The Standardization Of Error

by Vilhjálmur Stefánsson, Karl Kvitko (Editor), G.W. Krieg (Introduction)

“This long out-of-print book from 1927 is a gem for its gentle yet mocking and ultimately devastating humor. Although the details and sometimes the turns of speech may be antiquated, the general lines of attack remain strong. If the reader will supply current equivalents for the references of a bygone age, he or she will find that what Stefansson is mocking are the monsters of today ─ in utero. That is, the corporations, the commercials, the products that would make us clean and healthy, the obligatory holidays, the worry about and exploitation of children, the busybody church with its invisible god, the mass-media entertainment complex. Stefansson the Icelandic explorer, the Canadian citizen, the leftist radical, steps out of the frozen retreats, casting a disparaging eye on the nonsense of the early American consumer society and saying a few choice words about the absurd myths it propagates.” (From the preface by editor Karl Kvitko.)

In an Afterword, “The Standardization of Truth, or Consistency of Definition,” G. W. Krieg treats the book as “one of those stray little volumes that can make a big difference in your life. Amid its colorful stories and friendly spoofs of American society of the 1920s there is a seminal idea that is essential to clear and rational thought.” Krieg explains the idea as a key to catching errors in religion, science and politics.

Obsolete spellings of the author have been brought up to date, and the text has been formatted for Kindle. Linked Table of Contents.

81 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Vilhjálmur Stefánsson (1879-1962) was a Canadian Arctic explorer and ethnologist.