The Essence Of Names And Naming
The German poet Christian Morgenstern once said that “all seagulls look as though their names were Emma.” Although Morgenstern was known for his nonsense poetry, there is some legitimacy in his suggestion that all names are befitting for the notions they stand for. Naming is a practice that has become universal, across every culture and country and an inherent mechanism that has not been given due consideration for all the unintended weight it projects or carries in regards to meanings. Noticeably, language has played a role in how we act and make sense of the world hence in a way perceptions are fashioned or tailored by the names that are presented to us. That is, the very action of identifying objects and places are through the names that we have assigned to them. Our ego evolves and becomes more complex, as does our ability to use augmented complex language. In the act of which, shapes and transforms the worlds we create. People do not acknowledge the environment they live in unless and until the nomenclature that they respectively categorize is within the boundaries of comprehensibility and conceivability. To refer to a simple popular phrase, “We all fear what we don’t understand.”
To understand the essence of nomenclature, it is wise to take up a study to discern how words carry hidden baggage that plays a role in shaping thought and the material outcomes it spews during the course of exchange with the world. This specific research was followed through by the economists - Bentley Coffey and Patrick McLaughlin who examined whether female lawyers in South Carolina were more likely to become judges if their names were more “masculine.” Some names were almost exclusively male; others are almost exclusively female. But a third group is shared almost equally by both sexes and women with those names were notably more likely than their ostensibly feminine counterparts to become judges.
The researchers labelled the phenomenon the 'Portia Hypothesis', after the female character in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who disguises herself as a man so she can appear before the all-male court. This provides for how linguistic associations have supremacy in regulating our behaviour in accordance to the cognitive influence of nomenclature. When we use language to share experiences, we transmit meanings to others. This involves our basic beliefs and assumptions as well as intentions and values about the nature of reality. Even the words we use to describe what we see and what we don’t see including things that people believe to be true and what we are unaware of. In this manner of transmitting interpretations, it tends to facilitate the experiences of the populace we communicate with. It opens an avenue to mold cultural norms and paradigms we belong to. Over time, this will establish a dominant paradigm of seeing and acting in the world.
In addition to the previously mentioned, there is the case of language acquisition, especially in terms of pronunciation and dialect. These two factors produce an innumerable number of interpretations of labels. Words differ based on how uncomplicated they are to pronounce, i.e. people tend to lean towards labels and names that do not impose a need for them to think more than necessary. They choose words that are simple and accessible to articulate. We often adopt names that are suitable for our years and therefore constantly adapt our vocabulary as the years go by. The ability to enunciate a name is directly related to how close one feels to that particular object, region or person. Human brains are programmed to believe that if a term is onerous to comprehend or understand then it must also be high-risk. It is a fact that names that are effortless to vocalize are reviewed with positivity more than prejudice.
Dialect also serves a significance when it comes to nomenclature. Deriving an example from India, one can see how different dialects of language tend to contrast the meanings that are assigned to words even when in reality it does not. To illustrate, sugar is pronounced differently in both regions of India - North and South albeit referring to the same. “Namaskar“ which is a way of paying respect does not really diverge from the common meaning associated with it which is a greeting. The names we use can also define our heritage even after one has moved to another part of the country. Names have perhaps become the most important identifier for a person. A name tends to lead to a whole lot of assumptions and expectations about a person before once can even interact with the other face to face. They may imply race, age, socioeconomic status and even at times religion. So accordingly it’s a lethargic means to judging someone’s intelligence, character or background.
Tracing it back to Gadmer's book, “Truth and Method” and referring to one of his chapters, he opens with Heidegger's analysis of hermeneutics. It is clear from the passage that one needs to be open to the meaning of the text. 'A person trying to understand a text is ready to tell him something.' It is an element of sensitivity to a type of hermeneutical consciousness. However, we have our own biases and preferences. He further explores the assumptions of legal and religious theologies as a juridical subject, moving away from seeing the text as an object and reader as an isolated topic and creating a sense of wholeness within us to understand the necessary.
So our experience is very much part of this whole, but as Gadamer points out, 'The concept of experience seems to me to be the most vague.' Hermeneutical consciousness is an art, nature, which has the susceptibility to develop and nurture and yet the ego seems at large in these fragmented and splintered times in which we live. Readers of Gadamer often feel that many assumptions about the nature of knowledge and consciousness and understanding dissolve in you, but it is a part of the path of change. If we are filled with our own certainty as to what is, then we will never have the ability to enter into a discourse with each other, whether it is another person or a text.
