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In the Ministry of Love, there is a room, number 101, in which prisoners are "cured" of their thought crimes. It is many
meters underground, "as deep down as it was possible to go." The room is larger than most cells, and it contains the worst
thing in the world. "The worst thing in the world varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death
by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths. There are cases where it is some quite trivial thing, not
even fatal." It is thought that, when faced with the worst thing in the world, the subject will involuntarily do what is
required of it. "Courage and cowardice are not involved If you are falling from a height it is not cowardly to clutch at
a rope. If you come up from deep water it is not cowardly to fill your lungs with air. It is merely an instinct which cannot
be disobeyed."
In the book 1984, the protagonist, Winston, is taken to Room 101, where he is confronted with his greatest fear: rats. His
face is placed in a cage with rats until his will is broken and he gives in. 2 + 2 = 5.
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