Orwell, George — Nineteen eighty-four [1075]

The arithmetical problems raised, for instance, by such a statement as ‘two and two make five’ were beyond his intellectual grasp. It needed also a sort of athleticism of mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors. Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to attain. — Orwell, George, Nineteen eighty-four, 1075

Note

The paradox of ‘learning to be stupid’ — that un-knowing requires profound mental discipline — is the central insight of the passage. Orwell frames crimestop as athleticism of mind, requiring simultaneous maximum and minimum engagement.