Terminology Hijacking
Apologies if the material on this page is somewhat repetitious. Or if you get to this page before you wade through the main body of the blog, some terms and thoughts may be somewhat vague due to being dependent on material that I presented in the main body. But I hate writing styles where the author forces you to read the whole encyclopaedia, assuming you are so dumb that you can’t put two and two together and bypass a lot of slow details. It is easy to backtrack if you want to follow up a loose thread!
The world of Evolution and the world of Religion are hotbeds of terminology Hijacking.
Imagine a strange situation where a culture has only one word for apples and oranges. Either item is called an apple. If you dislike oranges but like apples and are asked if you like apples, what will you say?
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What if horses and unicorns are both referred to as horses. If you are asked if you believed in horses – yes or no – what will you say?
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The same scenario could be used on yetis and mountain gorillas. One term for both. When asked if you believe in the existence of mountain gorillas, will you confidently say yes without fear of being labelled a fool?
In the world of “Christianity” any individual can claim, or be hung with the label, with a huge variance of actual characteristics falling within the general term. The guy or gal might be a nice person or a total ogre or anywhere in between, adept at practicing just about any habit imaginable. Their thinking and actions may be intertwined with generational urban legends that have little connection to the Official Christian Text Book. There may seem to be varying levels of connection to the Bible. But one general term is used for any of a wild range of variations.
In the world of explaining the existence of and meaning of life, again, one word in many cases is used to describe things or processes that range from intuitively obvious to totally bizarre. Basing one’s action on stories from a “Just So” style of explanation, seems to be rather common place!
Kipling's "Just So Stories" were amusing "explanations" of realities, meant to be entertaining, but not meant to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, many modern day "experts" also use similar story telling tactics to "explain" realities. But in these situations, the dreamland tale is spouted out with an expectation that listeners will give the "non answer", credibility! Amazing! Who is the bigger fool - the story teller or the listener?
Let’s consider some examples.
Evolution and Evolution**. One word – two meanings.
(Step by step, personality guided creative development) vs. (very gradual creative development from simple to complex that occurs with no personality involvement – the process is without significant leaps of developmental progress).
The Model T Ford evolved to the Ford Mustang. The photos illustrate an approximate 100 year time spread. Advances such as the electric starter, safety glass, disk brakes, and radial tires appeared as complete component leaps. That is how true evolution happens. I was unable to find any factual illustrations of evolution**. Like tooth fairies and unicorns, any illustration available is simply artwork or a mockup from an imaginative mind - a "Just So" story!
Natural Selection and Natural Selection**. One term, two meanings.
A parallel pair of concepts would be; (Personality driven market forces guiding and passing judgement on creative efforts i.e. the Edsel not making it and the electronic word processor putting the manual typewriter out of existence) vs. (spontaneous product generation due to “market” demand (hey! – where did the “market” come from??) – i.e. cell phones suddenly appearing with no evidence of a developer or jet planes suddenly appearing out of nowhere and taking over from propeller models, which slowly fade away from certain segments of the market).
The Edsel disappeared due to market judgment. The original introduction of the Russian Lada also fizzled, in part due to lack of mechanical reliability. What became of all the manual typewriters that once were everywhere? Natural Selection is real but there are always personalities involved in the process. The winners in the selection process came from somewhere and it wasn't from out of the imaginary mist.
No one was forced by an autocratic power to cut the E-Cord on their rotary dial communicator nor to start using a cell phone. Natural selection definitely drove the evolutionary process. But no one is so slow as to think this remarkable change wasn't fostered every step of the way by designers, builders, and users making decisions and choices. No one is so foolish as to close their eyes on history and assume this transformation came about without personality involvement.
The DC3 hung in far longer than the Comet, but the passenger airliner transformation was under way when the Comet first flew. As with the phone revolution, natural selection is everywhere and natural selection** is as invisible as the earth's tooth fairy population. Do the aircraft photos smack of a hijacking attempt - stealing a legitimate term and using it to give credibility to a flight of fantasy?
Survival of the fittest and Survival of the fittest**. One term, two takes on the significance. Quality Control v.s. a Magical Developmental Marvel.
