Reflections on Treasuring the Transcendent Power of Words
(How wonder and beauty resides on the tip of our tongue)

INFORMATION IS PHYSICAL and, like all else, it is subject to the principles of energy i.e the ways of the universe. Hence we are our language and we live this paradox of information: our use of a word (symbol) simultaneously reflects and generates our state of being.

Existential questions arise from this paradox that involve our very survival.
How can a man (human being) transcend this great paradox of the human condition?
How can we each transcend the paradoxical, complementary forces of our psyche – in particular the exclusive, divisive force of the ego and the inclusive, connective force of compassion?
It is a truly wonderful gift to be able to transcend this paradox of our psyche and enjoy a harmonious balance of these two vital forces that so inform our lives.

This conundrum of our existence presents us with choice – often seeming inconvenient choice – involving our survival as individuals, as societies and as a species. It generates a swirling host of interrelated questions. What do we know? How can we know anything? What and who can we trust? How can we discern right from wrong? How can we really know what we are saying?
Such reflection can be overwhelming and so much is at stake.

Perhaps an alternative approach may enable us to transcend (move above and beyond) this hopeless tangle of questions? Maybe it is more helpful to be humble, acknowledge our profoundest limitations and ask, “What do we have the least control over in the universe? “

Where to begin? Some might start an inventory of their inabilities to control their hormones or the daily weather or love or fate. These are all relatively mundane, moot but not trivial considerations.
Perhaps the most simple answer is to begin with the ultimate and acknowledge that no man has power over “the ways of the universe”, also commonly known as “the principles of physics”. And perhaps no principle offers more profound insight into the truths of the universe than the Conservation of Energy Principle.

A MORE EXCLUSIVE DEFINITION of this great principle states it thus:

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another.
Energy – in physics, this is an indirectly observed quantity often understood as the ability of a physical system to do work on other physical systems.

Wiki and similar Crown English literature.

How is this definition more exclusive than inclusive?
Observe how energy is imagined as an inert thing (an “it”) that we can act upon rather than being the ultimate transforming action of the universe(s). This definition excludes human beings from the universal change , so much so that few English speakers now think to question the practice of corporations marketing themselves and their products as “energy”.
It is also made more exclusive by being defined in terms of “work” – a word now generally associated with a “discrete act performed by someone,” and more recently with “business”, “Big Business” in particular where its accountants have defined “work” as an action that adds wealth to the merchant bankers of The Crown.

A MORE INCLUSIVE DEFINITION is based on the notion that energy is the universal potential, all of which is active and continuously transforming all things. Indeed the Conservation Principle advises us that energy is so universal, continuous and bounteous that it can usefully be understood to be a constant, a simple, elegant, beautiful constant.

Ancient sages have long proclaimed and some modern nuclear physicists murmur their concurrence that the universe is actually simple in the extremes – it is only complex in the interim, which is where we are all born and die.
In other words, all men are mortal beings, simply finite forms of energy, as are all the other countless myriad possible forms of energy. This is our role and destiny as part of the universal flux, the continuous transformation of all. This is what we are. This is how we be.

The ego ever agitates against this reality and would have us deny it with our words and deeds. By comparison, compassion soothes and reminds us we are each a fleeting formation in the immense universal transformation, informing all even as we are informed by all.

WE ARE INFORMATION BEINGS, as are all other forms of energy in one way or another.
We exist as exquisite, precarious balances of information amidst the immense, ever-changing, effervescent transformation.
We exist as manifestations of the universal potential unto ourselves.

This is why and how we are our language regardless of what the ego would have us believe, say and do.
This is why 2500 years ago Confucius advised us our prime Civic duty is to continually rectify (correct) our language, for our failure to do so generates all manner of division, social corruption, war and misery.

FUNDAMENTALLY IT IS OUR OWN CHOICE whether our words~deeds are in accord with the ways of the universe
Every word, every act is a form of prayer, an invocation, an incantation to the universe and it in return informs us according to how in harmony our word or deed is with the Conservation of Energy Principle.

