always funny.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked her point thhough. We should all throw of the tyranny of being right and come to some kind of understanding between our viewpoints.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:05 (twenty-three years ago)

ARRRRR!

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:06 (twenty-three years ago)

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