Our Missing Word
My friends and family have heard me rant about this topic for years, yet its relevance and impact never decreases in my mind. It strikes at the core of language and how we comprehend and modify our reality. This is because we, as humanity, have evolved through communication and the community it has facilitated. Our primary means of communication is via words, and they have been extremely effective devices. It would be hard to image our civilization evolving to this advanced state without words.

Words are also full of risk. Even in context words can be misconstrued. My favorite example is "The Fish is ready to eat". Are you cooking it? Feeding it? Could "The Fish" be a hungry Abe Vigoda? (who is actually still alive as of today). Even context didn't give these words adequate definition.

My rant is this: There is no recursive articulation in modern language of the transition point whereby a concept can adequately deserve to be labeled with its definition-word. More simply stated: There is no Word in our language that describes when something deserves its label. How many car-parts must I assemble before you would call it a "Car"? There is a point-of-transition that is a critical point for the very function of Words. On one side of the transition point the word does not apply, and on the other it does apply. Some have suggested "Conception" as an adequate word, but I believe that it is presently too loaded with societal baggage to adequately address this gap.

Because this transition point is not labeled, it is not discussed. As far back as Aristotle we have discussed the "essence" of an object - which pre-supposes that the nature of the object (or concept) existed prior to its label. But, without discussing and arguing about the nature of this transition point, we are continually ignorant of the word itself, and therefore the concept we intend to label with that word. How can you begin to have a rational discussion on any topic without comprehending the limits of the labels you use? Will there be misunderstandings?

I believe that our language needs to wake up and recognize that it is inadequate, in its present state, to address our complex societal and pan-environmental issues. We need to respect the limitations of our language, point at the weaknesses, and arm ourselves with a healthy skepticism so that we engage in fewer wars, fewer religious battles, fewer divorces, and that we begin to re-build our language on a more sound foundation. We may even learn to communicate.