Nomenclature Confusion: Difference between revisions
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* '''Dossey''' refers to the problem, "One soon feels that attempts to define mind, soul, and consciousness, if not futile, are like the fable of the blind men describing an elephant: each description depends on the part of the anatomy the describer happens to be holding at the time," but also suggests that it is possible to sort things out, though wonders if this can be done within the frames of empirical science.<ref>Dossey. Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1989. p. 2-3.</ref> Ultimately, Dossey concludes that some imprecision is required in order for "language" to be effective (p. 4). | * '''Dossey''' refers to the problem, "One soon feels that attempts to define mind, soul, and consciousness, if not futile, are like the fable of the blind men describing an elephant: each description depends on the part of the anatomy the describer happens to be holding at the time," but also suggests that it is possible to sort things out, though wonders if this can be done within the frames of empirical science.<ref>Dossey. Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1989. p. 2-3.</ref> Ultimately, Dossey concludes that some imprecision is required in order for "language" to be effective (p. 4). | ||
* '''Bourque, Brookover, and Back''' refer to the problem. | * '''Bourque, Brookover, and Back''' refer to the problem. | ||
=== Commentary === | === Commentary === | ||
The suggestion that imprecision is unavoidable or even necessary is unsatisfactory. Nonsense, in my view. If we are to move the area forward, we need to establish precision of meaning | The suggestion that imprecision is unavoidable or even necessary is unsatisfactory. Nonsense, in my view. If we are to move the area forward, we need to establish precision of meaning | ||
| Line 65: | Line 66: | ||
==Quotes== | ==Quotes== | ||
''Aldous Huxley''' | ''Aldous Huxley'''<blockquote>"Our problem is to adapt a language which is not now suitable to describing the continuum of mind and body, a universe of complete continuity. Somehow or other we have to invent the means of talking about these problems in an artistically varied way which shall make them accessible to the general public. Ideally, for example, we ought to be able to talk about a mystical experience simultaneously in terms of theology, of psychology and of biochemistry. This is a pretty tall order, but unless we can do something of the kind, it will remain extraordinarily difficult for people to think about this continuous web of life, to think about it as a continuum, and not in terms of the old Platonic and Cartesian dualism which so extraordinarily falsifies our picture of the world. How we are going to do this, how the literary men are going to achieve this miracle of language, I don’t know, but I think it has to be achieved. And maybe we shall. Maybe some future Shakespeare will arise with an immense command of language, able to take our existing English, and somehow, by some miracle of poetry or miracle of poetic prose, render this picture of a continuum. This is something I myself have thought about a great deal, and frankly I do not have enough talent for the task."<ref>Aldous Huxley, “Chapter Twenty-Six: 1959 Letters,” in Moksha (Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1999).</ref></blockquote>[[Evelyn Underhill]]<blockquote>...the genuine inquirer will find before long a number of self-appointed apostles who are eager to answer his question in many strange and inconsistent ways, calculated to increase rather than resolve the obscurity of his mind. He will learn that mysticism is a philosophy, an illusion, a kind of religion, a disease; that it means having visions, performing conjuring tricks, leading an idle, dreamy, and selfish life, neglecting one's business, wallowing in vague spiritual emotions, and being "in tune with the infinite." He will discover that it emancipates him from all dogmas--sometimes from all morality--and at the same time that it is very superstitious. One expert tells him that it is simply "Catholic piety," another that Walt Whitman was a typical mystic; a third assures him that all mysticism comes from the East, and supports his statement by an appeal to the mango trick. At the end of a prolonged course of lectures, sermons, tea-parties, and talks with earnest persons, the inquirer is still heard saying--too often in tones of exasperation--"What is mysticism?"<ref>Evelyn Underhill, ''Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness'', Kindle (Dover Publications, 2002).</ref></blockquote> | ||
"Our problem is to adapt a language which is not now suitable to describing the continuum of mind and body, a universe of complete continuity. Somehow or other we have to invent the means of talking about these problems in an artistically varied way which shall make them accessible to the general public. Ideally, for example, we ought to be able to talk about a mystical experience simultaneously in terms of theology, of psychology and of biochemistry. This is a pretty tall order, but unless we can do something of the kind, it will remain extraordinarily difficult for people to think about this continuous web of life, to think about it as a continuum, and not in terms of the old Platonic and Cartesian dualism which so extraordinarily falsifies our picture of the world. How we are going to do this, how the literary men are going to achieve this miracle of language, I don’t know, but I think it has to be achieved. And maybe we shall. Maybe some future Shakespeare will arise with an immense command of language, able to take our existing English, and somehow, by some miracle of poetry or miracle of poetic prose, render this picture of a continuum. This is something I myself have thought about a great deal, and frankly I do not have enough talent for the task."<ref>Aldous Huxley, “Chapter Twenty-Six: 1959 Letters,” in Moksha (Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1999).</ref> | |||
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Latest revision as of 20:33, 28 September 2026
Nomenclature Confusion
Nomenclature Confusion refers to the proliferation of competing, inconsistent, and overlapping terms used to describe the same underlying phenomenon—most notably, Connection Experience and the common elements of human spirituality. Nomenclature confusion arises because every culture, epoch, and often every individual coins their own terminology for experiences that are difficult to capture in words, Nomenclature Confusion impedes clear communication, cross-tradition comparison, scientific investigation, and the development of grounded theories of Human Development and the Full Realization of Human Potential.
