The Dangers of Conflation

Conflation is the act of taking two different concepts and squeezing them to fit into a single word. It is a powerful tool that is quietly and pervasively used by an uneducated public and, perhaps more sinisterly, an educated media.

The ability to dissect a word, to deconflate it, and recognize the constituent concepts is a skill that we have more of a need for than ever in a world ruled by lawyering and technical correctness.

I have found that many presumptions, mine included, are built on a rickety foundation of conflated words. The more widely used and "understood" the term, the more suspect it is. Stick your hand into a hat of buzzwords and what you pull out will most likely be conflated. But reader beware: these terms are sneaky and a cursory glance is unlikely to reveal the conflation. Research and critical thinking are required.

Seemingly innocuous words and terms such as "capitalism", "socialism", "urban", "person", and more are heinous amalgams of conflated concepts, wrought together by happenstance or intentional deception.

Peer carefully into your words and the words your friends and family use. See if perhaps a term you have taken for granted might actually mean multiple things at once. You could have entire conversations with someone, talking about different things but using the same words. You could come out of it thinking you agree, or disagree, and being none the wiser.