THE POWER OF A WORD
By Olesya Pavlenko | 22 March 2019
The tendency of people to seek authority and to blindly worship it is not new. Cyclic history does not allow humanity to break the vicious circle and achieve the absolute truth. However, it is curious that worldwide recognition and fame, or “status”, automatically elevate one person over others, turning his words into an indisputable and proven fact.
A smart-looking person in a white coat who speaks from the TV screen can easily fool a person who is not very enlightened in this or that sphere, saying frank nonsense, and using scientific terminology. «The effect of Dr. Fox» – is the official name of one of the most reckless and private delusions of man in everyday life, when the most important is not the meaning of what was said, but the one who said it. The practice of actively citing writers, philosophers, and other prominent people is also widespread, without awareness of the meaning of the utterance. Thus, various “wisdoms” are published in groups with a pompous name, in social networks, often on a beautiful background, and people assert themselves by memorizing them, imagining themselves cultural and educated. The point is that a simple actor, disguised as a professor of science and presented accordingly, can get the confidence of any person. What happened in the early 1970s, when at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of California, the actor presented himself as a scientist to students, confidently pronouncing words that he did not understand. Most important is, that even the students believed him.
The power of the word is unthinkable. Few people truly understand what price they will have to pay for a carelessly spoken phrase, for every misunderstood and thoughtless thought. Giving preference to the value of actions over words, we forget that whatever is said sometimes generates whatever is done.
Anna Lukinova
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