How Words Shape Your Love And Your Hate
Naseeruddin Shah — Arshad Warsi starrer ‘Ishqiyan’ had a line, “Tumhara ishq, Ishq. Aur hamara ishq, Sex” (Your love is love, our love is lust). This line demonstrates how words can sneak in a prejudice while meaning the same thing.
Depending on whether you like it or not, you can call it magic or you can call it trickery. Whatever you choose to call it, know that you’re not immune to it. In this thread, we’ll see how politics, ads, and media use it to shape your opinions and exploit them.
NOUNS: NAME-CALLING
When Shakespeare asks ‘What’s in a name?’ Tell him to call Rose as ‘Poop’. His valentine’s days would get really awkward real fast. By the way, Arnab Goswami legitimizes his poop by calling it News.
Have you noticed news channels call any group of people who criticize the administration as ‘Gang’? They’re not a Samaaj, Sangh, Dal, Collective, Organization, or even a Team. Why gang? Because gangs are up to no good. You never hear of a gang of scientists that developed the COVID vaccine.
Similarly, you can use naming to generate hate for a person. Hence Rahul Gandhi becomes Pappu, Modi becomes Pheku, Mamta Banerjee becomes Jihadidi, and Smriti Irani becomes Manu Smriti Irani.
You can use naming to make people respect you too. That’s why Gandhi becomes Bapu, Jayalalitha becomes Amma and MSG, well, he used all the names — Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan.
The next time someone hates you for being an immigrant, tell them you’re an expat.
VERB: GET SOME ACTION!
In 1974, psychologists Loftus & Palmer showed a bunch of people car crash videos. Then they asked them to guess the car’s speed when it crashed. Only, every person got a different verb describing the crash. Some were told to guess the speed when the cars ‘contacted’, some were asked when the cars ‘collided’, some when ‘bumped’, and some when the cars ‘smashed’. Smashed received the highest speed estimates. The choice of verb influences how we perceive events.
Notice how News Channels characterize actions. Earlier, people just protested. Now, they conspire. You don’t just carry a bahi-khata, you liberate people from the slave mindset. If bargaining seems cheap, you negotiate. Performance artists don’t flash, they express their sexuality. If your party gets MLAs, it’s good at strategizing. If it’s done by the rival party, they’re horsetrading.
ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS: FRIENDLY FIRE
A film-maker will describe his movie with nudity as bold. Its critic will describe it as vulgar. Comedians don’t perform untested jokes.They perform ‘fresh’ material. Ads don’t sell an outdated idea, they sell ancient wisdom. Brands don’t sell the same old thing, they sell ‘the classic’ piece. Political parties don’t sell you an authoritarian, they sell you a strong and decisive leader. The best way to catch an adjective or adverb trying to shape your opinion is to figure if it’s concrete or abstract it’s carrying with it an additional package of opinion along with the original meaning — Firm, bossy, assertive, rude, strong, aggressive, bitchy, etc.,
Keep a watch out for them and you’ll figure out who’s trying to smuggle an opinion into your mind. Once you do that, you’ll form far more robust opinions, be less vulnerable to people who want to move you around like a puppet and be more of your own person, for a change.