First post

Bismallah arahman araheem. This the first post of my blog. As I embark on my blogging journey I want to start by making a couple of things clear for myself as well as for my readers. My opinions are only my opinions. I'm ultimately a human, and any error I stumble upon is only natural. Please help me understand the mistakes I might make throughout my blogging experience, because I can only become a better person through so...
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I begin by sharing some of my thoughts on the ambiguity of terms. I recently watched a YouTube video on the "Future of Islamist militancy" by Fawaz Gerges. Mr. Gerges- hailed very knowledgeable on the subject- for those interested will coincidentally be visiting OSU on April 2nd. It was to me very counter-productive while watching to see him proceed in discussing ideas of high sensitivity using phrases and words that share no universal definition. The ambiguity created from terms or ideas used in Mr. Gerges's discussion make it not only impossible to identify who he's talking about, but also make it very dangerous for people to be mistakingly labeled as X-term because of a perceived understanding of what X-term might mean.

A word or phrase as one person chooses to use it may reflect a different understanding of that word/phrase to another person. One major identifier to what the word may mean is context, another is a general definition of what message this word is trying to communicate. The word terrorist for instance in the context of my field of study (Computers) is an individual who seeks unauthorized access to certain information through the help of any software, hardware and the such. An Ohio State Biology professor in his context once defined the terrorist as the virus that invades cells. A terrorist as an Iraqi civilian may define it is a person who invaded and occupied a land he is living on. As you can infer minor differences in understanding of such a mainstream term may yield great misunderstanding between the parties who intend to use the word to express different messages. The examples on 'undefined' terms go on and on-- Among them there is: Islamo-Facism, jihadism, radicalism, Zionism, Islamism, fundamentalism etc etc..

As we progress through life as human beings it is only essential for us to move towards a better understanding of ourselves and our surroundings as they pertain to our finite life on earth. The confusion of meanings different terms can carry creates a dilemma for both the people using the terms and the ideas/notions or concepts that such terms try to embody. This notion seemed to reach a high tide with the introduction of new vocabulary into the language. The aspiration to critically yet consicely communicate certain ideas through this effort showed the great divide in misunderstanding among the people who commonly embark on using such words/phrases.This effort, perpetuated by the mainstream media not only help shape and define our social reality, but in another dimension becomes the cornerstone on which future extrapolations of ideas/terms are communicated. It becomes a standard of communicating a notion of ideas that in many ways inadvertently forces everyone to use such terms/phrases. The beauty and richness of expression through many of those added vocabulary not only deter but hinder in understanding what they seek to describe and that in my opinion is the ultimate defeat. The defeat in accepting a false reality we have created for ourselves, a defeat we can overcome by reaching a common understanding of words/phrases that do not hold a universal definition and through so we not only eliminate many terms that communicate ill-conceived messages but understand the ramifications and impacts words have in shaping the discourse of history.