Concept Map
Key Concepts
- Archetype System
- Ecosystem Integrity
- Epistemic Agency
- Epistemic Awareness
- Epistemic Controls
- Epistemic Democracy
- Epistemic Goals
- Epistemic Humility
- Epistemic Pollution
- Epistemic Practices
- Epistemic Violence
- Knowledge Ecosystem
- Boundary Object
- Knowledge Distribution
- Knowledge Production
- Knowledge Validation
- Nomenclature Confusion
- Semantic Integration
- SpiritWiki
- Symbiotic Knowledge System
- Trail Blazer
Syncretic Terms
Related LP Terms
Non-LP Related Terms
Notes
Etiology
Nomenclature confusion is a problem of biblical proportions. It arises because every culture, every epoch, sometimes every person, has their own word to describe the common elements of human Connection Experience (a.k.a spiritual experience), and because the common elements can sometimes be difficult to describe, being often larger than simple words can express. How can one express the truths of the Soul with a single word? So, scholars and individual mystics often coin their own terms in attempts to accurately represent their understanding, thereby exacerbating the problem.
For obvious reasons, Nomenclature Confusion is an obstacle to theorization, empirical investigation, broader understanding of Human Development the Full Realization of Human Potential, and the creation of a Harmonic Social Structure (i.e., Eupsychia in Abraham Maslow's terms), at both an individual and collective level.
Social Position and Language
Interestingly, Bourque, Brookover, and Back provide a sociological analysis of the causes of nomenclature confusion, concluding that one's social position (social class, culture, etc.) influences both the experience and its interpretation:
- "In the present study the transcendental experience, triggered by a range of events, is interpreted according to social position and the corresponding general frame of reference of the subjects."[1]
- "Earlier studies conducted both with college students and with a national sample administered by the Gallup Organization indicate that ecstatic experiences occur frequently, and may _differ according to the social position of the respondent._"[2]
- "Persons of lower socio-economic status who are affiliated with the Southern Baptist church frequently report experiences which are triggered by religious phenomena and which are described as part of a religious context; persons of higher socio-economic status who do not have affiliations with a fundamentalistic church report experiences that are triggered by a wide variety of triggers and which are described and utilized in more diverse ways"[2]
- Those with college education tend to report mystical experiencing using an aesthetic, neutral, secular language. Those with less education and a religious background use the language of their religion.[3]
- "In contrast, persons who are not familiar with this language or who wish to dissociate themselves from institutionalized religion find it more difficult to describe ecstatic feeling states, and in their struggle to verbalize the experience they utilize a much wider range of language symbols.[1]
- "In essence, we find a specific type of emotional experience which is variously interpreted as a religious or aesthetic experience depending on the general frame of mind which the subject brings to the experience."[1]
Nomenclature Confusion is a recognized problem in the literature.
- Abraham Maslow noted nomenclature confusion was a problem when discussing Human Nature, saying that its discussion "involves a confusion of words used in different ways by different people, arbitrary impersonal definitions, confusion of symbols with realities, and all sorts of illegitimate abstractions."[4] He notes it again when discussing a new "image of the human being," noting that the terminological confusion may be the result of trying to talk "about a future way of perceiving" but "attempting to do so in terms of" a limited vocabulary that needs replacement. [5]
- Johannson[6] identifies nomenclature confusion when discussing mystical experience, includes a table of terms, and attempts to provide an "umbrella term" to solve the problem.
- Parsons points to a "rich diversity of definitional strategies, theoretical agendas, and methodological concerns." [7]
- Dossey refers to the problem, "One soon feels that attempts to define mind, soul, and consciousness, if not futile, are like the fable of the blind men describing an elephant: each description depends on the part of the anatomy the describer happens to be holding at the time," but also suggests that it is possible to sort things out, though wonders if this can be done within the frames of empirical science.[8] Ultimately, Dossey concludes that some imprecision is required in order for "language" to be effective (p. 4).
