An air of paradox

In the access of power which norms make possible there is an air of paradox, since we impoverish our continuum of symbols when we condense it about a finite array of norms.

Willard Van Orman Quine - Word and Object (1960)

Dry as dust but almost poetically concise. We could devise an aspect of it which is rather less dry and not at all poetic. For example, myths may become norms, especially with the furtive hand of government pushing them.

In the access of power which myths make possible there is an air of paradox, since we impoverish our language when we condense it about a finite array of myths.

As we navigate through life by avoiding surprises, we are attracted to myths. They hold out the promise of a world with fewer surprises. Naturally enough, elites foster certain myths for their own purposes - we call it politics.

Governments and political activists certainly do impoverish our language by condensing it about a finite array of myths. We see the effect when we consider the words man and woman. Watch Nicola Sturgeon struggle with the language of gender politics. Her language is impoverished.

We see it again when we consider the words climate and weather. The impoverishment becomes particularly clear when we see the myth as policy, as in Net Zero. Again, it is worth watching the proponents of Net Zero struggle with language - it’s impoverished. Not as impoverished as we'll be though.