The Power of Names
05th June 2014
The Power of Names
For quite a while now I have tried to identify and subsequently learn the names of flowers, birds and other wild life I encounter.
To some this seems a soulless and mechanical process. My detractors argue I ignore the magic and spirit of my encounter as I am focusing my attention to the lifeless medium of the internet and books, as my attempt to make a correct identification. The quarry has become an academic quarry.
However, I can now easily identify most of the trees and shrubs that inhabit British Isles; I have a considerable list, lodged in my memory, of wild flowers; I can recognise a wide range of Birds, from songbird to bird of prey; I have a plethora of fungi, deer, insect (and more) identifications I can make easily.
So why?
When described in these terms it would appear my detractors are correct. This is nothing more than list ticking. It is a soulless process that is disjointed from the actual wildlife experience. It is just another name on the list checked off.
However, and you guessed I disagree, there is more to knowing the name of 'something'. It is, in my view, due to the significance that language is to humans, that naming is most powerful. A name is more than a word, more than a tag or a guttural utterance. The name embodies a concept, an idea, where a mental representation form and solidifies in the brain. A name is larger than it constituent letters and syllables, as its formation and definition becomes an abstract object, "where objects are the constituents of propositions that mediate between thought, language, and referents".
The words of a language are not only vital for communicating, but help our understanding of the world. How frustrating it is to not be able to convert our feelings and thoughts into words. We grasp and grab at something that seems formless and hidden; our feelings swirl in a mist of confused and undefined thought. We need it to take shape so we can bring order to the storm of chaos that surrounds us. We need to categorise and identify and thereby gain perspective and understanding. A meaning of the concept, and thus a meaning to our own world.
Through my 'geeky' dedication of identifying (so discovering the names) of all sorts of things I now see all sorts of wildlife stand out against the rest of the confused and uninterpreted world. The identified now shine out like beacons, guiding my consciousness, making me notice and then enjoy, and then appreciate, and then understand my little place, as I pass through.
Now, each name is not only bold against a backdrop of words and noises, but each bird, flower, insect, etc stands out against the overly complex collage of life. I now see this animal or plant in its setting, not just as a thing that has just 'popped- up', disconnected, like a garden gnome, but as an integral component of the landscape. I can now see the interaction of the environment and behaviour and how they determine existence. I am more able to understand 'it' and maybe 'me'. In short the giving of a name helps me have a wider appreciation and understanding of the things I encounter - before I knew its name!
For quite a while now I have tried to identify and subsequently learn the names of flowers, birds and other wild life I encounter.
To some this seems a soulless and mechanical process. My detractors argue I ignore the magic and spirit of my encounter as I am focusing my attention to the lifeless medium of the internet and books, as my attempt to make a correct identification. The quarry has become an academic quarry.
However, I can now easily identify most of the trees and shrubs that inhabit British Isles; I have a considerable list, lodged in my memory, of wild flowers; I can recognise a wide range of Birds, from songbird to bird of prey; I have a plethora of fungi, deer, insect (and more) identifications I can make easily.
So why?
When described in these terms it would appear my detractors are correct. This is nothing more than list ticking. It is a soulless process that is disjointed from the actual wildlife experience. It is just another name on the list checked off.
However, and you guessed I disagree, there is more to knowing the name of 'something'. It is, in my view, due to the significance that language is to humans, that naming is most powerful. A name is more than a word, more than a tag or a guttural utterance. The name embodies a concept, an idea, where a mental representation form and solidifies in the brain. A name is larger than it constituent letters and syllables, as its formation and definition becomes an abstract object, "where objects are the constituents of propositions that mediate between thought, language, and referents".
The words of a language are not only vital for communicating, but help our understanding of the world. How frustrating it is to not be able to convert our feelings and thoughts into words. We grasp and grab at something that seems formless and hidden; our feelings swirl in a mist of confused and undefined thought. We need it to take shape so we can bring order to the storm of chaos that surrounds us. We need to categorise and identify and thereby gain perspective and understanding. A meaning of the concept, and thus a meaning to our own world.
Through my 'geeky' dedication of identifying (so discovering the names) of all sorts of things I now see all sorts of wildlife stand out against the rest of the confused and uninterpreted world. The identified now shine out like beacons, guiding my consciousness, making me notice and then enjoy, and then appreciate, and then understand my little place, as I pass through.
Now, each name is not only bold against a backdrop of words and noises, but each bird, flower, insect, etc stands out against the overly complex collage of life. I now see this animal or plant in its setting, not just as a thing that has just 'popped- up', disconnected, like a garden gnome, but as an integral component of the landscape. I can now see the interaction of the environment and behaviour and how they determine existence. I am more able to understand 'it' and maybe 'me'. In short the giving of a name helps me have a wider appreciation and understanding of the things I encounter - before I knew its name!