Message #2703

[cizz]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-smalley/the-power-of-words_b_81918.html (link for full article)

As scientists uncover the power of words to effect behavioral change, the power of rhetoric has become a topic of the current election.

I once read that a word is like a living organism, capable of growing, changing, spreading, and influencing the world in many ways, directly and indirectly through others. I never thought about a word being 'alive' but then I thought of words spoken 3,000 years ago, written down and passed through many generations, and they seem quite alive when read or spoken today, having lived 3,000 years. As I ponder the power of the word to incite and divide, to calm and connect, or to create and effect change, I am ever more cautious in what I say and how I listen to the words around me.