Language is power. Almost all reporters about the weather have bought into making sure their reporting includes “worst since..” For Idalia , “Worst in 125 years.” Oh yea? What actually happened 125 years ago? The reporter probably has no idea. Neverchecked.
But the implication is that the reported weather is cyclical, not a trend. Which is what the oil companies want us to believe. Every time you hear "worse sense" you are being conditioned to the underlying logic, which is that the current weather is not new, but a repeat of something that already happened.
We should be very vigilant. Language colonizes us and gets us to generate the next thought it wants, not what we want. The language we learn is already a kind of AI. Powerful and useful but not innocent
well said, Doug. Language colonizes (:boom:!) and conditions what I say and how that expresses my thinking. Thanks for the encouragement to stay attentive.