Always the ego instigates us, tempts us, deceives us into framing our interaction with everything in exclusive ways that reflect and serve its narrow, self-serving, acquisitive, divisive, delusional nature and ways .
Always the ego attempts by ingenious means to have us make exclusive uses of words that limit and confine their capacity to reveal the majesty, the wonder, the communion of all.
Always the ego endeavours to obliterate all reminders that we are moral, mortal beings amidst the unimaginably immense, continuous, universal transformation.

Without compassion, the ego can easily have us be our own worst enemy and, ultimately, to have us self-destruct.

It is our experience of compassion with its inclusive spirit of truth-seeking, sharing, trust and generosity that enables us to embrace the Conservation of Energy Principle as a great source of wisdom, a profound prophetic guide, an invaluable psychoanalytic tool, a proven benchmark to measure the sustainability of our words~deeds.
Remember: we live the paradox of information in that our use of a word simultaneously reflects and generates our state of our being. Our careful choice of words will tend to be manifest in vibrant, magical, meaningful lives and more harmonious behaviour as we are opened to the greater, wondrous, universal potential.

THE ANCIENT WISDOM of the Conservation of Energy Principle is simple when received in compassion.
As mentioned, the principle reminds us that all existence involves this paradox of change: the continuous universal change is a constant. And this reality of change and the finite (mortal) nature of all forms inevitably involves some form of suffering for all sentient beings.

The ego and compassion simultaneously arise in any moment of self-awareness and their relative balance determines how we experience this reality of change and suffering.

The ego ( the “I”) in our psyche, being an inherently exclusive, dualistic, divisive, deceitful and arrogant force, would have us live in denial of this reality. It has us abhor and suppress any intimation of our mortal, moral state of being. It does so by means of all manner of incredibly elaborate systems of grandiose delusions.
The ego’s dualistic nature causes us to paradoxically both exploit and resist suffering. In so doing, it traps us in circling thoughts and paradox, in spiraling suffering and misery….

It is the inclusive force of compassion that enables us to transcend paradox and to embrace this reality of change and suffering.
The word “compassion” arises from com “with, together” + pati “to suffer“.
Inherently humble, open and generous, our experience of compassion paradoxically enables us to transcend the limitations of the ego and thought. We tend to become liberated by being better able to embrace our mortality and to better act to minimize both our own suffering and the suffering of others. And a good first step in this process of healing is to give care to ensuring our use of language is as holistic (transcendent) as can be. Here are a few practical suggestions.

Practical Wisdom of the Conservation of Energy Principle
(Embracing the Physics of Language )

• Embrace the reality of our human condition: all existence involves paradox, which is fundamentally beyond the realm of thought (words).
• Cultivate the qualities of compassion because its humility reveals the limitations of words even as its inclusiveness sustains us with the wondrous power of words.
• Give care to your use of words as if your life depends on their meaning – because it does. Be of the habit of asking, “What am I actually saying?”
• Learn how the meaning given to words over millennia sustained our ancestors so that your use of the words provides a bounteous future for our children.
• Seek out and treasure words with more inclusive meaning for they better enable the universal potential to be manifest to you in more majestic, magical and liberating ways. Know the ego ever strives to have us use any word in more narrow, exclusive ways.
• Above all, treasure words that enable us to transcend paradox e.g. our paradox of love, energy, power, action, change, space, time, information, light, sound, sex, seasons, waves and other paradox that frame our world view.
• Be open to and learn from other languages. No word or person or culture is perfect. All languages arise from one and each has sustained Mankind in some vital way until today.

Summary Reflection

These are subtle matters best understood with compassion – compassion for our self, compassion for our fellow human beings and compassion for all sentient beings.
The ego will have us feel we are futile failures when we fumble, stumble and struggle in our attempts to conserve the transcendent meaning of our words.
The ego will have us fear the ridicule and derision of those who disdain our efforts to speak with care and those who dismiss our inarticulate manner as that of a fool, an idiot and even an oikophobe – a person who fears and/or hates their own culture. Fear not the irascible reactions and ridicule of your peers because to give time to ensuring one’s culture is sustainable is actually an act of love and stewardship.

