Words from the Cracks

Eigen⚘Leben in the Cracks

background photo © Becca Lavin

Anthropocene

The current era of human history is sometimes called Anthropocene, the ‘Age of Man’. All previous word composition with -cene (from Greek kainos = era) 〰 like Miocene, when the Alps and Himalayas were formed, and Pleistocene, when glacial periods caused extinction of many species 〰 referred to geological forces which literally changed the face of the earth.

Whoever came up with the term Anthropocene, they used it in a satirical way. The word came with an implicit undertone of disapproval, spoken perhaps in a scornful, condescending way. Who knows? We weren’t there.

We do have it from good authority, however, that the Anthropocene was meant to highlight the fact that humans have become so destructive for Mother Earth that ‘we humans’ now have become as ‘powerful’ as geological forces. This information comes straight out of The Myth of Human Supremacy written by Derrick Jensen, American ecoactivist, author, and founder of an organisation called Deep Green Resistance

“It didn’t take long for human supremacists to turn the term (Anthropocene) into the sort of self-congratulatory rationalization for further destruction to which we have become so accustomed,” Jensen writes. He also clarifies that human nature in general is not to blame for all this destruction. It’s not because ‘humans have a destructive gene’ or something. The cause lies in specific beliefs and behaviours of some individuals.

“The term Anthropocene not only doesn’t help us stop this culture from killing the planet, it contributes directly to the problems it purports to address.” Jensen goes on to explain. “It’s also grossly misleading. Humans aren’t the ones »transforming«— read: killing—the planet. Civilized humans are.”

This explanation made us* stumble. Civilised humans? Perhaps Derrick Jensen doesn’t idendify as a ‘civilised human’. He calls himself an ‘environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition’.

But what about us? What if we identify as civilised humans?

We* are not killing the planet. Maybe certain ‘Supremacist humans are.' Some humans are clinging to power for whatever reasons. They look vaguely like us. But they don’t think, feel, or behave like us 〰 civilised humans who love this planet and care about Mother Earth.

They are anthropoids who have become convicts to propagandist catchphrases such as:

::: Make nature your slave
::: I think therefore I am
::: Technology can solve all problems

Having said that, we don’t want to fall into the same trap as Derrick Jensen and pass the buck to ‘those supremacists’…

That kind of attitude instantly brings out the ’supremacist within’, which is the last thing we want to do, especially if we want/need to move into a new era.

Conwords: What’s the Catch?

To develop a language in synchrony with the Symbiocene, paying special attention to contemporary English words which carry the Latin prefix con- seems like a good start.

Con is a collective pheme. This means, it is one of the word elements used to indicate gathering, togethering, combining, joining forces. In the English language, con-words have a habit of developing a life of their own.

Con also has quite a diverse range of other meanings. So let’s take a look at those first:

1 - short for contra, negation, ‘against’ (as in pro and con)

2 - (adj.) swindling (as in con man) – shortform of confidence (!) man

3 - (verb) to swindle (formed from the adj.)

4 - (verb) to guide a ship – shortform of conduct a ship

5 - (noun) action or post of steering a ship

6 - colloquial shortening of various nouns beginning with con-, e.g. confidant, conundrum, conformist, convict, contract, conductor, conservative

7 - to study, get to know (from old English cunnian = know; German können = can)

8 - (prefix) from Latin com- = together; with variations co-, cog-, col-, con, cor- depending on the first letter of the following word.

Now let’s take a brief look at five of these con-verbionts, their original meanings, and how they have been hijacked in the Anthropocene: conceit, concrete, condescend, confidence, and confound.

Conceit [from Latin com = together + capere = catch] the noun conceit appeared the English language in the late 14th century. It was formed from the verb conceive (= to become pregnant) and originally meant a new thought, witty notion, i.e. a ‘mental pregnancy’.

In other words, conceit (used as a noun and verb) was the forerunner of the words concept, conception, and mentally conceive, conceptualise.

The contemporary use of the word conceitedness in the sense of an ’overweening or arrogant concept of one's own achievements or virtues’ developed around 1600. During the same time the word concept was coined to replace the original use of conceit.

