I will tell you what bugs me, from time-to-time,
now and then, sometimes, you know. It is this:
it is the use of the word, evolution, to mean a change of mind. Not that an idea can change, over time: just my thinking.
I admit, right from the beginning, that language is protean: it changes shape, and that is a good thing. A word does not have to mean what it used to mean. If we insisted on that, we would probably either just grunt at each other, or learn Latin and say the Mass in a language only a few actually understood. It is a good thing that we invent new words, and use old words to say something new. On the other hand, if--as Humpty Dumpty said in Alice, Through the Looking Glass: "When I use a word, it means what I intend it to mean; no more and no less"--then we cannot be sure whether we are communicating, of just reciting sounds to each other. A language is an agreed-upon, or at least, a mutually useful way of communicating. So if someone says that he or she is "evolving" on gay marriage, or war and peace in Palestine, and we understand that it just means a change of mind, that is scarcely to be scorned. But I scorn it, nonetheless.
The term, evolution, does carry with it the scars and muscles of its own past: it has something to do with how things change from generation to generation. And perhaps, if it is useful to think of "one's mind" as having generations--something like ancestors--perhaps it is a good way to communicate. But it is also useful just to say, "I have, or am, changing my mind about that." Or maybe even, "I was wrong about that." "I have changed my mind."
Why don't we do that?
Preachers and politicians--especially preachers and politicians--are not allowed to change their minds. A preacher who says, "I used to think that God was an old man up in the sky--up there where baseball players and tight ends point--but I have changed my mind", will soon be looking for another line of work in another place. A politician who says, "I used to think that public ownership of vital resources was stupid, but now I think it is necessary for our common good," will not be re-elected. He or she may not even be allowed to stay in office for the remainder of the term: we have recall elections, don't we? Let a politician say that he or she has changed, and now thinks there are too many guns in our dresser drawers, and that those that are there should be registered. "Goodbye, betrayer!"
In both fields, religion and politics, people want to believe in absolute truth, fixed ideas. Joseph Langland had a poem in which he said, "Red squirrel, run! The fixed ideas are coming to hunt you down!" To change one's mind is to say that the fixed ideas might be wrong.
I especially know about fixed ideas in religion. I was, once, a clergyman. When my ideas changed, I knew I would not be able to continue to communicate helpfully with people who wanted to know the truth, once and for all. For ever and ever. World without end, Amen! So I went to graduate school to try to think my way through what was happening in my head. And sure enough! I was changing my mind! I had changed my mind! It is still changing.
Politics is an arena of ideas, too. Precisely like religion, there are people in politics who demand absolute consistency. "You said you did not believe in same-sex marriage! You said you thought government was evil, or that war was good! And now you don't believe those things?" Politicians and preachers are not allowed to change their minds. So what do we hear now, more and more? Politicians are beginning to "evolve". Apparently, people generally are beginning to understand that once there were dinosaurs, and that they are no more, unless you count birds as their descendants. Maybe once the earth was a cauldron of meteorites and lava fields. Maybe all of us did descend from early humans in Africa. Maybe race isn't something god-given, forever and ever, amen! Maybe it isn't much of anything, at all! Maybe your nephew or your niece is genuinely gay, and a good person! Maybe my thinking is evolving, about that. OK? You know, it is happening to me: I can't do much about what is happening to me, can I? It is happening everywhere!
I would like to say that I have changed my mind about using the word, "evolve" to mean a change of mind, but I have not actually changed my mind. I will admit that I am evolving on that issue.
now and then, sometimes, you know. It is this:
it is the use of the word, evolution, to mean a change of mind. Not that an idea can change, over time: just my thinking.
I admit, right from the beginning, that language is protean: it changes shape, and that is a good thing. A word does not have to mean what it used to mean. If we insisted on that, we would probably either just grunt at each other, or learn Latin and say the Mass in a language only a few actually understood. It is a good thing that we invent new words, and use old words to say something new. On the other hand, if--as Humpty Dumpty said in Alice, Through the Looking Glass: "When I use a word, it means what I intend it to mean; no more and no less"--then we cannot be sure whether we are communicating, of just reciting sounds to each other. A language is an agreed-upon, or at least, a mutually useful way of communicating. So if someone says that he or she is "evolving" on gay marriage, or war and peace in Palestine, and we understand that it just means a change of mind, that is scarcely to be scorned. But I scorn it, nonetheless.
The term, evolution, does carry with it the scars and muscles of its own past: it has something to do with how things change from generation to generation. And perhaps, if it is useful to think of "one's mind" as having generations--something like ancestors--perhaps it is a good way to communicate. But it is also useful just to say, "I have, or am, changing my mind about that." Or maybe even, "I was wrong about that." "I have changed my mind."
Why don't we do that?
Preachers and politicians--especially preachers and politicians--are not allowed to change their minds. A preacher who says, "I used to think that God was an old man up in the sky--up there where baseball players and tight ends point--but I have changed my mind", will soon be looking for another line of work in another place. A politician who says, "I used to think that public ownership of vital resources was stupid, but now I think it is necessary for our common good," will not be re-elected. He or she may not even be allowed to stay in office for the remainder of the term: we have recall elections, don't we? Let a politician say that he or she has changed, and now thinks there are too many guns in our dresser drawers, and that those that are there should be registered. "Goodbye, betrayer!"
In both fields, religion and politics, people want to believe in absolute truth, fixed ideas. Joseph Langland had a poem in which he said, "Red squirrel, run! The fixed ideas are coming to hunt you down!" To change one's mind is to say that the fixed ideas might be wrong.
I especially know about fixed ideas in religion. I was, once, a clergyman. When my ideas changed, I knew I would not be able to continue to communicate helpfully with people who wanted to know the truth, once and for all. For ever and ever. World without end, Amen! So I went to graduate school to try to think my way through what was happening in my head. And sure enough! I was changing my mind! I had changed my mind! It is still changing.
Politics is an arena of ideas, too. Precisely like religion, there are people in politics who demand absolute consistency. "You said you did not believe in same-sex marriage! You said you thought government was evil, or that war was good! And now you don't believe those things?" Politicians and preachers are not allowed to change their minds. So what do we hear now, more and more? Politicians are beginning to "evolve". Apparently, people generally are beginning to understand that once there were dinosaurs, and that they are no more, unless you count birds as their descendants. Maybe once the earth was a cauldron of meteorites and lava fields. Maybe all of us did descend from early humans in Africa. Maybe race isn't something god-given, forever and ever, amen! Maybe it isn't much of anything, at all! Maybe your nephew or your niece is genuinely gay, and a good person! Maybe my thinking is evolving, about that. OK? You know, it is happening to me: I can't do much about what is happening to me, can I? It is happening everywhere!
I would like to say that I have changed my mind about using the word, "evolve" to mean a change of mind, but I have not actually changed my mind. I will admit that I am evolving on that issue.
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