What does it mean when you don’t even have a word for something?

We have long recognized that words have power, convey important ideas, and often carry value judgements that are based in culture. But what does the absence of a word tell us? For example, English has no word for relationship between two mothers-in-law. But many other languages do have such words, which shows the greater importance placed on that relationship in the cultures which use those languages.

Consider that in English (and indeed most other languages) we have a word for someone who cannot read. The word “illiterate” not only conveys an important idea, but it also expresses the degree of disdain our culture associates with the inability to read. Now consider the word “innumerate”. It hardly conveys the same such low regard for those who cannot do math. In fact had the Barbie doll said “reading is hard” our reaction would have been quite different to the doll that said “math is hard”.

Now ask yourself what is the word for someone who does not understand science? Most would say “scientifically illiterate”. But this phrase is oddly unsatisfying, in part because it attempts to associate the disdain for illiteracy with science and largely fails to achieve that aim. The fact that we do not have such a word says a lot about our culture’s view of science. It isn’t a matter of whether we regard scientific literacy as a value. It’s so much worse than that! Our culture is utterly indifferent to its existence. The absence of the word reveals the absence of any value judgement placed on a person’s ability to understand science. The mental vacuum that this creates can then be easily filled by notions of elitism and privilege which are caustic and harmful to the human endeavor.

If we wish to remedy our culture’s attitude toward science we must begin by finding a word which properly describes those who do not understand it. Only this will ensure that scientific ignorance achieves the same negative association that the word “illiterate” has.

My suggestion is “nullimath”, i.e., the opposite of “polymath”.