Compassion reminds us in generosity, honesty, humble inquiry and inclusiveness, liberating us to better embrace the truths of the Conservation of Energy Principle and enjoy true civilization.
Compassion reassures us that our careful use of our language is more truthfully an act of love and that is what matters most.

As a simple rule, the acquisitive, divisive, know-all ego has us employ any word in exclusive ways such that its meaning is trapped and diminished in a vortex of hopelessness and delusion whereas compassion has us employ a word in a counter spiral such that its meaning is opened and expanded to include greater truths of reality.
Put very simply, when we enjoy a healthy balance of the ego with compassion, our language becomes more abundant with transcendent words, our behaviour becomes more sustainable and we are more likely to be able to enjoy a more bounteous life. Our words and deeds form a more wholesome cycle.

Exemplar of Word Care
Reflection on “Mean” and “Meaning”

Do you know what I am saying? Do you know what I mean? Do I know what I mean? Perhaps not.
And what is the meaning of “mean ” anyway? Come to think of it, it has never occurred to me to ask this question before. How about you?

My experience is that it can be helpful practice at this point in our reflection on our use of a word to give a moment to seeking out our ancestral wisdom on such questions. Existence is a dynamic process. Our psyche, our behaviour, our language, our culture are all fluid forms amidst the universal flux and there is much we can learn from how inclusive and conservative our ancestors were, how caring their actions were of the planet, how in accord they were with the Conservation of Energy Principle.
Every word we say is part of our narrative even as it simultaneously has its own story, its own narrative, chronicle, history.

My favourite source of ancestral information is the Online Etymology Dictionary and it is the source of nearly all the wonderful etymological information in this article. Here are snippets of the story it relates about the words “mean” and “meaning”

meaning (n.)

c. 1300, meninge, “sense, that which is intended to be expressed,” also “act of remembering” (a sense now obsolete), verbal noun from mean (v.). Sense of “significance, import” is from 1680s.

My first reflection is a subtle change is occurring whereby the role of the speaker’s mind is given less significance compared to the import given to the word. There is an increasing disconnect between the speaker and their language since 1300.
It is hard to imagine how “mean” was once used in the English culture with a sense of “remembrance“. However people in some other cultures are very aware that when they speak they are articulating their ancestors and calling on their wisdom. For instance Maori have a proverb “ka mua, ka muri”, which means we walk backwards into the future.

mean (v.1)

intend, have in mind;” Middle English mēnen, from Old English mænan “intend (to do something), plan; indicate (a certain object) or convey (a certain sense) when using a word,” … Old Saxon menian “to intend, signify, make known, … from PIE *meino- “opinion, intent” “to think, have an opinion…perhaps from root *men- (1) “to think.”

My first reflection is a subtle shift is occurring with the verb “mean”: from an association with thinking, supposition and opinion to a specified intention. It seems the word “mean” itself is now being given more import these days compared to the speaker’s perception or opinion of the world. Again there is a subtle implicit exclusion of our roles as individual beings amidst the universal transformation.

mean (adj.1)

c. 1200, mēne, “shared by all, common, general,” a sense now obsolete, shortened from imene, from Old English gemæne “common, public, general, universal, shared by all,” from Proto-Germanic *ga-mainiz “possessed jointly” …from PIE *ko-moin-i- “held in common,” ..
Meaning “of common or low origin, inferior iFirst draft Waitangi n rank or status” (of persons) is attested from early 14c. Sense of “ordinary, inferior in attainment or skill” is from late 14c. Also from late 14c. as “poor in quality, of little value,” though this sense survived longer in American than in England. …’poor,’ ‘shabby.’ … “without dignity of mind, destitute of honor, low-minded” is from 1660s; the specific sense of “stingy, niggardly” is recorded by 1755; the weaker sense of “disobliging, pettily offensive” is from 1839, originally American English slang.

from https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=mean

My first reflection is the adjective “mean” has a major story to teach us about our modern Crown English culture.
Once upon a time, prior to 1200 AD, the word “mean”expressed significant compassion and spoke of commonality, sharing and universality. However its etymology suggests that during next few subsequent centuries a radical change happened in English culture whereby an extremely psychopathic elite of people came to dominate discourse.
The word “mean” became increasingly associated with arrogance, greed, hatred and the general denigration of generosity, sharing, community and citizenship, especially this past two centuries. Could this radical shift in association portend dystopia and the word “mean” now be associated with the current mass extinction of species?

