If I were to tell you that half of the country has gone completely insane, that they have no ability to see reality for what it truly is, they've succumbed to cult-like behaviour, follow false gods, and have simply become authoritarian power-mongers—if I were to make that statement—would you know anything about me and what I believe?

I doubt it.

WHAT THE FLUX?

The world, as we knew it, is gone—that's the realty of it. After a long time coming, the past 5 years have turned everything inside-out and upside-down.

Now, half of us will lament the fact and the other half will applaud it. But, no matter which side you find yourself on, we all find ourselves in the midst of an ideological struggle, a war, between two great forces.

It's not the "Culture War" we've been told about, it's a war of the mind: The War Between Rationality and Fear.

So, while the old world is gone, the struggle is just beginning. But what is that struggle?

For some, it'll be a struggle to identify and tear down the last vestiges of the past atrocities. For others, it'll be a struggle to identify and conserve as much of the past as they can. And for others still, it will be to build something new that will endure.

But to what end? What needs to go, what needs to stay, and, most importantly, how do we know which is which?

How can we tell that that (thing) is evil and must go and that that (other thing) is virtuous and needs to stay? How can we tell when we are finished—when we have rid ourselves of everything bad or conserved everything good?

For those looking to build, the task is no more simple: How will we know when we have built that "temple on the hill"? What should it look like? What should it stand for? And how will we know when it's been achieved?

And here, half-a-page in and you still have no idea what my political ideologies are, do you?

The reason is simple: we're not discussing politics—political factions are not at play here.

What we are discussing is scientific precision within our language. It's called semantic precision.

IS MY JUSTICE THE SAME AS YOUR JUSTICE?

If we ponder the general ideas surrounding that which is "best" or most important for humanity, we have a number of contenders nominated by the various factions. A few come to mind: "freedom", "saving our democracy", "diversity", "equity and inclusion", "liberty", "justice", "limited government". All of these are great, bumper-sticker-sized hills on which to plant a flag. But, again, what do they mean?

Let's take limited government. Limited is vague, isn't it? How limited are we talking here, and in what ways? We really don't have a solid, absolutely bullet-proof definition that is not interpretable and, thus, corruptible.

Well, most Republicans would respond, limited by the constraints as laid out in the Constitution. Okay, sure, but then the Constitution also relies and creates a court system specifically tasked with interpreting and ruling on the meaning of the Constitution.

That's not what I would call a bastion of clarity. How do you think we got here in the first place?

If a definition can be interpreted, it is not a definition. Want proof? Look at how much we adhere to the document today. Definitions must be universal and beyond any interpretation. They must be precise. They must be objective. They must use language that cannot and does not change with time (consider "general welfare", "militia", "regulated", etc.)

In other words, they must be scientific.

In physics, when we discuss an electron, a molecule, a photon, an oxide, or a solution, we ALL know EXACTLY what we are talking about—always, every time. There is no interpretation and there is no spectrum on the meaning. If we are to build anything in society, it must be defined in this same way.

This is what is known as semantic precision. It's a skill that is difficult to master but absolutely vital in the construction of civilisation.

Just as a precise burn is vital to getting to the moon, precision in our language is the only way for us to know exactly what it is that we are building and agreeing to and the only way for us to know what we have achieved and how far there is left to go.