Words More Powerful Than We Think Essay Example

“If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”- George Orwell. According to Thomas Szasz, whoever first defines the situation is the victor, his adversary, the victim. Szasz’s argument is valid because defining a situation puts one at an advantage. Using influential words can change behaviors to be beneficial to you and give you control of a situation.

Words in themselves are a powerful thing, so it reasonable to believe that using them effectively can cause an impact. In our everyday lives, words change how we act and how we perceive things. In psychology, priming is defined by whenever one is exposed to something stimulating, like a word, and that later changes your behavior. Studies have shown that it’s possible to prime someone to be less rude or more positive. This works by having the subject hear and read words that make them subconsciously act on the definition of the word. For example, the subject hears words like patient, respect, and kind. This establishes that words can change how we act because they are used to define and describe a situation, then behavior is change based on the words. The subjects change their behavior because a negative word was used to describe the behavior, so they change how they act. This indicates how using words can change behaviors, which can be used to put one at an advantage however they see fit.

Knowing the right words or phrases can be essential to making the circumstances lean in your favor. Examples of this can be seen in the Propaganda War during WW1. The government-controlled all media and only let circulate anything that pushed their narrative. They used propaganda to control the situation at home and control people’s opinions. It was successful in recruiting men to join the military, gaining support for the government, and inspiring patriotism. This outcome was a great help for the US government and was only capable of using the right rhetoric to get the situation where it was. They used propaganda to define the situation by deciding who was the enemy and the hero through the language used before the truth of what was happening overseas reached the country. If Americans heard of the grim situation in the old world before the propaganda came out, their feelings over the war would change greatly. The propaganda set the tone for the war and put the situation in their favor. From this example, one can clearly idealize how strong words can change the status or circumstances.

Language is one of the most powerful things available to humans. They can harm, heal, encourage, and degrade. They hold a crucial key in how we think and perceive the world. If we can use our words to change how people think and act, then knowing how to use the right words gives you leverage to control and outline a situation.