Poll: To Destroy A Concept....

[NeutralMunchHotel]

No you'd need to remove the thing as well. People would use general words to describe the concept using words like thingy or call something "that feeling". If you wanted to remove freedom remove the word and make the person not have any freedom in their life.

You say that, but what about a hundred, or two hundred years down the line? The constant act of removing this word will over generations have slowly begun do disappear, and if there are so many removed words then it would become impractical to use 'thingy' for all of them. It's definately an abstract thing to discuss, as in our world there is a word for almost everything, but what about this: someone creates the word 'Fruvous'. It describes a certain feeling when in the morning you want to hop on one leg and eat toast. It's unlikely that anyone has ever had that before, but I think that soon people will begin to feel 'Fruvous', which is basically what the original arguement is but in reverse, but still works by proving that people will believe what others tell them and by the limits of what they themselves can describe.

 

[Dr Ampersand]

snip.

You say that, but what about a hundred, or two hundred years down the line? The constant act of removing this word will over generations have slowly begun do disappear, and if there are so many removed words then it would become impractical to use 'thingy' for all of them. It's definately an abstract thing to discuss, as in our world there is a word for almost everything, but what about this: someone creates the word 'Fruvous'. It describes a certain feeling when in the morning you want to hop on one leg and eat toast. It's unlikely that anyone has ever had that before, but I think that soon people will begin to feel 'Fruvous', which is basically what the original arguement is but in reverse, but still works by proving that people will believe what others tell them and by the limits of what they themselves can describe.

People would give an example of where that thing would be or use onomatopoeic words/ actions and movement to describe the feeling or thing. If they're in sight of the object they could easily point at and say that or this thing.

The people who become fruvous after you tell them of the word could have never considered hopping on one leg and eating toast before because they had never seen it be done or mentioned in their life before. If they randomly experienced that feeling or knew of it's existence before the word existed they'd call it something like the morning toast hop feeling or something like that. If there were no general words to describe with they'd probably be confused about how they're feeling as they can't describe it.

As I'd like to warn that during discussions like these after a certain point I tend to contradict myself, talk rubbish and agree with whoever I'm talking to without realising it. If I do that please tell me.

 

[Arcticflame]

I do think the concept of freedom is a physical enough one to remain in some form or another.

For example, I am working at the moment, I am unable to do what I want.

I am not working, I am able to do what I want.

The basis of the concept of freedom has been reinvented right there, its perhaps only a basis, but it is enough to be created quickly, so that the concept can't be taken out for long enought to be truely eradicated.

As for more abstract concepts. Definitely, remove the word and it will slowly die out.

 

[hypothetical fact]

This is all about semantics. Go ahead and delete freedom from the language but people will still know the difference between a prisoner and an office worker...the prisoner gets free lunch. *Ba Dum Tish*

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

The people who become fruvous after you tell them of the word could have never considered hopping on one leg and eating toast before because they had never seen it be done or mentioned in their life before.

And that's exactly the point. They would never do it because there isn't a word to describe it, as you've just said, which would prove that were the word removed then the concept wouldn't exist. Imagine this (oh I love hypothetical situations): Millions of years ago there were Fruvians. They were fruvous every morning, until someone removed the word from their vocabulary. Then in the present day, it's reintroduced, and people once again feel fruvous. But over a million years, fruvousness failed to exist

I know it's awfully written and a stupid arguement... but my point is hidden in there. Somewhere.

 

[Dr Ampersand]

snip

And that's exactly the point. They would never do it because there isn't a word to describe it, as you've just said, which would prove that were the word removed then the concept wouldn't exist. Imagine this (oh I love hypothetical situations): Millions of years ago there were Fruvians. They were fruvous every morning, until someone removed the word from their vocabulary. Then in the present day, it's reintroduced, and people once again feel fruvous. But over a million years, fruvousness failed to exist

I know it's awfully written and a stupid arguement... but my point is hidden in there. Somewhere.

Oh I think I just contradicted myself.

.

The people who become fruvous after you tell them of the word could have never considered hopping on one leg and eating toast before because they had never seen it be done or mentioned in their life before.

If they randomly experienced that feeling or knew of it's existence before the word existed they'd call it something like the morning toast hop feeling or something like that.

Yup.

I assume I meant the second sentence because a random person called Kryll could easily have had the morning toast hop feeling before introduction of fruvous. Kinda' like how a baby can have have happy feelings or sad feelings as soon as they're born without anyone saying anything. The first sentence was just me crossing the previously mentioned stupid line though I also feel that I've crossed the agreement line a long time ago.

Another example is that I occasionaly like to stay up through the night taking sips of water looking at my fingers and toes in great detail thinking with an incredibly childish mind. There's no word to describe the urge I get to do that but I do it nonetheless.

 

[martin's a madman]

Hard to say. Almost every word in the english language has multiple synonyms. Ultamately the idea of destroying a concept is impossible because a concept is simply an idea.

Edit: See what I did there? Concept, Idea.
Also humans are very comparitive if we didn't have the word to describe it they would simply say it is "Like this" or "similar to that".

 

[Skeleon]

Sounds like 1984 with the newspeak idea.
Would it work? I'm not sure.
Probably only if you also destroyed any possible ways of explaining what you mean using other words.

EDIT: Geez, multiple ninjas in this thread. I'd better get my wooden Samurai armour.

 

[Kollega]

Yes,but it's practically impossible to remove a word (including all synonyms). Attaching a new,false sense to it,however...

 

[ergoaddict]

Think of schadenfreude, which means pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
The word was borrowed from german not that long ago, but does that mean that until then no-one in the english speaking world ever felt a certain delight in seeing s*** happening to someone else and only ze evil germans did? Even if we didn't have a specific word for the concept, we still experienced it, and would most likely have invented our own word for it if the german language hadn't provided one.