Words losing their meaning, “Of Negationism”

“One way of trying to undermine independent thought and creative
approaches to the world is to simply destroy the way of talking about things,
so the words literally almost have no meaning. In fact by now, just about
every word that is used in political discourse has at least two meanings:
a literal meaning and its opposite. And it’s the opposite that is normally used.”

(Noam Chomsky, a talk on the 17th of January, 2008)

Change is a constant. Panta rhei. This is Heraclitus, not I.
Changes have always been happening. Challenging times are catalysts for change, where these processes mostly emerge, where they become more numerous, fast and abrupt. From the radical political changes after revolutions, to the technological advancements during wars. Changes can also be worrying signs, especially when the processes are not gradual, but leaps. Cataclysmic events of the past are good examples.

I must admit, I have not closely followed the development of the Covid19 crisis. I have read some articles about it. How this virus should be different from the common flu viruses. I also read some numbers: deaths, infections, asymptomatics. The restrictions, and how they are different and the same according to countries. Luckily, I do not get bombed by media.
I have not read everything in a detailed way. The only education about these topics I received at high school, a scientific one. I know grosso modo, what DNA and RNA is, what viruses and bacteria are, but this does not give me the possibility of appreciating completely the matter, let alone of writing anything about it.
This is the downside of being part of a super specialized civilization. We just know our own small thing, and nothing else. We are already slaves of our technology, we do not even need to wait for the singularity. On the other hand, I am pretty confident I might survive fairly long, in a post-apocalyptic world. At least until I lose or break my glasses.

I apologize for the excursus, it was stronger than I. Where were we?
Change, and when it becomes worrying. What attracted my attention is, how some words lost or changed suddenly their meaning during this crisis. Mind you, this is nothing new. My good old friend Thucydides, in that Athens of 2400 years ago brought to their knees by war and plague, has been one of the many, and indeed one of the first, writers who observed this process¹, and justly gave it a negative connotation. He is also quoted in the book of J.B. White, “When words lose their meaning”. An extremely interesting read. Thucydides, too. First love never dies.

Let’s go, finally, in medias res.
I spotted the subject months ago, when I repeatedly observed the use of the word “negationism” in pandemic-related articles and talks. At first, I just thought that people were mindlessly trying to denigrate each other through comparisons with the Nazis. As a friend recently pointed out, Godwin’s law² seems to apply quite often. Then, by reading more accurately, I discovered that negationism and its derivates were used to describe the people who criticize the official narrative of the the Covid19 crisis. They are thought not to believe in the existence of the virus, i.e. they negate its very existence.

There are two main points worthy of discussion, here.

The first point is, whether these protesters really negate the existence of the virus itself. It appears that the percentage of people who negate the very existence of the virus is insignificant. You have, on the other hand, all kind of approaches, among the ‘criticizers’: the ones who believe it comes from a secret laboratory; the ones who believe it comes from the aliens or the devil; the ones who believe it is just a normal flu; the ones who believe it is not dangerous at all; the ones who are just criticizing the measures that governments took to face it (which has per se nothing to do with the existence or non-existence of the virus).
Should everything be open for debate? Maybe not. The more years pass, the more I find myself growing an oligarch spirit, in an ancient sense. Some weeks ago I even read a supposed-to-be scientific article, where it is argued that smoking can have a protective effect against the virus³. Back to the fifties, where smoking was healthy. You can literally find all kinds of things, sadly.
We can already easily see, how the “negationism” word is used as a slogan. At best, a stupid one. Almost nobody negates the existence of the virus. This is not relevant and cannot describe the general attitude of the ones who reject, justly or unjustly, out of different reasons, acceptable or not, the official narrative. Still, a new meaning for this word has been forced into our heads.

The second point, which is the most worrying one, is how this process strips the word “negationism” of its most recent – and by far more important – meaning. I am talking, of course, about the Holocaust. Yes, I know, Godwin.
It is worrying, because we, as society, have not yet completely dealt with the World War II genocide. Mainly, because physiological reasons. We have not dealt with any genocide, as a matter of fact, but that is a different and larger topic. Even though we have recordings, pictures, witnesses and material evidence, there are still people who believe that there was no Holocaust. This is, by the way, a fitting example of negating the very existence of a fact.
I would love to say that using the word “negationism” in the Covid19 matter is only bad taste. I really would love to say that, but it looks more like a matter of ignorance. Or stupidity. Or both. Many surveys find “a shocking lack of Holocaust knowledge”⁴. Many people, especially the younger ones, are either not sure about it or deny it. Some even think that it was caused by the Jews themselves. Why not by the aliens?
I have been confronted about this topic. After having explained my points and concerns, the most common reply will leave you with eyes wide open. It has been argued that, since negationism comes from negate, the people who negate the existence of the virus (or a virus, or of Nutella, for what it is worth) are definable as negationists. Words and symbols change its significance. Holocaust, itself, does not literally mean “genocide of Jews”, but not many would think about animal sacrifices, if one talks about it. As well as, if I tattooed a swastika on my chest, I do not think that people would take me as a sun god Mithra worshiper.

Thank you, Godwin, you have been a great company.

There are plenty of words that changed abruptly significance during this crisis. Thanks to the manipulative attitude of media and the ignorance of people, but also thanks to the ignorance of the media and the manipulative attitude of people. Another interesting word that can be briefly analyzed in this way is “conspiracy”. I will dedicate some time to it in a different moment. For now, I only wish I knew who introduced the word “negationism” in the Covid19 discussions, and when. I would really like to know, if it is ignorance or manipulation. I bet for the first, but I will remain open-minded.

Confucius talks about the power of words⁵. Now, I do not want to imply that Chomsky is a reincanation of Confucius. Just that, if we only consider that two of the noblest thinkers humanity has ever seen hinted to the same thing, mutatis mutandis, at the fair distance of 2500 years and even more miles, it must be something we should take in consideration.

 

Notes