The power of words

In the beginning was the Word ... (John 1.1, King James Bible).

I have always been fascinated with that line. It shows just how important words are to us. Of course, the heavens and the earth were created first, but even in the very first lines of the Genesis, it seemed worth noting what God called things: first God made light, then he divided the light from the darkness (a bit categorical, black-and-white thinking if you ask me) and then - drum roll, abated breath - he called the light Day, and the darkness Night. And a bit later he takes the trouble to call the dry land "Earth", the gathering together of the water "seas", etc. etc.

A more scientific-minded person might phrase things differently, and might maintain that the word was the beginning of civilization. A recent study (the details of which, unfortunately, I have forgotten) reported a correlation between increasing size of our brain and the increasing use of language, and suggested that it might be a case of positive reinforcement (the use of language being both cause and result of the increased brain capacity).

This was a study over many eons. I have not yet heard of any such correlation within an individual human life-span, so I am going to assume that my bigger-than-average head is not related to my preoccupation with words. (My wife, BTW, is always very happy to point out to me that there is no one-on-one correlation between the size of the skull and the size of the brain, nor even between the size of the brain and intelligence, and I am afraid I am going to have to concede her that. But I digress. Back to the power of words).

When I was a child, we used to say "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me", as a sort of magic incantation against psychological pressure. It never helped me much, though: I have always been more worried about and hurt by words than by acts. Of course, maybe this is just me: maybe I am like the proverbial oversensitive princess who tosses and turns all night because of the pea under the many mattresses. But the mere fact that there is a saying indicates to me that I am not alone in this. Wars have probably been waged over a few words.

Of course, there is also the positive side, as I have mentioned in an earlier entry. Expressing thoughts in words can help clarify and even accept things. (A different, but related power is that of the blogger: say the wrong thing to a blogger, and he or she will hang you out to dry. They might not name names, but everyone will know. And saying the right thing to a blogger is not much better, because nine times out of ten they will pass it off as their own idea: I have caught myself doing this several times already. But I digress again). They may be very imperfect tools - communication problems all around, and it can take a long time to say even relatively simple things clearly - but they are definitely worth having all the same.

Final note: the power of words is not everlasting. The other day my daughter told me - using a phrasing that was more a request for confirmation than a statement of fact - that she had a five-year-old friend who claimed she was now old enough to use curse words. I confirmed that swear words should be used with care, not so much because they are "baaad" words (to quote George Carlin's "Seven words you cannot use on T.V.") but because a lot of people are hurt and/or insulted when you use them, and because they lose their power if you use them too much, in which case they won't be there when you need them.

Of course, the problem is compounded by the fact that only some people feel the effects of this devaluation (usually the ones who cause it in the first place), while others continue to be insulted and hurt every time they are used. This second group may in fact develop the emotional equivalent of an allergy for four-letter words, and become ever less tolerant of swear words.

More on this polarization mechanism later.