Andrew Einspruch's Blog, page 8

A Rant About Words (And Banning Them)

December 17, 2017

Warning: I got my dander up. If you’re not up for a rant, feel free to skip this week.

You’ve likely heard about Seth Godin, super smart marketer and prolific blogger. He did a piece recently called Different people hear differently, which included this:

What you say is not nearly as important as what we hear.

Which means that the words matter, and so does the way we say them. And how we say them. And what we do after we say them.

And:

It takes two to be understood. Not just speaking clearly, but speaking in a way that you can be understood.

I came across this today, the same day that a certain dumpster fire’s administration issued the CDC a list of seven forbidden words. To wit:

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden terms at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden terms are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or ­“evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.

Holy guacamole, this made me livid. For one, I agree with what Gruber said. For another, this sort of thing is the stuff of authoritarianism. It comes on top of the Environmental Protection Agency being forced to remove from its website resources for local governments relating to climate change.

All of this is unacceptable. Completely.

Now, my life is words. I put them together in ways people can understand and (I hope) enjoy to make my living. I believe, as Godin says, words matter—the ones we choose, how we say them, and who we say them to. How we choose to talk to our neighbours, our children, and our animals shapes the world we live in. Our words give us a chance to make things better, if we choose well.

I think that’s why the CDC thing plugged me in so much. That sort of anti-science, anti-reason, artificial restriction does not move us all forward as a society, expand our knowledge, or bring us together as people. It tries to perpetuate a close-minded point of view that would hold all of us back.

What we think of words changes over time. Remember George Carlin’s Seven words you can’t say on TV? (Needless to say, that link is NSFW.) (Also, embedded below.) When Carlin did that routine several decades ago, it was cutting edge stuff. These days, you hear most of them on TV all the time, certainly if you’re a streamer with Netflix and the like. Agree with that change or not, that change has happened.

Do I think all words are appropriate in all situations? Of course not. I didn’t swear in front of my grandma, and still wouldn’t. Learning when words are and are not appropriate in social settings is an important skill for our young’uns to learn.

But that’s all different. That’s about respect, appropriate usage in setting, and learning to get along with people.

The actions of the dumpster fire’s administration? That’s about repression.

Well, stuff that. I sincerely hope that at every public appearance from here on, all of the people behind this decision are faced with placards proclaiming those words loudly and boldly.

Because words matter. And so do actions.

(Separately: congrats Aussie legislators for finally doing what they should have done months and years ago, and passing marriage equality laws. About effing time.)

25 1/2 Things I Learned in 2017

There’s a guy named Tim Whitwell who’s a consultant with Fluxx who does a list of 52 Things I Learned each year. Here’s 2017 and here’s 2016. A couple of gems from this year:

2. Traders in Shenzhen electronics markets now rely on smartphone translation apps to communicate — not just with foreigners, but with people speaking other Chinese dialects. [Mark Pesce]
29. Amazon Echo can be useful for people suffering from Alzheimers’: “I can ask Alexa anything and I get the answer instantly. And I can ask it what day it is twenty times a day and I will still get the same correct answer.” [Rick Phelps]
34. An American TV viewer who watches Netflix rather than normal ad-funded television could avoid 160 hours of ads every year. That’s equivalent to a month of eight hour working days. [Dan Calladine]
41. Men travelling first class tend to weigh more than those in economy, while for women the reverse is true. [Lucy Hooker]
52. Ten out of twelve British water companies sometimes still use divining rods to search for leaks. [Sally Le Page]

This got me thinking. What have I learned in 2017? (Mine are more personal that Whitwell’s, and not all were necessarily learned this year, but may have been reinforced.)

If you are overzealous enjoying archery for the first time in many, many years, you can both have fun *and* pull a muscle that helps you end up spending a week in bed.
Small, consistent efforts accumulate over time.
Being married 30 years is a delight.
Sometimes the process can be flawed, even painful, but the right outcome can still result. (I’m looking at you, marriage equality in Australia).
It can take a long time, but sometimes bad behaviour gets its just desserts. And sometimes, those in power will ignore it for their own ends. The latter is is odious as it has ever been.
Sometime people you admire do things you don’t admire, and it matters. (Al Franken, anyone?) (See also What Do We Do With the Art of Monstrous Men?, which I’ve considered writing about but don’t think I have anything to add.)
Going to live rock/pop concerts has the capacity to make you feel both young and old at the same time.
It is never easy to share your life with someone and then have to bury them. This applies, of course, to animals as well as people.
If you detach yourself from the brain suck of social media, you tend to feel better.
It is OK to leave old, familiar podcasts behind if they no longer fit your head space. This applies to people, too.
Having a 22-year-old daughter is a delight.
Comparison-itis is debilitating. So don’t. Just don’t.
Making time for things that matter helps you make time again for things that matter.
Don Miguel Ruiz’s second agreement continues to be valuable (along with the other three, of course).
I once again am looking forward to new Doctor Who episodes. I didn’t think that would happen.
It is, in fact, possible that a dumpster fire will end up in charge. Despite this, good people will continue to do good. (This may or may not be about the person you might think it is about.)
An almost ten-year-old computer can still make a positive contribution to one’s life, if just.
There is no need to rush into being part of the Internet of Things. Other people can work out the kinks, especially those that have to do with security.
Good password hygiene is more important than ever. (I use 1Password to help with this.)
Lorde and Sia can both still sing like rockets.
It is still fun to read stuff you’d normally think, “That’s not for me.” (No, I didn’t cry reading The Time Traveller’s Wife. Why do you ask? *Wipes eyes*)
Libraries are still awesome, even in the digital age.
If something blows your mind, there will be others who share the feeling.
Putting out a weekly email is trickier than I thought, and more enjoyable than I expected. Also, sometimes “weekly” is “weekly-ish”.
It is still true that when people are kind, things are better. So being kind to others is still worthwhile.

25 1/2. Kindness toward animals (especially by not eating them) is as rewarding as anything on the planet. (OK, I learned that a long time ago. That’s why it’s 1/2. Still worth including.)

I’m sure I’ll think of more as soon as I post this, but for now, that seems like enough lessons.

So, what has 2017 taught you? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear.