❝❝Just to point out the obvious, previously language changed without being mandated or legally sanctioned or morally correct. It worked because people used it and decided that it worked.❞❞

— NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ language ∙ mandated ∙ legally ∙ sanctioned ∙ correct ∙ worked ∙ pronouns ∙ transgender

❝❝Kudos for not mentioning the shooter's name.

The shooter had absolutely nothing to do with Heathenry or pagan beliefs. I don't understand why any group should change their language, practices, customs or actions when the shooter was not part of the group or the community.

Guns are not the problem. There are many more responsible gun owners than crazy people. The people who pay attention to gun laws are not the ones you should worry about. I say this as a reluctant gun advocate. I hate guns and I would ban them if I could eliminate every gun.

This tragedy does not reflect on Heathens. I understand that you have issues with how some Heathens speak and act. I respect that and I expect that you should speak your conscience. This terrible event should not justify wholesale changes in Heathenry just to satisfy your political desires.❞❞

— comments from Column: After Christchurch, Declarations or Deeds?

Tags: maxims ∙ cross posted ∙ damnatio memoriae ∙ Heathenry ∙ pagan ∙ language ∙ practices ∙ customs ∙ actions ∙ shooter ∙ community ∙ guns ∙ reluctant advocate ∙ conscience ∙ Christchurch ∙ New Zealand

❝❝Language is defined by usage, not expert decision and proclamation. It's why there are new words like smartphone and LOL. It's why there are obscure words like gelogenic and aretaics that most people don't know.

Now, do I know science? Yep, I know the scientific method. I know that science works by explaining past phenomena and accurately predicting future change. I know that there is a difference between physics and chemistry, although hardcore physicists will insist that every thing in chemistry is only a subsection of physics. I know that expertise does more to define blind spots than establish authority.

And I know that insight and understanding is not defined by degrees and publication, but by who can explain and predict. I also know that disparaging the source without considering the argument moves from scholarship to dogma. I know that the institution doesn't have value except in that it can produce results.❞❞

— NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ language ∙ usage ∙ expert ∙ gelogenic ∙ aretaics ∙ scientific method ∙ science ∙ phenomena ∙ predictions ∙ physics ∙ chemistry ∙ authority ∙ insight ∙ understanding ∙ scholarship ∙ dogma ∙ institutions

When they have eliminated superdelegates, they will have earned the designation.

Tags: Democrats ∙ democratic ∙ superdelegates ∙ Republican ∙ Hubert Humphrey ∙ Robert Kennedy ∙ nomination ∙ 1968 ∙ Cyrano de Bergerac ∙ language ∙ qualifiers ∙ restricting ∙ open primaries ∙ decisions ∙ judicial intervention ∙ ballot initiatives

❝❝Experience trumps language every time.❞❞
     — NeoWayland

Tags: maxims ∙ experience ∙ language