- Bourque, Brookover, and Back refer to the problem.
Commentary
The suggestion that imprecision is unavoidable or even necessary is unsatisfactory. Nonsense, in my view. If we are to move the area forward, we need to establish precision of meaning
Solutions
The Lightning Path addresses Nomenclature Confusion by:
- Providing its own neutral, non-denominational, unbiased, and modern terminology
- Explicitly mapping Syncretic Terms—different terms from different traditions that refer to the same underlying concept
- Pursuing Semantic Integration—the systematic interlinking of concepts into logically consistent, ontologically grounded, and navigable knowledge networks Other proposed solutions include Johansson's "umbrella concept"[9] and the use of Boundary Objects to enable communication across communities of practice.
Quotes
Aldous Huxley'
"Our problem is to adapt a language which is not now suitable to describing the continuum of mind and body, a universe of complete continuity. Somehow or other we have to invent the means of talking about these problems in an artistically varied way which shall make them accessible to the general public. Ideally, for example, we ought to be able to talk about a mystical experience simultaneously in terms of theology, of psychology and of biochemistry. This is a pretty tall order, but unless we can do something of the kind, it will remain extraordinarily difficult for people to think about this continuous web of life, to think about it as a continuum, and not in terms of the old Platonic and Cartesian dualism which so extraordinarily falsifies our picture of the world. How we are going to do this, how the literary men are going to achieve this miracle of language, I don’t know, but I think it has to be achieved. And maybe we shall. Maybe some future Shakespeare will arise with an immense command of language, able to take our existing English, and somehow, by some miracle of poetry or miracle of poetic prose, render this picture of a continuum. This is something I myself have thought about a great deal, and frankly I do not have enough talent for the task."[10]
...the genuine inquirer will find before long a number of self-appointed apostles who are eager to answer his question in many strange and inconsistent ways, calculated to increase rather than resolve the obscurity of his mind. He will learn that mysticism is a philosophy, an illusion, a kind of religion, a disease; that it means having visions, performing conjuring tricks, leading an idle, dreamy, and selfish life, neglecting one's business, wallowing in vague spiritual emotions, and being "in tune with the infinite." He will discover that it emancipates him from all dogmas--sometimes from all morality--and at the same time that it is very superstitious. One expert tells him that it is simply "Catholic piety," another that Walt Whitman was a typical mystic; a third assures him that all mysticism comes from the East, and supports his statement by an appeal to the mango trick. At the end of a prolonged course of lectures, sermons, tea-parties, and talks with earnest persons, the inquirer is still heard saying--too often in tones of exasperation--"What is mysticism?"[11]
Citation and Legal
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Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bourque, Linda Brookover, and Kurt W. Back. "Language, Society and Subjective Experience." Sociometry 34, no. 1 (1971): 18.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bourque, Linda Brookover, and Kurt W. Back. "Language, Society and Subjective Experience." Sociometry 34, no. 1 (1971): 8.
- ↑ Bourque, Linda Brookover, and Kurt W. Back. "Language, Society and Subjective Experience." Sociometry 34, no. 1 (1971):
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham H. “Is Human Nature Basically Selfish?” In Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow, edited by Edward Hoffman. Sage Publications, 1996. p. 109.
- ↑ Maslow, Abraham H. “Is Human Nature Basically Selfish?” In Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow, edited by Edward Hoffman. Sage Publications, 1996. p. 115.
- ↑ Johansson, Katarina. “Lived Religion and Mystical Experiences: Finding an Inclusive Umbrella Concept for Varieties of Experiences Deemed Religious.” Approaching Religion 12, no. 1 (January 2022): 132–48.
- ↑ Parsons, William B. The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling: Revisioning the Psychoanalytic Theory of Mysticism. Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press, 1999. p. 4. https://amzn.to/2Tq1qsl.
- ↑ Dossey. Recovering the Soul: A Scientific and Spiritual Search. Toronto: Bantam Books, 1989. p. 2-3.
- ↑ Johansson, Katarina. “Lived Religion and Mystical Experiences: Finding an Inclusive Umbrella Concept for Varieties of Experiences Deemed Religious.” Approaching Religion 12, no. 1 (January 2022): 132–48.
- ↑ Aldous Huxley, “Chapter Twenty-Six: 1959 Letters,” in Moksha (Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press, 1999).
- ↑ Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: A Study in the Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness, Kindle (Dover Publications, 2002).