At first glance the ego is quick to have us dismiss this radical change in expression as “a mere anomaly, a quirk of fate, an accident of history”.
However compassion with its spirit of open inquiry and generosity of time enables us to reflect more deeply and see bigger interconnected patterns in the co-evolution of our behaviour and language.
We can observe a similar phenomenal loss of the expression of compassion if we explore a wide range of our most common English words, especially those that most frame our world view, .

This indicates the radical change in our use of the word “mean” is part of a wider syndrome in which our common humanity is increasingly menaced (debased, demeaned ).
There are many words and common expressions that once expressed our sense of the vital importance of compassion, of commonality and of sharing in general that are now used in our Crown dialect of English to express disgust, denigration and insult.
Such a dialect is characteristic of an ego-driven culture in which an elite treat their fellow humans as commodities and slaves and in which many people are alienated from the soils, waters and airs that sustain mankind long term.

Please note that the above exemplar of the word “mean” was more or less chosen randomly. The question ” Do I know what I mean?” just happened to occur in the script when I was wondering how to segue to the following appendix of reflections. As mentioned, I now realize I have used the word “mean” a million times yet I have never reflected on my use of the word before.

Here are two templates I have created to illustrate how the meaning of a word and general behaviour change over millennia.
The first template suggests questions to ask. This template was originally designed in the context of evaluating the sustainability of “scientific terms” such as “energy”, “power” and “warming” using the Conservation of Energy Principle as a benchmark (see an exemplar of the measurement technique in the table chart below).

Note: while the word “mean” has a mathematical use, it is not generally associated with “Science”. This said, the qualities of compassion (inclusiveness, sharing, honesty, humility, generosity and inquiry) are all essential for us to experience the state of science.

The table chart maps out the etymology of the word “mean” in the context of behavioural change. Green indicates that behaviour is relatively sustainable (more compassionate) while red indicates an unsustainable (more ego-driven) culture. White is the future potential in which the most inclusive (transient) word use is employed.

A final reflection on “mean”. Our lives are a search for meaning. We commonly ask ” Why? Why? Why? What is the meaning of the universe? What is the meaning of existence?”
This is especially so in times of distress and pain and when we are engulfed in war. Could it be the answer to such existential questions and prayers resides in the ancestral roots of the word “mean“?

Appendix: Reflections on Common World-view Words.
(Note: the appendix list links to deeper reflections on each word or phrase.)

Our media constantly use the words in the appendix below . Please note: the words are linked to more in-depth discussion.

These words all frame our world-view in potent ways yet few of us, least of all our teachers and journalists, ever stop to ask if we truly know what we are saying when we use them. Naturally the ego in us all insists we know what the words mean and assures us that there are experts who have defined them with care. As you can see in the appendix, this assumption is not wise…

• Energy
• Power
• Climate Change
• Global Warming
• Fossil Fuel
• Man
• He/She
• Teacher/Student
• Economy

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORD “ENERGY”.

Every cell of every man (human being) is vitally informed by energy yet no man can truly know what energy is nor can a man have the words to describe it. It infuses every element of the universe. It is the essence (being) of existence. It is the universal potential, all of which is active.
Energy is paradoxical in that it can be manifest in countless, myriad forms of energy with no form being energy.
Always the ego will tempt us to confuse and conflate the word “energy” with a few of the forms it may take. A common example is the conflation of “energy” with “fossil fuel” (mineral biomass) and “power” (electrical products), as in the fatally flawed equation underpinning the Anglosphere Empire’s global accounting system :
Energy = Fossil Fuel = Power = Electricity = Bulk-generated Electrical Products.

It is a wonderful gift of compassion to be able to transcend the paradox of energy and we can do so by refraining from conflating any form of energy with energy because to do so is to diminish, demean and delude our being in this human form.
We can also conserve the transcendence of the word “energy” by ensuring we give every type, source and form of energy its own name.
Energy is no thing and every thing.
Energy is.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORD “POWER”.

