Your Name

A bright, wintry day. Lisa and I walked to St Olaf in the late afternoon to return a library book. Along the way we noticed a small woodpecker high in a Maple Tree. A look at the photos later showed the shortish bill that identifies it as a Downy Woodpecker, separating it from the lookalike, but larger, species the Hairy Woodpecker.

Earlier today, @sambiology posed the question, Why do you like to name things? I've wondered about this as well. And I've attempted to answer it a number of times. The most concise answer I've come across is this statement by odonatologist K. D. Dijkstra:

"Names introduce species to humanity... All awareness, conservation and research starts with the question: What species is that?"

Learning someone's name, psychologically and socially, is a meaningful act. Conversely, not remembering someone's name or not bothering to learn someone's name is an act of dismissal, they don't matter to us. Learning the common names and scientific names of other species is an ethical act.

There is also something intimate about a name. Which is why so many love songs contain names. To the point of not wanting to share a name with others, of keeping it to our selves.