Missing Words | Frankly #30
Last Friday was my annual Earth Day presentation: a reflection on ~3 dozen common English words which are semantically disconnected from what they really mean - paired alongside more biophysically accurate terms. Building on that theme, this week’s Frankly is a thought experiment of which ecological and systems concepts do not exist in the English language - but perhaps should. All of this is to say, the semantics and connotations of our language are extremely powerful and have direct impacts on the way we think and act. Could shaping our speech to be more accurate, empathetic, and comprehensive cause our aggregate actions to do the same?
In case you missed it…
Last Friday I posted my annual Earth Day Presentation. This year, I was inspired by conversation with Marcus Briggs-Cloud of the Muskogee Tribe, who was explaining to me how English words fail to represent the values and terms in his native language. That got me to thinking about the semantic power that resides in the everyday words we use - the words themselves imbue an understanding and perspective that shape our behaviors - and almost give them tacit approval. As such, for this year’s Earth Day presentation, I present 30+ common (English) terms that we use to describe our surroundings, and pair them with their ‘systems reality’ equivalents.
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