The word “power” is related to the word “energy” (the universal potential) in every way we can know, feel and speak because “power” is our experience or measure of the rate the universal potential is manifest. Power is commonly summed in the equation “Power = Energy/Time” or “P= E/T”.

Power is our measure of the energy in all forms of energy and how it is manifest depends very much on our sense of time. We experience this paradox of power: the state of our being informs our measure even as the measure simultaneously informs how the measured form is manifest to us. Hence our sense of time is a critical determinant of how the universal potential is manifest.
The ego would have us conflate the word “power” (our measure) with the name of the measured (“energy”, “electricity”, “person”, “machine”, “food”,etc) whereas compassion reminds us “power” is our paradoxical measure of the rate a minuscule element of the universal potential is manifest.

As with the word “energy”, it is a wonderful gift of compassion to be able to transcend these paradox of “power” and we can do so by refraining from conflating the word “power” with any form of energy because to do so is to diminish, demean and delude our being in this human form.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORDS (PHRASE) “CLIMATE CHANGE”

“Climate Change” – the continuous change of Earth’s ecosphere – is the way of the universe.

Earth’s climate constantly changes in accord with the principles of physics, which in turn determine if and how the dynamic interplay of its ecosystems form the vital balances that can enable life to exist on the planet, including us human beings.
We live the paradox of Climate change: our actions inform the flows and balances of ecosphere even as they inform us. Hence we act as stewards of climate processes, attempting to conserve the flows and balances that sustain mankind.

The ego, with all its greed, arrogance and deceit, would have us dismiss the principles of physics and deny our role as conservators of climate balances. It has us malign and blame “Climate Change” when our actions disrupt the flows and balances of Earth’s ecosystems that sustain us. It seeks to have us diminish and dismiss the impact of our actions on vital climate balances by having us conflate the phrase “Anthropogenic Climate Change” (human pollution) with the phrase “Climate Change“.
It is compassion that enables us to embrace our roles as stewards of this planet, to accept responsibility for our impacts on climate balances, to enjoy awe and wonderment at the amazing climate processes that enable life and to transcend the paradox of information by having us be careful not to confuse and conflate “Climate Change” with specific types of climate change such as “Daily Climate Change”, Lunar Climate Change”, “Seasonal Climate Change”, “Tectonic Climate Change” and “Human-induced Climate Change”, the latter currently putting us all at major risk.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORDS (PHRASE) “GLOBAL WARMING”

“Global Warming” – the daily solar warming of planet Earth’s surface – is the way of the universe. Earth’s surface temperatures rise and fall daily, warming up and cooling down in accord with our Sun’s rhythms , the spin and tilt of the planet, and the universal principles of thermodynamics.

A feature of Earth’s atmosphere is that it has significant thermal convection potential and somewhat less thermal conduction potential. This thermal potential is manifest in global winds, which on balance act to moderate the temperatures around the planet. We enjoy an average global temperature of about 15C and a climate in which our crops and other food sources thrive.
However with this comfort and abundance comes personal responsibility.

We all live a paradox of thermodynamics: all things exist as momentary thermal balances, simultaneously warming and cooling at equal rates. Warming is of cooling just as as light is of dark and sound is of silence.
Without this essential thermal balance , either warming-up or cooling-down occurs and the temperature changes. And with this thermal imbalance comes a change of state, which we human beings ultimately experience as our death, the dissolution of our human form. On the planetary scale a thermal imbalance can mean the extinction of species and the end of whole ecosystems.

The ego, with all its greed, arrogance and deceit, would have us dismiss the principles of physics and deny our role as conservators of Earth’s thermal flows and balances. For instance, it can in most ingenious ways have us malign and blame “Global Warming” – the essential life-enabling process on the planet – when the truth is that is our own actions disrupting the flows and balances of Earth’s ecosystems that sustain us. It has us normalize our dangerous pollution of the atmosphere by equating it with a life-enabling process.

