Words are contagious

Since words are not a type of illness or disease, how are words contagious? The answer becomes obvious when we listen to religious leaders, teachers, parents and political figures. We experience the power of words when reading a book but it's the influential nature of spoken words that can contaminate people.

Two commonly understood examples are cults and dictatorships. Cult leaders and dictators use words to attract and secure followers. And followers they are! Once a person commits to a cult or dictatorship, and its leader, the person becomes a true believer. A true believer follows the leader with little, to no, critical thinking or questioning. A true believer absorbs and mimics the words of the leader while their individual thoughts and free will vanish. Of course, words are not the only way such leaders capture and hold followers but the power of spoken words cannot be denied.

Since we primarily communicate with words, words influence us each moment of each day. As we listen to other people, our beliefs and values are challenged or reinforced. Words can also influence or bias our newly formed beliefs and values. In all these instances, the words act as triggers for our psychological projections. We then project our unconscious (hidden psychologies) onto the person speaking. This is how words become contagious.

When the projection occurs, we experience the cult leader or dictator as providing powerful and inspiring messages. Their words become our words; their values become our values; we are infected by these leaders and their words who in many instances are attempting to contaminate us for their personal gains.

Psychological projection is powerful. When this occurs, as described in previous articles, we experience the person, object or situation through our projections. It's similar to wearing glasses that distort our reality. In simple terms, we can say that we are blinded by our projections and that the contagious words have captured us.

Of course, it is possible to withdraw projections, to not be blinded, and experience the actual person, object or situation. This takes effort and a desire to become a more conscious (more aware) person. When this happens, the benefits are tremendous. We are more genuine, see situations more clearly and express ourselves more authentically.

We all know that we must be careful to avoid physical illnesses such as infections but we also must learn to be careful to avoid words that are contagious.