A parallel pair of concepts would be; (Quality Control) vs. (Dice based Selection and Upgrade Theory). (An Explanation: On a production line it is logical to test output for minimal standards and to either repair or dispose of defective items before they get into the market. Failure to do this will degrade the reputation of the product. Failure to apply this control to all company production lines will create a disastrous image problem that may spell the end of demand for the product being produced. Human designers have yet to produce anything that can reproduce autonomously so the factory is the closest approximation we have to that remarkable biologic capacity. Common sense tends to surface in systems that deal with this issue. But imagine a company having an inspector standing by a production line terminus who rolls a pair of dice each time a product passes. 12, 11, 10, or 9 and the product passes. 8 or lower – the product is rejected. This approach (the Dice based Selection and Upgrade Theory) is labelled “Quality Control” just like more conventional methods. To add to the unlikely credibility of the DBSU Theory, it is also believed by supporters that using this method will gradually transform the output of the assembly line into a much more complex and valuable product – Honda Civics gradually start coming off the line as Acuras without any other process changes – some detractors disparagingly label the concept as insanity or witch craft!) There you have it, so - do you believe in Quality Control? Do you believe in Survival of the Fittest**? Hmm? Troubling questions!
Chance v.s. Personality Driven Action?? Humans haven't quite got to the point where they can design autonomous quality control features that allow their creations to heal or to self destruct in order to stay viable over long periods of time. And, interestingly in nature, we do not see autonomous capacity for major self development. It would be an interesting world if your cat or dog could quickly morph into forms which would allow it to boss you around and take over the refridgerator!
Once upon a time there was a Honda Civic factory. Loyal workers would come each day and slave away making Honda Civics, one after another. They were dedicated and happy workers. They were very careful to do their jobs well and the quality control workers at the end of the assembly line rarely found any flaws in the neat little Civics. Over the years, despite the factory not having an R&D department nor any engineers nor designers, the workers noticed that the Civics coming off the line started looking more like Acuras. These cars sold for more money than the Civics and the happy workers were even more happy as their pay cheques kept increasing. What a happy "Just So"story. Do you like it? Do you believe it?
Would you like another "Just So" story telling how the propeller aircraft became the jet aircraft?
Adaptive Mechanisms and Evolution**. A practical, brilliant, reality v.s. a flight of fantasy that are often treated as being the same concept.
Very often these descriptions are seen as being one and the same. Humans adapting to temperature variations or altitude variations. Plants adapting in the same way. Animals or bacteria or viruses adapting to changing conditions. Are we looking at brilliantly designed limited adaptive mechanisms or evolution**? Evolution** would infer we are looking at unlimited adaptive and creative mechanisms that are not designed. But the same observed processes get labelled with significantly different terms that infer very different meanings and the terminology used has a huge impact on influencing an understanding of what is actually happening. Thus more terminology confusion and manipulation.
To complicate matters further, most advocates of evolution** are very free, perhaps adept would be a better term, at flipping back and forth between definitions without indicating that this tactic is being used. Usually this switch up is smothered in huge applications of “time” to make the obviously insane look reasonable. This approach is a bit like serving up beef or turkey hamburgers without differentiating, and then smothering the product with globs of sauce and relish so the core detail of the product is not noticed by those injesting the “food”! A brilliant "Just So " story brings rounds of applause and the burger could just as well be horse or dog meat as far as those eating it can detect.
Are you feeding me a Beef Burger or a Turkey Burger? Or is it a mixure of the two? The onions seem to mask the taste! Well, it keeps the masses quiet and seems to satisfy their appetite for answers!
The “time” trick is similar to the simplistic riddle of “proving” that it is impossible to cross a room. Go half way and you can divide the remaining distance in half. Go a remaining half, and you can divide the remaining distance in half. This can go on an infinite number of times. How is it possible to cross the room? A dumb ass riddle! So is pretending that Life can wait for an eon. Life is by the moment. Evolution**, if it existed, clearly takes too long to meet the needs of Life. A dumb ass concept!
So, here we are. Life is a challenge when even if someone speaks the same language that you do, you have to constantly ask yourself if what you think you hear is what the speaker is meaning to say. And if a little bit of “con job” is being slipped in, the challenge is even greater. And if the speaker himself has been conned or is playing an innocent air pump, recycling roll, wow – just opening one’s mouth and ears provides for exciting soap opera style drama!
Do you believe in Evolution? Do you believe in horses? Do you believe in Unicorns? Do you believe in Evolution**? Do you like apples? Can you tell the difference between apples and oranges? Are you sucking air or slough water? Life is exciting and we are in a Living Soap Opera as well as being in The Big School!
Thankfully, although “time” is not on the side of evolution**, it is on the side of evolution! The Big School allows myriad con jobs to succeed in the short run (they are actually beneficial to the cause), but ultimately, the vital lessons will be learned and everyone’s mind will connect to Reality!
Hijacking is a much more common crime than the media leads one to believe and it is a crime that has been popular for a long time! You may get on an aircraft safely but when you read a magazine during your trip, an even more sinister hijacking may be impacting you.