It is compassion that enables us to embrace our roles as stewards of this planet and to enjoy awe and wonderment at the amazing, exquisite thermodynamic processes that enable life.
In particular, compassion enables us to transcend the paradox of information by having us speak the truth and being careful not to confuse and conflate “Global Warming” (a wonderful life-enabling process) with ““Global Warming-Up” (a life-threatening process). Our use of the little word “up” makes a world of difference.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORDS (PHRASE) “FOSSIL FUEL”.

There is basically no inclusive use of the phrase “Fossil Fuel”. The common use of the term to define mineral biomass as a substance that exists for some of us to burn is clearly an exclusive construct of the ego. This is especially true when “Fossil Fuel” is conflated with the words “resource” (a reusable source of energy) and “energy” (the universal potential). Also we cannot burn fossils because they have been effectively transformed into stones.

The use of the phrase “Fossil Fuel”, conveniently for the ego, enables the user to ignore and deny the awesome solar, biological, gravitational and tectonic forces involved over eons in forming mineral gas~oil and coal.
The exclusion of such considerations radically alters our sense of time and, remember, our notion of time perversely ( inversely?) impacts our experience of power and energy as in the equation
P =E/T.
For instance, it is our exclusive, distorted sense of time that enables us to so easily turn on our vehicle ignition and buckle on our jet’s seat belt with little or no sense of the enormity of our action.
The reality is our combustion of mineral biomass to propel the car or jet excludes a vast array of potential alternative uses of this precious matter while disrupting the balances of Earth’s ecosystems.

It is compassion that liberates us to embrace our roles as stewards of this planet.
It is compassion that gives us the capacity to enjoy wonderment at the awesome, eonic forces involved in the transformation of living biomass and other hydrocarbons into incredibly potent forms.
It is compassion that humbles us so we are better able to conserve their vast wealth potential for the benefit of generations to come.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORD “MAN”

There are many indications that the word “man” was a wonderful, transcendent word expressing significant compassion in Old English and its ancestral languages back to the Proto-Indo-European era.
It was given the simple inclusive meaning of “human being”, person (male or female)”.
However since c1000, especially as a consequence of the English reaction and interaction with the Norman Invasion of Britain (French and Latin), the use of the word has become increasingly exclusive and divisive.

Certainly people employed words of sexual gender in these earlier languages. However it is worth noting that the word “gender” was also a far more transcendental word, simply meaning “kind, sort, class, a class or kind of persons or things sharing certain traits”.
The word “gender” arose from PIE root *gene- “give birth, beget”, as did many of our more transcendent words. It is only in the past century that”gender” has been used in a very exclusive way and now commonly means “sex of a human being”.

“Man” (human being) may be a secularization of the Germanic god Mannus (Mannaz, “man”) who was the son of Tuisto, a god who was brought forth from the earth. Mannus, the son of Earth, was “believed to be the progenitor of the human race.“
There are parallels with Hindu mythology and the legend of Manu, the only survivor of a global flood. The name is a cognate of Indo-European “man” and has an etymological connection with the Sanskrit verb “man” meaning “to think”.

“Man” was once also an indefinite pronoun meaning “one people, they”, perhaps replaced by the word “men”. The word “mankind” ( meaning “the human race”, “the human family”) retains the gender “neutrality” of “man”.

We can see an expression of compassion in the way the words “human” and “humane” were used interchangeably and both arising from Latin humanus meaning “of man, human,” They were also defined in terms of each other with “human” (the adjective) meaning“humane, philanthropic, kind, gentle, polite; learned, refined, civilized.“
They have origins PIE -, literally meaning “earthling, earthly being,” (from root *dhghem- “earth“). The words form a humbling reminder we are not gods. We human beings are people of the “humus” (“earth, soil”).
Yes, the word “humble” also arises from PIE “dhghem“.

It is also noteworthy that c. 1600 the word “humane” meant “marked by tenderness, compassion, and a disposition to kindly treat others” but by the early 18C the words had differentiated in spelling and accent and “humane” took the “kind” sense.

