"Critique of Pure Nonsense" by Immanuel Can't

I don't believe in magic. I don't believe that reciting chants or incantations can produce any demonstrable effect on the physical world or defy causality. But this is not to say that I don't believe in the power of the spoken word; that saying a word aloud can create a very profound impact.

 Many words (often vulgarity) clearly have this impact: racial slurs and swears and obscenities manage to affect our moods more than their euphemistic counterparts. Most of these words are fairly well-known, and those who speak them without consideration are at least aware that the words bear unpleasant connotations. There is, however, one word whose use (or misuse) seems to elude most who come into contact with it. This word has the power to--as if by magic--distort facts and twist reality. It's no hocus pocus, no alakazam...it is the otherwise ordinary-seeming can't.

Many of you are likely rolling your eyes and thinking of when you would ask your teachers, "Can I go to the restroom?" only to be corrected with a snide, "I don't know, can you?" This all-too-common experience for most of us only addresses a very superficial misunderstanding of the power of can't (and can). The full power of can't is much deeper. Can't negates ability. Can't negates possibility. And in many cases, can't negates responsibility. To say, "I can't go to your party because I have to work" removes the burden of responsibility from the speaker; whereas, "I will not go to your party because I choose to go to work" more accurately reflects the role the speaker plays in the process. The speaker (for whatever reason) chooses to attend work over attending the party. Granted, choosing to miss work might produce more unpleasant consequences for the speaker than choosing to attend work, but a choice is still being made. The use of can't as an excuse circumvents the responsibility for this choice on the part of the speaker.

 In other situations, can't has the power to not just deny responsibility, but possibility. Many times people will use can't when referring to a task that is foreign, overly difficult or that requires extensive alterations in order to succeed. A statement like, "I can't write a good essay," while technically accurate for some speakers, is often used to preclude the possibility of ever being able to do so. A more accurate statement by someone having difficulty with writing would be, "I don't know how to write a good essay." A similar statement,"We can't possibly solve this problem," may be used to deny the possibility of multiple approaches to solving the problem or of multiple interpretations of what it means for the problem to be solved. A more accurate statement might be, "This approach does not solve the problem."

 Is can't evil? Should we strike all uses of it from our language? Certainly not. It serves an important purpose when describing limitations and deficiencies ("That blind dog can't see the ledge"). When used with qualifiers, it even loses some of its magical properties ("I can't write a good essay yet" or "We can't possibly solve this problem with only this broken pen and a greasy napkin").

 Like with all magic, though, once you know how it works you have no excuse for being fooled by it again.