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Embracing Others
As I contemplate writing this, I recognize I am emoting. There is a compulsion to try and say something profound. I imagine I will not bring anything new to this subject. Labeling is something humans do. We all do it. If someone objects, we fortify our labels of choice with contextual semantics, maybe even quote sources as if that alone is authority to rationalize the continuance of labels.
I have used labels for good and bad. It is not hypocrisy to point out the dangers. I consider it an invitation for a nuanced conversation that leads to greater levels of clarity. If there is anything we need today, clarity should be high on the wish list.
Language is first and foremost abstraction
This may seem like a non sequitur, but we humans do forget this. Language is a form of communication that is rooted in a complicated hierarchy of abstractions. Just because you use the word snake to identify an artifact in real life, that does not mean everyone will share your nuanced flavor of the word snake, or the myriad of ways humans unpack snakes.
We are not our brains. The brain is the organ that helps us navigate real and imaginary structures in the world. The real world, like the chair you’re sitting in, the desk you’re at, the snake crawling across your floor in the kitchen, can be just as hard as some of the social facts that is collectively agreed upon by culture. Some social facts are more real than the…
