Does Society indeed have an irrational fear of words?

Question

Ever hear of "trigger" words? Why do we have to walk on egg shells when
communicating with people today? Are we that insecure and immature in
our ways?
Personally, I don't think humans are all that different. Whatever gender, or
race, we all have common human nature things we have to deal with.
So why can't we address a certain group of people without all the animosity?
If a man just says the word women, he's a chauvanist pig! Or a White addresses Blacks, and he's a racist?
One would think after 10,000 years of known human existence, Society could
mature a little!

Anthony Silva

Answer 1

Doesn't this prove the old chestnut that the pen is mightier than the sword ?

I have to be honest, some of stuff I read on here really pisses me off, so that proves to me that words are indeed powerful.

You could argue about freedom of speech and all that stuff, which I completely agree with.....................however,

We all have a moral and social responsibility to the society in which we live. This includes not doing or saying things that are inflammatory to other people.

What I do disagree with is the "Nanny State" attitude of controlling what we do and say. Most of us are adult enough to know what is right and wrong. Most of us are also adult enough to be able to form relationships that transcend this sort of nonsense. I have a very good (black) friend from Jamaica - he is treated in the exactly the same way as all my group of friends - we all take the piss out of each other. He may call me a honky white sh*t on the football pitch and I may call him a useless black b*st*rd............but he's still my mate !

Answer 2

Human existence is pretty commonly assumed to have been running for 40,000 years, and new evidence indicates we may have been having pretty complex religious events in central africa since about 70,000 years ago (see www.livescience for that one)

People have never gotten along in groups as large as we commonly do now. Human beings are tribal by nature, and to be tribal is to be against other tribes and for the advantage of your own tribe. It is true that all people are the same, and they are all the same in this way as well.
In the case that we were all exactly equal, *everyone* would percieve people like themselves as just a biy more entitled to advantage than others, and try and get that advantage. Words are the accepted arena for doing this in civilization: Words frame law and custom.

We all perceive people more like ourselves as the most desirable company, this is called mild xenophobia, and is a normal trait of human beings. What has changed is how we define 'people like ourselves'. Now this can mean fellow music students, or other bowling enthusiasts, rather than strictly people who look, dress, behave or smell as you do.

Society has matured more than a little, and battling with and over words, rather than killing one another, over these perceived slights is a huge improvement. It is difficult to blame people who identify themselves with groups that have lately gained reasonable equity through words, for trying to continue to gain, or hold, that advantage, through words.

It is also sometimes annoying to have these people contest with you over a word that holds no more special meaning to you when you use it than 'box' or 'hat'. It is annoying because they are trying to put you on the defensive and make further gains in status by impinging upon yours, whether this is warranted or not.

Answer 3

Language is the lowest form of communication; primarily because it is conceptualized in a survival mode of thought. Every culture and experience teaches preservation of species, so language mirrors that intent. Therefore, to develop a better communication pattern it will be necessary to ascend to a higher level. The spiritual level is better because the pattern is based on contribution to oneness. Words don't offend or matter because actions will reflect identity.

Answer 4

I agree with you. Unfortunately, and I'm not being pesamistic, I think getting society as a whole to see our view is like changing water permanently to a different color. It won't happen.