Equivocation

I’ve always been a fan of words as a general rule.  There is something deeply engaging in being able to craft the appropriate words for the appropriate situation.  As I encounter different realms of learning and experience, there seems to be a natural specialization of language.  Every realm of life has a specialized vocabulary.

This, in and of itself, is not a negative thing.  Even the most technical of jargons can be helpful in communicating more accurately and effectively.  Yet, as language becomes specialized there are several dangers that lead to a reduction in communicative ability, rather than an increase.

The first danger of jargon is one that everybody knows.  A more highly-initiated member of whatever circle can effectively confuse or deride someone with less understanding. But even between people with the same basic set of words, there is a danger of jargon.  These are the cultural words that have become too large and unwieldy to be used effectively.

In the United States, words like Freedom and Tolerance have become all encompassing.  Here at Willamette, you also find concepts like Social Justice, Sustainability, and Community that become all-inclusive.  They are words that have different meanings when used by different people or in different contexts.  There are nuances that can certainly be explained, but on the whole these words are misused because they are too large.

Take my rhetoric class for example.  Several times, the professor has asked for the meaning and significance of a specific text.  Some the answers provided certainly address the question at hand, but only because the concepts and words expressed are so large that they include nearly every aspect of the discipline itself.  Put another way, people are shining a flashlight on an issue that requires a laser pointer.  They are both beams of light, to be sure, and the flashlight certainly encompasses the area that ought to be highlighted … but it is only targeted and direct beam that elucidates the situation.

This is often hard to do in our day-to-day interactions.  Sometimes it is simply a question of expediency.  I don’t have time to define all the words that I use.  I am using language with the implicit assumption that you are understand the words I use.  That being said, one does need to know exactly how one is using these words.  Equivocation is when you use the same word to mean different things.  Unless you are clear in your communication, it is terribly easy to equivocate on some of the most important concepts that we can ever discuss.

It’s a scholastic trick to regurgitate an answer back to a professor in the terms that were learned as a part of this class.  But that habit, however academic, is one that ought not to be applied.  We should use our words with precision and pith … and always be able to define and explain what we are talking about.  As Socrates so often points out through Plato’s discourses, if you don’t start with defining the essence of something, you will never get anywhere.  My consistent and constant challenge:  Talk directly, clearly, and be ready to define the terms of your discussion.

Say something that means something.