Well, you’ve worked out a large part of why I don’t believe in my own existence, Arrendis.
The one place we really seem to disagree at the moment, is this: whether words can have truly set meaning. Since you seem to want a fight, okay, let’s fight over that.
This idea is nonsense. It’s foolishness. I’ve been resisting engaging with it because I respect your intelligence.
What you’re really talking about when you claim that words have a set meaning “to an engineer,” is specialized language-- what we’d call “jargon.” It’s not like engineers have access to some secret language of True Names that is the language the universe speaks. And the way you talk about language-- the way you want ME to talk about language? You’re carving a large section of the utility of single words away. Like “human.” If we confine the word the way you want to confine it, we lose a lot of the other ways people use it-- and that matters for understanding how people think and how people behave and even understanding how they are trying to fool and manipulate you into stuff like treating people as non-human.
And I KNOW YOU KNOW BETTER, ARRENDIS! Not only is it an unworthy claim coming from you of all people, but I know you already understand all this because you routinely manipulate language in ways that PROVE you understand perfectly well!
A word is a tool, yes! It’s a tool that works because we collectively give it certain meanings, and agree to use it for those meanings, and usually to infer which meaning is intended from context. EVERYONE DOES THIS! Engineering is a context! So is law! So is biology, and FISHING! And baking! And sailing! And on and on and on and on and on!
It works because of shared meaning. The word, by itself, is meaningless; it’s what the word is tied to in the mind of speaker and listener that gives it meaning. And that, can vary from community to community, specialty to specialty, and person to person. Mismatches are commonplace, languages (even the ones used today) are legion, and words and their meanings shift greatly over time. There is no one “true language.”
It is not a precision tool! If you want precision, you develop a specialized lexicon-- a jargon, to match a specific field, so that you can talk about a specific thing and everybody who shares your jargon will understand what you are talking about without having to ask for clarification or having TELEPATHY! The argument that all of language has that kind of precision, a single “right” meaning, is just outright nonsense, and I can’t believe you’d sincerely claim otherwise!
Which means, almost certainly, you’re doing a thing you enjoy doing and playing a game. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but I don’t engage in these discussions for that reason! I do it to explore reality, not to get manipulated and tricked by a very clever and capable sophist!
Arrendis, I consider you a friend, but the other person who tends to argue with me in this way is Veikitamo Gesakaarin. I’ll occasionally fend something off from her, but I really don’t like talking with her; she’s a box of mist and broken mirrors, a person-sized mansion of illusions I don’t care to unpack outside of warning people not to go there, ever, because while illusions can be fun, a large percentage of the blood-stained fun-house killers in that place are absolutely verifiably real.
We’re getting really close to the heart of my beliefs, now. I don’t have the time or energy to fend you off if you’re not going to … to help. Mostly what you’ll do if you’re just going to try whatever angle of attack you can come up with, is upset me. Like you have here.
There’s an itch at the back of my brain, this weird little worry that maybe you meant every word. It’s always there-- that argument for giving someone the benefit of the doubt, if there’s any doubt at all. Usually I listen to it. But I know you like to play games, and I know you’re too clever for me to ever assume you’d make an argument like this seriously when you’ve already proved you know how malleable language can be. I want to trust you, but I can’t. You made sure of that yourself.
And this is too “real” for me to want to play games with you about it. It’s stuff that’s really important to me. Trying to really understand this world … it’s the only way anything in it makes sense. I think, if I really get lost on this path, I’ll die, or worse.
(Last time I ended up as a pirate who wrote a philosophical instruction manual for people who can’t be human anymore-- how to be a better monster, essentially. It was distressingly well-received.)
Messing with people’s heads is rude, Arrendis. Please don’t screw around with mine.