What’s in a name? It’s just a label we use, that spawns recognition, association, and connotation in others. But can it be used unwisely?
What if I had 2 children, a girl and a boy, Heather and Scott. If I call Heather the girl will come, because years of association tell her I mean her. But what if I now name her brother Heather too? Think of the confusion!
What if I have a piano in my home, and my children know it as “piano”. One day I decide to rethink it, and remove 6 of the strings and stretch them across a guitar. That’s all well and good, but what if I call the new guitar “piano”? It has elements of the piano. But it looks, sounds and feels like a guitar. Once again, my children will be in a muddle.
Lastly, what if my children have a favorite male dog named Rover. We have him for years and grow to love him deeply, faults and all. He passes away and I buy a cat instead. I decide to call the cat Rover too, in spite of the fact it is a girl and not a dog at all. Will my children accept that?
We never stop being children, our shells just adapt and wither. And we still associate a name with what years of mental categorization have done with it. How then can we adjust to something totally different being Battlestar Galactica? How can we adapt to a womanizing man who is now a woman?
There’s nothing wrong with being creative and different. That’s what makes the world so incredibly varied. It’s just that something different ought also to be named differently. In that way, we can come to accept it for what it is.
Affectionately and respectfully,
Muffit
