Concept Of Definition
Definition is a universal understanding. It’s what gives us solitude, justification, and generates connections to each other. It confirms a statement and seals the deal. The definition of definition is the condition of being definite, distinct, or clear. It’s a statement expressing the essential nature of something or someone, etc.
We as a collective can’t seem to define what is right vs what is wrong, which is one of the many reasons why America is in shambles today. We have lost the concept of definition and lack the understanding of meaning. For example, when it comes to climate change, racism, and/or equal rights, these things shouldn’t be considered gray areas. There are clear, direct, and distinct definitions for all those issues, yet somehow we remain in a state of denial and argue the validity of whether they exist. How can one deny something that is blatant and real? Where examples of the actual act or word is being shown in media consistently 24/7? As a society, we are in need of accurate education that truly dissects the history of America, including the bad and the ugly to portray the truth.
In today’s world, power lies with words. It is a necessary key to success whereas physical power isn’t deemed as impressive or intimidating. Language and definition go hand and hand. Skilled speech is powerful, useful, and valued. It is the true intimidation used in society for centuries. Even more so now because of the use of social media that provides the ability to spread rumors and falsehood. If you can conquer language in the forms of manipulation and persuasion, you can destroy or save one’s life, that’s how powerful language has become.
Being able to speak and sound literate has always been something that helped one receive respect. Even though speech has never lost its power, it has become suppressed. From the civil rights movement to the women's rights movement and black lives matter, it has been a struggle for minorities to be heard, but speech provided the power to inspire, connect, and overcome many battles. If you are skilled in speech, you have a greater advantage in winning in life. Having the ability to communicate is what helps you get jobs, win debates, negotiate, and persuade. The ability to embrace the totality of language helps engage minds, relationships, and actions. It is what forms laws, which is what the country runs on.
Let’s define and break down a major matter issue relevant to today, white supremacy. The definition of white supremacy is a term used to characterize various belief systems which all evolve around these main points; white people should dominate people of other backgrounds, white people should live by themselves in a whites-only society, and the belief that white people have their own "culture" that is superior to other cultures. Overall, they believe that if you have white skin then you are genetically superior to other people. Most white supremacists believe that the white race is in danger of extinction due to a rising in non-whites. They want to take extreme imminent action to “save” their race.
Definition: A white supremacist is a person who believes that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that a white person should have control over people of other races. To be considered a supremacist, you have to consider yourself to be superior to all others in authority, power, or status.
Breakdown: The core issue of this is the term supremacist. That definition itself is what divides humanity today. It creates other issues such as racism, privilege, ignorance, and bias. For humans to have applied that much meaning onto one word can create powerful and scary leaders, like Hitler and Trump. Since humans can change and define, that means we have the strength of manipulation. The power of manipulation can come easy to most, with great power comes great responsibility. If one can become a decent manipulator, there is a high chance they can become great persuaders. Persuasion is linked to manipulation in a way. If one can convince you to do something you originally didn’t want to do, they used tactics to manipulate your decision into something they wanted to happen, ie. the holocaust and capital riot. That’s how powerful language is.
Words are being redefined every day, yet never erased because once something is applied meaning it’s permanent. So for humans to create such negative, powerful words is there a way for us, as a collective, to change them to have positive meanings? Would that solve these issues? Or were these things always happening before we gave it a name? It’s hard to tell if meaning has always been applied before language existed. We had to agree that the name was true to the meaning. That truth is a single timeless reality not dependent on local conditions. It’s always waiting to be discovered through all or one of the five senses to be deemed real. It is safe to say that truth is indeed a struggle, not a status. Since it is socially constructed through communication because of its language that creates these social realities at the end of the day. We as people need meaning to find the truth. Meaning is in the mind rather than in verbal signs.
Just food for thought, what do you think?
