Control meaning, Control behavior

The word is not the thing. A word is a description of a thing, or points to a thing but, is never the thing. Even the word 'word', is not the word, it is a word. Even though, words do have substance and that substance is meaning.

More than just words

Behind each word is a depth of information and herein lies their value and purpose as a large amount of data can be condensed into a very small space and then can be used in conjunction with other words to make very complex concepts, easy to comprehend and transfer. They are a formula that expands out to a large and often complex idea.

But, this also carries with it a problem as the concept and meaning behind the word is quite unique to the individual. The exception to this may be mathematical principles that have been understood, agreed upon and transferred. Think about E=MC2. How much information is contained within?

Well, for someone like me, I have no real idea as my held concepts of energy, mass and speed of light is not in line with the meaning of the formula. But, for someone that has some inkling of physics or math, all they need to see is the formula and lifetimes of work by some brilliant minds can be transferred with consistency.

There is no cat, there are many

But, with words of common spoken languages, the meaning is less uniform as it is subjective. If I say, 'cat', everyone that holds a concept of a cat forms an image in their mind and even though it is likely that there will be a high amount of consistency, the image is still going to be unique for all. Some words though do not carry information in the same way. There is no image. For example, 'the'. What do you see when thinking of this word?

In this case one, is likely to then group it with something else to build a concept that points to the meaning of the word, for example, 'the couch'. You know what 'the' means but without an object to visualize, it becomes meaningless by itself.

Look to see what stares back

But, this points to another area also. When hearing a word, what generally comes to mind for simple words is a picture that represents the thing. So when you read 'the couch', you didn't imagine my couch (If you did, I have to close the blinds), it is likely that you imagined your couch or one that is familiar to you as it is unlikely that you created a whole new couch from scratch.

But, when faced with a complex term like government, what comes to mind. What represents it for you? What about abortion or religion, equality, racism or a Nazi? What has changed? Likely, rather than seeing just a basic image type scenario, the concept is bound to some kind of narrative, a story of what it means to you and again, each person has a different movie running. Depending on your own background, these terms could be positive or negative, it could also come coupled with a lot of emotion.

What I meant to say is

This is not very interesting perhaps for many and they tuned out or clicked the back button a while ago. What is interesting is that these concepts and narratives that we hold are also a driving force in our actions as they are the way in which we make sense of our world. We act upon it even if the information we hold is wrong, such as narratives built upon lies, half truths or fragments of information extrapolated out to overreaching meanings.

This, at least for me, is interesting as these images, stories and associated emotions are able to be manipulated. Most have probably heard somewhere 'control the narrative' but have likely not thought very deeply upon the concept as the meaning behind is obvious. Most think that it is to make the story favorable or unfavorable depending on the needs of the controller which is true but, there is more to it than that.

The narrative they are controlling is not just the one in the news, it is the one that we hold inside, the one that we will act upon or vote upon. It isn't to 'control the story', it is to control us and our handling of the information or events that have transpired. And, this can be used to great effect over time.

Hey, over here guys

With small shifts in the story, the concept behind a word can be hijacked and although the word remains, the mental narrative can change markedly. My over eighty year old father for example is someone who would likely still use gay to mean happy. He has several gay/homosexual friends. He just calls them friends.

But when the narrative changes internally, the external actions follow suit. By casting doubt upon the commonly held narrative and then slowly injecting seeds to grow and strangle what remains, a shift across a massive population, even a global population can take place. For example, the idea of environmental care by reducing pollution, something all unanimously agree upon, got spun into an argument about climate change or global warming.

But, narratives can also change positively also. For example a friend of mine who's father is a Vietnam war veteran raised him to believe a narrative that the Vietnamese are scum and should be eradicated. This was awkward since there were a number of Vietnamese background students at our high school and a couple of times, arguments turned into more. The interesting thing is that when older, his narrative changed as he started to see the biased manipulation. He was forced to. His wife is Vietnamese. Love generally rips apart expectation and beliefs, it destroys the narrative and rebuilds anew.

But, those guys he would argue and fight with at high school, they likely still hold the same narrative that he is a racist asshole that hates each and every one of them. They do not know that his story has changed, like a 'choose your own adventure' book, he has rewritten the coding and meaning behind the words.

What is my definition of me

Which brings me to the next point. Since our narrative guides our actions, what must happen for us to change behavior, is that our held narrative must change. Now, we also hold a story about ourselves that is to lesser or greater degrees, wrong, as the story we tell rarely matches what we do as we overstate positive attributes and justify the negative. The justification is an example of changing the narrative of the self, which is essentially going back and rewriting history into a favorable fiction, a flattering portrait.

But, most people that think about changing themselves in some way do not look deep enough to see the narrative that plays in the background. This is why so many exercise regimens and diets fall down, they are swallowed by the old story. However changing the story is quite easy to begin with.

By taking the vocabulary of the topic, rewriting the backstory and then consistently and intentionally acting upon it, in short time, the actions start to become somewhat automatic as the internal dialogue starts to speak with the improved definitions list.

The next question is, if we are acting on our internal narratives about how the world works, where'd we hear the story in the first place?

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]