Procrastadabbler

An interesting meditation on naming the world in today’s New York Times. The author is a scientist and writes about taxonomy and how it is a dying practice – that so few of us can name things. The author ends by stating that by naming things, it changes things. It changes our relationship to things. It makes us notice things.

I’ve often railed about our compulsion to name things. I’m married to a man who likes to name the trees. When we walk, he identifies the different maples and oaks and other trees that shelter us. I’ve too often failed to appreciate this. But I’m seeing now the importance. It’s not the label that’s important, it’s the act of labeling. By giving something a name we bring it into being – into our consciousness.

It is one of the first tasks God gave to humankind according to the Bible (if I’m remembering my creation story correctly). It’s what Paulo Freire did with his students. Naming the world gives us power because it allows us to see our world.

And I think that’s one of the tasks of academics. My students and others often complain about how academic writing is ponderous and I explain that part of the reason is that in academic writing you have to define everything. The other critique I often hear is that what academics write about is so very obvious. And my response is, if it’s so obvious, then why aren’t more people thinking and doing things about it. The job of the academic is to notice and name those things in the world that are so obvious most people miss it.

Right now I am sitting on my deck on a humid morning. On the table in front of me is a bee. On the other chair is a wasp. By naming them I am seeing the difference in them. They are remarkably different. They play different roles in this ecosystem. But before I stopped to look and name, they were simply bugs. I don’t know enough to tell you what kind of bee, what kind of wasp. But they are now part of me having been named.

I think I understand a bit more now.