The Power of Words, Part 2

By relying on synonyms, shifting meanings, or even creating new words, it's possible to alter an individual's reality and their perception of it.

When manipulation of consciousness becomes the primary means of controlling the masses, the state requires freedom of speech, meaning language stripped of its deep meanings and turned into a faceless tool.

Modern "correct" language is quite intricate.

It encompasses numerous "sub-languages," including jargons, slangs, discourses, and corporate languages.

On one hand, this allows for manipulation by replacing words with others that evoke the desired connotations. On the other hand, it reinforces the authority of what's being said, for instance, through scientific or highly cultured discourse. Thirdly, knowing specific languages and word usage serves as a marker for identifying "in-group/out-group."

Experts on totalitarian sects note that nearly every such sect has its own specially devised and rather complex language, in which many words and terms carry meanings and emotions different from those originally embedded in them by language and culture.

Devotees of totalitarian sects readily use these words in their interactions with one another and with those around them whenever the opportunity arises.

Interestingly, this technology is also used in a milder form in business corporations as one of the tools for team building. Young employees find it important to feel connected to the larger structure and team, so they are willing to use internal slang in and out of context. However, as they solidify their positions at work and grow their professional skills while understanding themselves as specialists, they tend to become less enthusiastic about the company's subculture and start speaking more conventionally.

This sets them apart from neophytes and sect adepts, whose language and communication style are often described as the "tape recorder effect."

"The individual doesn't really perceive what you're saying, and only certain words you use act like the finger pressing the button. The person catches some particular word, the button is triggered, and they produce the corresponding text. What you say next passes through their consciousness, even if you're speaking to them in their native language. They can no longer perceive your speech," as if they're an automaton.

The replacement of familiar words with new ones, often of foreign origin, is a process that has been ongoing for several decades in many countries.

These seemingly insignificant synonym replacements actually reflect tectonic shifts in the citizens' consciousness and their perception of various social institutions and phenomena.

Replacing familiar words and concepts with new ones leads to changes in society's attitudes towards many things.

By changing "cohabitation" to "civil partnership," "hired killer" to "hitman," "criminal authority" to "influential entrepreneur," "prostitute" to "sex industry worker," and so on, the media essentially legitimizes these terms in the eyes of society, altering their meaning and perception.

In social media, memes often appear, showcasing snippets of modern business correspondence filled with so many vulgar Anglicisms that they become incomprehensible.

However, it's noticeable that the participants in these correspondences feel privy to great mysteries.

One way or another, all neologisms, borrowed words, and concepts are part of manipulative semantics.

Back in the mid-20th century, American sociologist Harold Lasswell recognized the importance of words in propaganda and manipulating consciousness.

He developed a special method to study "key slogans, appeals, doctrines from the perspective of how people understand them."

His research allowed him to understand the system of selecting words that help create political myths.

Systems for replacing familiar words and concepts with new ones are characteristic of the creation and establishment of the ideology of a new state system.

George Orwell wrote, "The words 'Communist International' bring to mind a complex picture: a worldwide human brotherhood, red flags, barricades, Karl Marx, the Paris Commune."

The word "Comintern," on the other hand, merely conveys the idea of a tightly-knit organization and a rigid doctrinal system.

It pertains to an object as easily recognizable and as limited in its purpose as a table or a chair.

"Comintern" is a word that can be spoken almost without thinking, whereas "Communist International" makes you pause for a moment to contemplate.

In George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984," he creates a special language of totalitarianism called "Newspeak," in which familiar words are shortened, their meanings changed, and rules for their use are altered.

For example, the word "free" can only be used in the context of "not in use by anyone": "the seat is free," "the restroom is free."

Orwell attributed immense importance to the language of propaganda and manipulation. He stated, "Political language (and this applies to all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists) is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

Ironically, Orwell's created worlds in his dystopias "1984" and "Animal Farm," along with the image of the writer himself, have been used for the purposes of manipulating public consciousness in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

In public discourse, you can often encounter exclamations like "This is just like Orwell!" or "It's straight out of Orwell!" meant to demonstrate a return to totalitarianism or the realization of its new facets in our social and political daily life.

Nevertheless, it's hard to underestimate the significance of all possible forms of "Newspeak" in manipulating consciousness.

Various political systems have attempted and continue to adapt language to their needs. Notably, Mussolini and Hitler's theoreticians devised strategies like severing the connections between words and their actual meanings. In "Gobbelsian" propaganda, lexical tools were used to give false meanings to indisputable facts.

In fascist ideology, the functional (informational) value of words was replaced by a spiritual-mystical (magical) significance. This wasn't only driven by the aim of mass manipulation but also by the interest of the rulers of Hitler's Reich in everything "occult."

As a result of these changes, now, for the successful functioning of various ideological statements, it wasn't always necessary to understand them at the level of their literal meanings (at least in most contexts).

In other words, it's not about making words magical; instead, certain statements become obligatory in form but utterly devoid of essence, as if they were mandatory blanks on a questionnaire.

There are two main directions in this work: denotation and connotation.

Denotation encompasses the range of meanings of a word, from the most basic and primary to less significant and tertiary meanings, which are often marked with numbers in dictionaries. In manipulative language, an often less commonly used denotation is chosen, which, though it may not be frequently used in a particular context, is not an outright falsehood. This creates the deceptive impression of precision and truth in the message.

Connotation, on the other hand, is associated with the associations and emotional values that a word evokes in the listener or reader. This is a more complex and subtle aspect of semantics.

Thus, the use of denotation in propaganda smoothly transitions into the use of connotation, the associations or set of associations that a spoken or written word triggers.

For several decades, starting with the Vietnam War, officially referred to as the "pacification program," governments worldwide have actively avoided using the word "war" in their orders, directives, and media. Instead, they employ euphemisms such as anti-terrorism and counter-terrorism operations, conflicts, peace enforcement, "clean-up" operations, and the like to describe military actions both within their own territories and on foreign soil.

American military personnel are fond of giving their armed interventions in the politics of other countries various grandiose names.

However, the founders of this tradition were the Germans during the First World War. Their general staff came to the conclusion that the "combination of strategic and tactical actions of armed forces" needed to be named, at least for security reasons.

It turned out that this not only contributed to security but was also very convenient: a task with a name was easy to remember, and there was no need to spend time describing it. This idea was quickly adopted worldwide.

The British even compiled a list of code words...

To be continued.

#manipulation #words #psychology