This division and dehumanization of the word “human” coincides with the English Combustion Revolution, the English holocausts of the peoples of India, China, North America, Australia etc and the English slave trades. It portends the modern ego-driven Anglosphere Empire in which a man (human being) is deemed to be a mere tradable commodity, existing as an item or “human resource” to be exploited in order to maximize short-term profits to the merchant bankers of “The Crown” (aka “the City of London Corporation“), many of whom have come to believe they are demi-gods, proclaiming themselves to be rulers over men and more powerful than the principles of physics, including the Conservation of Energy Principle.
This psychopathy is reflected in The Crown dialect becoming the “dominant global language of Business” and generating a world of unparalleled addictive behaviour, self-alienation, conflict, waste and pollution.

Other cultures retain transcendent, compassionate words to describe all human beings. For instance Maori have the words “tangata” ( “person, man, human being, individual”) and “taangata” (“people, men, persons, human beings”). In so doing they generate cultures more steeped in respect for both mankind and all that sustains our future generations. Their languages can remind us what a wonderful, inclusive, compassionate word we once had in the word “man”.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORDS “HE, SHE, HIM, HER”

It may be Old English once retained a personal pronoun that embraced all human beings. For instance, there was the masculine singular pronoun “he”, the feminine singular pronoun “hio” (now “her”) and the neuter single pronoun “hit” (now “it”).
It is clear from a quick glance at the etymology of “it”, that in Old English the use of gender involved far more inclusive considerations than the relatively exclusive focus our modern English culture places on body parts.
See, for instance: , for instance at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_(pronoun)

We employ many uses of the pronoun “it” these days – it might refer to an object or substance, a condition or occurrence, something that is being done, things in general, something previously discussed or know or a living thing whose sex is unknown or being ignored.

We constantly use the word “it” far more than we may realize. However there is one use of “it” that most us are very keenly aware of and find objectionable: we do not like being referred to as “it”. We tend to feel insulted, demeaned and somehow dehumanized.
There may be profound irony in the fact that many people will vigorously object to be called an “it” (a thing) and yet they seem to remain oblivious to the fact our modern corporations can and do legally describe and treat all citizens as commodities and usurious objects, as disposable items, as things.

Other cultures retain transcendent, compassionate personal pronouns that are inclusive of all men (human beings). For instance, Maori use the simple, beautiful word “ia”, a personal pronoun that is inclusive of and embraces all people of every type.
Compassion reminds us that no person, people, no culture, no language is perfect and we English speakers can be liberated in transcendence by adopting such compassionate personal pronouns.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORDS “TEACHER” AND “STUDENT”.

We are information beings, existing as part of the continuous, universal transformation. Thus we live this paradox of information: We are informed by all even as we inform all. To teach is to learn.
Our modern Crown dialect of English has no word that transcends this paradox – one is either a “teacher” or a “student” with the student being viewed as an “empty vessel” awaiting the teacher to fill it with information.
This belief is reflected in the existence of over 60 antonyms of the word “teacher”, including “protege, beginner, greenhorn, enemy, rookie, ignoramus, follower, fresher, dependent, devotee, epigone, admirer, ward and amateur”. This indicates we are a dualistic, ego-driven culture in which information (knowledge), like human beings, is valued as a commodity, subject to copyright law and exists for short-term private profit.

Other cultures retain more compassionate words that better enable people to transcend the paradox of information. Again perhaps we can learn from Maori culture, which has the word “kaiako” meaning both “teacher” and “student”. This reflects a culture in which, for instance, children are valued for their spirit of inquiry and inherent knowledge. They form compassionate reminders of our roles as stewards of future generations.
We are all born with a lively spirit of compassionate inquiry. The gift is to conserve this spirit by using words enabling us to transcend paradox .

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE WORD “ECONOMY“

All forms of energy, including human beings, exist as momentary balances of information in accord with the Conservation of Energy Principle. We live this paradox: all is generating even as it is degenerating, all is being created even as it is being destroyed.

In this context, our use of the word “economy” is a profound reflector~generator of our state of being. Why so? Because we use the word “economy” to describe the sum of our actions both as individuals and as societies. And because for millennia the word “economy” was associated with “stewardship” and the “thrifty, judicious, frugal” management and use of resources, the sense of which remains in the word “economical”. This meaning is inclusive in that it embraces the wisdom of the Conservation of Energy Principle.

