The Death of Words

C.S. Lewis

In an article published on September 22, 1944, in The Spectator with the same title as this post, later included in the collection Of This and Other Worlds, C.S. Lewis pointed out that the meaning of many words evolves until they become mere synonyms for “good” or “bad,” and when this happens, the word is dead, because its original meaning is eventually forgotten, while the new one is useless, since the number of synonyms for “good” or “bad” continues to grow.

Lewis notes that many words, throughout history, have undergone this evolution, which transforms them from descriptive terms into insults or praises (synonyms for bad or good). He gives as examples villain, which from inhabitant of a village came to mean  a mean, evil, or unprincipled person (synonyms for bad); bastard, which from illegitimate child came to mean a person, especially one who is mean or unpleasant (another synonym for bad); or to say that someone is a gentleman, which initially referred to a profession or social category, and came to mean a man of good breeding, education, and polite manners (that is, a synonym for good).

Pope Francis, Technocracy and Artificial Intelligence

The last Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis, entitled Laudate Deum and published on October 4, 2023, dedicates a chapter to the technocratic paradigm that has been imposed throughout the world, to which the following definition applies: a certain way of understanding human life and activity [that] has gone awry, to the serious detriment of the world around us. It refers mainly to the degradation of the environment in relation to climate change of anthropogenic origin, although the phrase used can be interpreted broadly, since there are many more ways to degrade the environment, in addition to releasing gases into the atmosphere.

But it doesn't stop there. The next paragraph says this:

21. In recent years, we have been able to confirm this diagnosis, even as we have witnessed a new advance of the above paradigm. Artificial intelligence and the latest technological innovations start with the notion of a human being with no limits, whose abilities and possibilities can be infinitely expanded thanks to technology. In this way, the technocratic paradigm monstrously feeds upon itself.