Concrete [from Latin con- + crescere = to grow] originally to grow together. Referring to something that grew and developed and eventually materialised in solid form through a process of symbiogenesis.

Originally used as a logician’s term (concrete as opposed to abstract), the meaning expanded and grew into referring to anything material. The first concrete as a ‘building material cemented together from sand, gravel, stone chips, and water’ is known since the 1830s

In the 1950s, some Brazilian poets went a step further and developed the concept of concrete poetry, which gave birth to a new artistic movement.

Concrete art influenced many writers and artists of the 20th century, including James Joyce, E.E. Cummings, and Piet Mondrian. It continues to inspire digital and multimedia artists.

Condescend [from Latin com + descendere = to climb down] entering the English language in the mid 14 c., condescend originally referred to a king or person of superior power to step down from their rights or claims and voluntarily assume an equal position with inferiors. Condescension was a gracious act to ‘waive ceremony or dignity proper to one's superior position or rank’ to make a concession to people of lower rank.

Condescending carried its positive meaning until it flipped into its opposite sense in the late 18 c.

Now condescend means to flaunt one’s privileges and status, to demonstrate superiority and use one’s power by making other’s feel smaller and less important.

Interestingly the way the meaning of condescend evolved, has moved in synchrony with patronise. Once used in the sense of “to act as a patron, to assist and sponsor e.g. an artist” (1580s), the meaning has shifted (since 1797) into “to treat in a condescending way.”

Confidence [from Latin com + fides = trust] how confidence 〰 since 1400 firmly associated with trust and loyalty 〰 could be turned into a swindle is a bit of a mystery.

The shift happened when American English introduced the title confidence man (= swindler, scammer) in 1849, and abbreviated to con man in 1889. In these compositions confidence is used in the sense of putting on a fake mask of confidence, in full trust that others will fall into the trap of the scam.

Confound [from Latin com + fundere = to pour] used in English since 1300 c in the sense of “to condemn, curse, destroy utterly.” The original Latin confundere (= bring into disorder by mixing things together) 〰 related especially to mental perception and senses 〰 was synonymous with imprecate (= to invoke evil by cursing sth. or someone).

In 1550s the word confuse (from the identical Latin roots) was adopted in English. Coming from the same Latin roots, the meanings of confuse and confound began to intermingle.

From the 1850s onwards words like confusticate, confubuscate, conflabberate appeared in American pro-slavery literature, confounding the words and their implicit meanings further.

In contemporary Anthropocene English, confound is used as a tactics to ‘throw enemies off track’, to mix up and increase confusion, to defeat or frustrate someone’s efforts by throwing obstacles into their path.

Togethering

In the Symbiocene, we describe these co-(etc)-words with the process of togethering.

Together [from Old English to = towards + gœdere = to unite, join] expresses the gathering of forces so that a person, or group, or population of a symbiotope can move in unity and synchrony.

In the symbiosphere this is a common and perfectly natural event. Symbiogenesis implies togethering.

Togethering is a verb. It captures not only the process of uniting forces but also the relationship between the symbionts within the symbiosphere.

When original definitions of words are corrupted, when terms are used in a drastically different sense, the phemes themselves don’t lose their meanings.

Rootwords always remain the original roots. They carry the identity and history of a verbiont within them. If a word is used in a new sense which distorts or reverses the original meaning, and if this process is not made transparent, that effectively becomes identity theft.

To help our words recover from Anthropocene corruption, the symbiophants at Symbiopaedia have created a new Word⚘Fairy.

Eigen⚘Leben [from German eigen = own + Leben = life] now lives in the wildwordwoods to promote the healthy development of co- and other verbionts to pick up their roots and follow their own path into the Symbiocene.

*Btw., whenever you read the pronouns us/we/our in these wordcasts 〰  they refer to the author as a symbiont. In the Symbiocene we can no longer identify as individuals. I/me/mine are us/we/our 〰 a whole clan of living beings 〰 including you and me and all related interdependent individuals.