swine flu, naming of swine flu,

Swine Flu and the Power of Naming

May 4th, 2009 0 Comments

For those who don’t believe that naming is powerful stuff, look no further than the latest pending pandemic, now known as the H1N1 virus. As humans, we have an inherent need to label things. It makes us feel safer if we can name something, identify it, box it in, put a handle on it. The problem comes when the need for that label becomes more important than the facts. According to the CDC, “It (“Swine Flu”) has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and avian genes and human genes.” In other words, it’s a swine, bird, human flu.

What difference does it make? Apparently quite a lot.

According to UPI, Egyptian authorities recently announced plans to kill 300,000 pigs as a preventative measure. The New York Times reports that consumers are not eating pork based on the misconception that they might get sick. Some farm groups are pushing to change the name to “North American influenza.” Others are pushing for “Mexican flu.” The problem is, as long as it’s called “Swine Flu,” people are going to blame swine. If we call it “Mexican flu, we’ll blame Mexico.” It’s just the way our brains work… we associate things whether we’re supposed to or not.

So why does the news media continue to do this, when they know it’s not factual? Because it’s much simpler and attention getting to say “Swine Flu” than H1N1. In fact, CNN itself has reported on the financial harm pig farmers are facing due to this mislabeling. And yet, in their story today, entitled “Confirmed cases of H1N1 virus approach 900,” the lead sentence states, “The World Health Organization cautioned that the swine flu outbreak could gain momentum…” They just can’t resist the need to use the very inaccurate phrase they reported on.

Bottom line? Words shape thoughts. Thoughts shape actions. Now, more than ever, it’s important to choose our words wisely.