The Lofty World of Language

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.”

True, Tom Cruise would be Tom Cruise even if he were called Bob or Mike, and yet names are accorded great significance in today’s world. Parents spend months deliberating over what their child should be called.

The names we give to things and the words we use for them make a great difference in the way we perceive those things. Words don’t exist in a void: they have histories, they have connections, and they have contexts. If you name your child Shylock, there’s a good chance that he’ll be seen as a conniving character for the rest of his life; because the context is all that matters.

Similarly when it comes to the term “spy app,” you have the setback of the history that has been associated with the word. The term is itself laden with a negative connotation—which is not the case when you think of a different word, such as “keep an eye out.” Although when you’re using a spy app, you’re simply “keeping a lookout,” which doesn’t sound half as bad as “spying.”

How to Get Over It

Getting over the limits and constraints of language is fairly easy once you understand the mechanics of meaning. Once you understand that your disdain toward “spy apps” is being caused by your subconscious indoctrination of the negative history of the word, you can change how you think about the app.

Stop thinking of it as a “spy” or a “monitoring” app, and start thinking of itself as a helping aid that lets you keep an eye on your child.

If you think of it as “investigating,” “inquiring,” or even “scrutinizing,” there’s an element of authority involved. Law enforcement agencies use those words all the time, and they’re meant to reassure us, to make us feel safe. Yet when we use “spying” as a substitute for the same phenomenon, we tend to be caught off our moral signals.

Why the Negative Connotation?

Historically, spying has been associated with sinister agendas, devious murder plots, assassinations, and political dominion, so on and so forth. This attitude toward spying has further exacerbated in the past few decades since the Second World War and the Cold War.

Even the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) finds the ethical dilemmas to be counterproductive in their services, which demand protection for the American population but are unwilling to stand up for a breach of ethical values.

In the end, you know that your intentions are clean and that you’re using the app for a good purpose. Tell yourself that, in no less than a positive tone, and you’ll successfully evade the ethical dilemmas of spying.