"Power Of Words"

Science is not belief, but the will to find out, it is organized common sense where some beautiful theories were killed by ugly facts - just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts - and WE see only what we know!

COMPROMISE: Let's agree to respect each others view, no matter how wrong yours may be ;P - seriously, just sharing my "confusion" about some "modern world issues" ;)

The power of words

I read this article today and it reminded me of a blog I've read last week... no name, but the entire blog was an "insult" from page 1 - page 7 or so, from the topic up to the comments...And I thought this article is a great reminder... sometimes I have to remind myself ;)Words can inform our mind, caress and comfort our feelings, excite and thrill our spirit, or warm and kindle the flame of our hearts. They can also slap our face, punch us in the stomach, rattle our nerves, kill our desire, or destroy our self-confidence.

Of course this is metaphorical, but these metaphors capture in words our physical reactions to what is said, and that is the power of language. It can emotionally move and affect us as powerfully as physical actions. In an average day we may use as many as 40,000 words, the equivalent of four to six hours of continuous speechWe use these words with much ease and usually little self-conscious thought.

We simply open our mouths, and out they come. With our words we express our beliefs, and ourselves while at the same time imparting some affect on those we are speaking to, and they, vice-versa to us. It is this very influence that our words have that truly gives them their power. We all, at times overlook the far-reaching strength of our words, but this ignorance makes us no less susceptible to their power.We have many superstitions about how we use our words. We are afraid to talk about events of which the outcome is still pending, for fear that our words will negatively affect what will happen.

The power of language starts to influence us in early childhood. We learn to associate certain words with the opinions expressed around those words. These associations are likely to stick in our minds even when we reach adulthood. In this way words gain some of their power through our unconscious. We are conditioned by the words we use and hear frequently, and they become second nature to us. This causes a problem when a word loses its literal meaning and becomes distorted in or own minds by the emotional connotations that surround it. "If words are not trustworthy in the privacy of our heads, they are even less so when they are converted to speech or writing.

We then become less able to relay what we really want to say because the words carry meanings that only we know the emotional connotations of. This is not only a problem when we are talking to someone else, but also when he or she is speaking to us. They may have their own emotional links to certain words; this then can cause our interpretation of what is being said to be different from what is actually meant.In human relationships, words can be especially powerful and sometimes dangerous.

We tend to use labels to define people and situation. In the worst cast, labels can reduce an issue to its simplest form, causing its importance or uniqueness to be lost. When labels are aimed at people, they can have the effect of dehumanizing a person by shrinking their entire being down to a single word. This is apparent in racism, sexism, and narrow-mindedness. The power of our words is twisted to override reason. Toni Morrison phrased it this way, "Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; it does more than represents the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge . . ." We have all heard the saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me!"

Children learn to say this usually after being the object of name-calling. But this saying couldn't be further from the truth. Our bones usually did make it through just fine, but something had been hurt. This is yet another aspect of the power that words carry. They can hurt us, and usually with a more deep and lasting effect than a physical injury could cause.Ultimately, we all hold the power of words within ourselves.

Whatever powers we give them, and however they may influence us, they are things of our own creation. With this knowledge we are charged with a great responsibility. Words reflect and give wings to everything that is inside of us, and for good or for bad, they can express what we truly are as nothing else can.How much are words able to hurt you? (written or spoken). And in what kind of situations?