The Power of a Name.

We give names to things in order to help identify them. A common mistake beginning logic student make is to think the name of specific individual in the universe of discourse carries some sort of weight or information. No so, individuals are named just to make it easier to reference them.

Of course in real life names often do carry some information about the object they identify. Names provide hints to the providence or function of what they are attached to. There is even a study of names called onomastics that deals with the origin of names. I have a name.

If my personal experience is any indicator, people take their personal names pretty seriously. We invest a portion of our identity into our name. (The study of people’s names is anthroponomastics for those of you playing along at home.) When my name is praised, even when it is used without directly referring to me, I always feel good. What’s good for one Bill must be good for all of us, right? In elementary school I remember being thrilled to learn about William the Conqueror. That was a Bill that accomplished something. How nice of him to fix the name William to Conqueror in the public’s consciousness, that saves me the trouble.

All of this is just an absurd, longwinded, introduction as to why I’ve been enjoying my ride to work so much lately. Hurricane season has just started and every morning I get an update on the first hurricane of the season – Hurricane Bill.

The notion snuck up on me. I’m precondition to root against the hurricanes, I think we are all. But I noticed that once they started reporting Bill was gathering strength and increasing categories that I was instantly pulling for Hurricane Bill. We’re going to mess up some Atlantic seaboard, aren’t we Bill. Let’s crush a few Caribbean islands, just to show them we mean business. Go team Bill.

How odd the connection of a name. I’m now personally invested in a hurricane, which is a weather phenomenon I’m usually indifferent to unless it’s driving up the price of gas. I closely monitor our progress. They predict that Bill will easily become a category 3 storm. I have higher aspirations for us.

This morning I started to wonder if I would be disappointed if Hurricane Bill was a non-eventful storm. What if he doesn’t kill people and cause massive property damage? That should be a good thing right? Sill I can’t help but think I’ll be a little disappointed if he just fizzles out over the Atlantic. Somehow it will cheapen the stock of Bills everywhere?

Not to worry though Bills. We got another pony in the race this year. Have you started watching Tropical Storm Guillermo in the Pacific? (Guillermo is the common Spanish translation of William).