Quote from: Kuan Yin on June 23, 2013, 12:50:45 AM
Why is it do you think words can invoke such deep felt feelings of hurt, anger, hate, repulsion etc...word that can touch a nerve, yet are nothing more than dots on the screen or 'waves' vibrating in the air ? why do we give/allow them such 'magical power over us ?
Association. I think that's the magic word. It's the significance a person places on a word, or phrase, by linking it to events or emotions felt at times in their own lives. Sort of like a psychological shortcut. The interesting thing is that the same word doesn't always produce the same reaction in different people. Because not everyone places the same associations on the same word. A good example is the word "sun". To someone living in a hot country, it could be associated with thirst, pain, suffering, discomfort, hiding in the shadows, something to be afraid of even. Whereas to someone in the polar regions, the word "sun" could have associations of warmth, happiness, hope, life, emerging from the darkness. Completely opposite reactions to the same word based entirely on how that word is associated with events, experiences, sensations and feelings within that person's own life.
Someone skilled in working with altered states of consciousness can go one stage further and actively use certain words to trigger certain states within people. Bundling up an entire set of feelings and sensations into a neat little package, upon which a single word is stamped. And if this trigger is implanted into the subconscious mind of a person, then saying that word will lead to this mental shortcut being activated and the whole plethora of sensations and feelings being brought out. Even if the person isn't aware of it. It's how much of hypnosis, hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming operates.
Associations with words gives them power over us. Not the words themselves, I think. The conscious mind doesn't deal well with complex emotions, multi-layered visual imagery etc. And uses words to simplify those things into concepts it can deal with, and analyse. Often condensing very extensive experiences and sensory information, pulled from the deeper reaches of the psyche, into an association with a single word or phrase. It's easier to process. Even if the person in question doesn't have the first clue why a word or phrase makes them feel a certain way. It's there, in the background, linked to the conscious shortcut word. Finding those associations can help people in finding out more about themselves, and how they see the world.
At least that's my take on it.
