The Story of Different Minds  ·  Language and stigma  ·  centuries of shifting labels

The Language Timeline

Clinical terms repeatedly became insults.

The label becomes the insult, and the person pays the price.

Simple version

Many words that are now insults began as official, legal or clinical terms. Idiot, imbecile, moron, lunatic, retarded, spastic and similar words were all used in formal contexts at different times.

Over time, labels created to classify people became weapons used against them.

The pattern

The pattern repeats. A professional system creates a category. The category becomes a label. The label becomes a slur. The slur is then used to shame the very people the category was meant to describe.

Changing the word helps, but it does not solve the deeper issue if the same contempt moves into the new language.

Awareverse lens

Awareverse should use language carefully, but also go deeper than language.

The aim is not just better words. The aim is better seeing.

Deep dive topics from this chapter