Communication and the importance of self

Hello Everyone

The dominance and creation of certain words in our language is a key indicator of what we are finding important in the way we live our lives.

In my part of the world, Australia, the word ‘selfie’ has so much importance that it was used as a key communication tool in the recent Government election.

A selfie is a picture that a person takes of themselves, preferably with a celebrity or someone of importance.  The photo is then uploaded to social media.  This is part of an engaging trend in language indicating a more selfish attitude.

University of California psychologists used the Ngram Viewer to analyse word usage in 1.4 million books from the US and Britain since the 1800s.   They found an increase in the use of words relating to the self and acquisition  such as ‘get’ and ‘choose.  At the same time, there has been a decrease in words relating to generosity, responsibility and accountability such as ‘give’, ’obliged’, ‘authority’ and ‘belong’. 

The theory is that as we have moved from rural, low-tech societies to more urban, high-tech ones there has been a greater use of words such as ’individual’, ‘unique’, ‘child’ and ‘self’.

 The changing nature of language and the requirement for language that meets the needs of technologically savvy users has meant that a new dictionary www.urbandictionary.com  has been created to manage the ever increasing internet slang.  This urban dictionary has more than 2.4 million likes on facebook .

Just as the need arises to develop language to suit our highly technical worlds we also have the power to create language and distinctions in language to create any world we want. 

My recent book on Future Words is about that very point.  We have accepted a language based on a highly moral basis which uses words such as right and wrong.  Is it time to create other priorities in language such as generosity , responsibility and integrity?

 Roz Townsend  www.roztownsend.com