Technical Definitions:What gives words their meaning?

In this lecture, I explain: How we learn to categorize what is in our world.

Why words have meaning only within specific contexts.

How definitions shape the way we think.

This information will help you with identifying the audience, problem, and placement for this project.

1 2013 © Karen L. Thompson, University of Idaho

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We learn from our parents how to categorize objects in our world. Notice how even if you have no experience in classifying trees scientifically, you can easily tell a tree from a shrub (well, almost always).

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Tree

Dog

Grass

Truck

Child

Words are defined, in part, by what they are not (i.e. a tree is not a dog, grass etc.).

Each of the words I’ve crossed out could continue to be defined by what the words are not.

The result would be an endless chain of difference.Etc.

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Chains of difference and meaning. What words mean beyond a simple dictionary definition

depend upon how they are used in specific contexts.

Consider how the same word will have an entirely different definition within discipline-specific contexts.

Consider the word “bank.” This word can refer to an institution that receives and lends money, an incline, a mass of clouds, and more.

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Context creates meaning not the word. Lunch – we could call it breakfast and it would not change the

meaning.

Pet or Pest? – mice can be pets if we keep them in cages and treat them that way, or they can be pests if outside the cages.

DNA – understood within the context of genetic research will have a different meaning than how it is used within the context of forensic science.

Evil – theologians and philosophers disagree as to the meaning, so the very definition is at issue in this context.

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Wilderness vs. Civilization – how we define these words within specific contexts shape how we think about the environment.

Currier and Ives 1868 painting “Westward the Course of Empire Makes Its Way”

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Technical definitions shape our response to data. Example: Scientific term DCIS

Should the cells identified by this term be classified as cancerous?

How medical researchers answer this question is a matter of debate within this community.

How physicians respond to the various sides in this debate, will shape how they recommend treatment to patients who have these cells.

When definitions are a matter of debate, writers must explicitly state how they are defining the term.

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Example of explicit technical definition.

Overdiagnosis in mammographic screening is taken here to mean the diagnosis of invasive or in situ breast cancer that, in the absence of screening, would not have presented clinically during the woman's lifetime.

From a journal article on breast cancer.

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Technical definitions can be difficult to change.

A senior pathologist involved in developing classification systems confided to one of us that he regretted the use of the term carcinoma in DCIS.

From a journal article on breast cancer.

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Technical definitions are complicated by Social, Political, Economic, Cultural, Ethical and moral concerns, and by both expert and lay audiences.

These contexts can be highly contentious.

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Example: rBST Here is the dictionary definition:

Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) is a genetically engineered version of a naturally occurring hormone that is given to cows to stimulate milk production.

That definition does not reveal the contentious nature of how the word is used in the context of food labeling laws.

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rBST and History of Labeling of Dairy Products Monsanto developed rBST:

Successfully fought to keep recombinant off dairy labels.Monsanto argued that rBST was safe, and using the word recombinant on labels would scare the public from buying dairy products.

The use of growth hormones, however, is controversial, so organic milk producers began using rBST free on labels.

Monsanto filed a complaint with the FDA asking the agency to ban labels identifying products as coming from cows not injected with artificial hormones (i.e. to ban the rBST free label).

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The take-away here. Scientific controversies frequently turn on how a word is

defined, so being precise about how you define something, and being aware of the nature of the context is important to writing effectively.