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We live in imprecise times.

Our desires and fears are tainted with subjectivity. There’s no right or wrong, no black or white, no real or imaginary.

When equality and freedom were reached, we opened the door to countless definitions of reality. This is not to say that we are totally free and equal, but no one can argue that we aren’t living in the most liberal moment of history (especially in the western world). Even if this freedom of speech and decision making is still incomplete, it has already changed the world enough for us to analyze the consequences.

One of the most interesting and harmful effects of this “talk first, agree later” society is the multiple, consistent and “soft” redefinition of the language. In a world where everyone owns the words, because everyone is allowed to speak their mind as they see fit, there is no longer unity in language. Sure, we all pronounce the same words, but they all mean something different to each of us.

In the past, it wasn’t just language that was ruled by a select group of people, but everyone’s fates too. Of course, the world has seen constant improvement in various aspects with many of its societal changes, but not without some negative repercussions. Nowadays, we are not only choosing what we want to do with our time but we are also free to explain why and how we are going to do it. We own not only our fate, but its definition as well.

The main problem that I see with this new mindset is that the appeal spreads. Please see that I’m using the world “appeal.” This is because what may sound good isn’t necessarily good. Maybe because of an inherent drive to “help others”, maybe because it’s a business strategy or maybe because we just want to feel good about ourselves, but we are all telling others what to do and how to do it with our own specific language. And those articulated visions spread because they are solid promises of a better future. The power of the articulate language is unmeasurable. (Side note: This is why I believe that journalism has been the most hurtful industry to the globalized intellectuality of the masses).

I hate the words in the picture. Not because I don’t want to be “happy”, whatever that means, but because of their inherent imprecision. They have become so relevant in our lives, that we shape our lifestyle and make our most important decisions going after them or avoiding them. When we pursue these, we pursue subjectivity, and when subjectivity is a goal, the ways to get there are infinite. The problem is clear: only one path will work for you, so your odds of going through the right one are minimum.

With the freedom to express ourselves constantly increasing due to changes in education and technology (to name a few), this tendency of language elasticity is only going to get stronger. I believe that the only solution is to take the time needed to define those words and goals by yourself, which is not an easy task at all. We need to stop underestimating the specific comprehension of the terminology. Any other path will be the wrong path. The word can be subjective, but the feeling of making a life-changing mistake after accepting someone else’s definitions can be very real.

In the end, the most damaging consequence of language imprecision is a world with confident but lost individuals.

The result is a proud and unsettled society.

Not a good combination.

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Related articles from OwlSparks about language imprecision:

My definition of wisdom. Here is Alain de Botton’s pushing us to have our own definition of success. Here is “The Common Achievement Effect.” Here is the problem with glamorized words like “Entrepreneurship.” My theory on the biggest contradiction young people are living nowadays. My thoughts on the challenge of achieving “success” for non-profits. My criticism of our “news equal success” mentality. Yet another post on success and failure.