The words we use to describe the world determine how we inhabit it. And brother, the words we have today are more outdated than Windows 95 trying to run Cyberpunk 2077.

The role of the dictionary

Dictionaries have never been mere repositories of definitions. They function as architects of collective thought that literally shape our understanding of reality. Think about it: every time you look up the meaning of a word, you're letting a group of scholars dictate how you should think about that concept.

The mythical Larousse, that thick tome our grandparents had in the library, has influenced for over a century how Francophone societies conceptualize their reality. Atlases, on the other hand, constitute a synthesis of the physical, social, and economic reality. They are tools of power disguised as academic neutrality.

This is important because we're using 19th and 20th-century definitions to navigate 21st-century problems. It's like trying to fix an iPhone with a Swiss watchmaker's screwdriver.

The Anthropocene demands new words

We live in the Anthropocene, the geological epoch characterized by human impact on Earth. Paul Crutzen coined the term in 2000, but as Clive Hamilton points out, it has remained an amalgam of disciplines without generating the conceptual breakthrough we need.

Dr. Yuri Carvajal puts it best: we are in training to project how we will live in this Anthropocene. And part of that training involves updating our linguistic operating system.

Words change constantly. Language is not static, it evolves with us. The RAE understands this: in 2024, they added 609 new words to reflect changes in technology, the environment, and gastronomy. But let's be honest: adding