This is an enlightening, helpful and excellent podcast. Along the same theme — how language reflects our values — I refer to my dog and horses, and to other folks’ non-human animals by their proper names in order to reflect that they are, and respect them as, individuals. (I occasionally refer to human children and grandchildren as “the kids” and “the grandkids,” but that is done in a lighthearted sense and sometimes I will do that with the non-human animals but I make a conscious effort to use the non-human animals’ proper names.) Note that farmers who raise animals for slaughter, often object to their children naming those animals. I know of one person, raised on a farm who would name the cows. Her father the farmer hearing her do this one day, sternly told her ‘don’t give them names’ and when she asked ‘why not?’ then and there, killed one of the cows and said ‘that’s why!’

Wow this is awesome info thanks so much.