“A Change In Semantics: How A Shift in Vocabulary Can Save The World”

Words, if used properly, have the power to change the world. We have become lazy with our vocabulary. So lazy, in fact, that we are slowly losing the ability to communicate with an acumen of vocabulary that is able to precisely articulate one’s actions. It is imperative for us as a race to find better words and different phrases to articulate the problems we face as a people. For instance, we use the term “climate change,” as if the environment is changing on its own, with zero human accountability. Maybe if we called it something like “unnatural human pollution,” the public would give a hoot!

As far as the environment is concerned, we all know that we cannot keep taking from it, while in return, polluting it. Currently, natural disasters are only getting stronger due to the extra water vapor in the atmosphere caused by rising oceans. That being said, we need a new mindset, a new vocabulary, so-to-speak. A new list of values that must have escaped us the past couple of hundred years. A list of values that include a change in how we articulate the natural world, so that we can better protect this world we all share.

Our authorities have helped create a vocabulary where semantics do not matter and responsibility is completely neglected. Language is crucial to how we perceive the natural world. We need to find better ways of describing nature and our relationships with it so we can better defend it. Let’s start learning how to interact with meaning once again, so that our generation and future generations have a healthy planet to inherit.