The meaning of the word “economy” has radically altered this past two centuries with the expansion of the Anglosphere Empire and its Crown dialect of English. The change involves a complete inversion of the meaning of “economy” reflecting the reality that the expansion of this global empire is increasingly driven by lethal delusions and vast wasteful, polluting practices.

This Anglosphere belief system excludes all considerations of the Conservation of Energy Principle and manifests a major lack of compassion. Indeed it manifests a delusional ego-driven culture of usury and planned obsolescence, this now commonly being called “The Economy”.

Observe how the use of the word “the” plus the capitalization of both “The” and “Economy” all act to exclude the previous associations of “economy” with individual and social stewardship of resources. Its adherents attribute their construct of “The Economy” with a wise, all knowing mind of its own. They even proclaim, “The Economy Rules!”
Such is the incredible ingenuity of the ego – it can even have us act and speak in fatally exclusive ways.
Other cultures retain more compassionate words that better enable people to transcend the paradox of information. Again perhaps we can learn from Maori culture and its notion of “kaitiakitanga” can remind us how inclusive and transcendent the English words “conserve” and “economy” were before the English Combustion Era.

INCLUSIVE USES OF THE CONNECTIVE AND ACTIVE WORDS

Never underestimate the potency of the following:
– conjunctions (e.g. “and, or, nor”);
– prepositions (e.g. “but”);
– adverbs (e.g. “up, down, in, out”);
– some of the most simple verbs (e.g. “is, are, am, be, use”);
– some of the most simple pronouns (e.g. “I, you, we, us, them, my, our, their”).
Our decision to use or not use one of these simple words reflects and generates entirely different worlds.
Take these statements for example:

“ Warming is warming-up”. (Excludes the reality that “up” indicates the probability of rising temperature and a change of state. Denial of thermodynamic principles of the universe.)
“ Warming is warming. Warming is not warming-up” (Includes the reality that a balanced thermal state exists in which warming equals cooling i.e. the warming~cooling process involves neither temperature change nor an associated change of state.)

“You and the environment” (Excludes humans from their surroundings.)
“We are our environment.” (Inclusive – humans are vitally connected with and integral to their surroundings.)

“ The holocaust.” (Excludes awareness of all the many other holocausts that have occurred.)
“A holocaust” (Includes awareness that a particular holocaust is one of many. All humans are ego-driven and psychopathic to some degree, this being tempered by some degree of compassion.)

“Climate change is the problem.” (Excludes human activity from climate processes.)
“Our use (and abuse) of Earth’s climate is our problem.” (Includes human’s role in climate processes and embraces stewardship.)

“Humankind is destroying the planet” (Excludes the reality that a minority of humans cause most of the war, waste and pollution.)
“Some humans are destroying the planet” (Includes the reality that billions of people lead relatively sustainable lives.)

As a rule, passive, exclusive language indicates it is ego-derived while active, inclusive language indicates it is compassionate.
Fundamentally our human condition is such that we can never truly know which is which. We can never be certain of what we are really saying. This is because thoughts (words) form a domain of the ego in our psyche in which its ingenious self-deceits and delusions can flourish in most incredible ways. However we can embrace the great wisdom of the Conservation of Energy Principle and use it as benchmark to evaluate to conserve and use the most inclusive words in our language so we are better able to transcend the limitations of our human condition.

Special Tributes

I would like to pay a special tribute to https://www.etymonline.com/ and its creator (D.R.H who likes to remain anonymous). He and his creation have opened me to the greater wonders of the universe, liberated me in my use of my mother-tongue and inspired me in my endeavour all this century to share true hope of physics – especially my endeavour to develop a science in the communication of the nature of energy in general and climate processes in particular.
And a tribute to my daughter who challenged me and inspired this reflection on the importance of conserving transcendent language.

First draft completed Waitangi Day Aotearoa NZ 6 February 2024 – a contribution to world harmony and peace.

It is also posted at
https://medium.com/@davemcarthur/treasuring-transcendent-words-cce83bea072c

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