Words, they are one of the most favored modes of communication; not our only mode but possibly the primary and most powerful one. We use words to communicate through writing and by verbal communication. Have you ever heard the saying ‘the pen is mightier than the sword”? Now this sentence was written in 1839 for a play by Edward Bulwer-Litton although the ideology has been around for a long time. In the early 7th century an Assyrian Sage by the name of Ahiqar, wrote ‘the word is mightier than the sword ‘this can be found in a copy of the Teachings of Ahiqar, dating to about 500 BC. I rather like the older version best.
Whilst researching the above sentence I found an intriguing article that was discussing the power of communication and words. In it was stated that we can threaten and praise with words, cajole and caress, state the truth or badly lie. Words can manipulate and misdirect or lead us and inspire us. The article also states it is not the words used but how you hear them that is important. According to another branch of Psychology, NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) we can ‘hear’ words; ‘see’ words or ‘feel’ them and we respond according to how we perceive the words used. NLP started its life 30 years ago as a tool for moving corporate decisions along when talks became ‘blocked’ now it’s a far more sophisticated pragmatic school of thought and its uses have increased from the Boardroom into educations, psychotherapies, counseling and parenting. Interested and want to know more then take a look at this book, Frogs into Princes by Richard Bandler and John Grinder.
linguisticarnav 